newbie with MC6 questions

Hi my name is Rick and I'm 45.  Nice to meet you all.
 
I consider myself a fairly accomplished musician.  I play guitar, mandolin, bass, ukulele, piano (learning clarinet--and that is HARD!),  but as far as recording technology goes I am a serious greenhorn.  So I appreciate your bearing with me and my inquiries.
 
Last month I picked up a basically brand new Tascam DP-008 which also came with an Audio Technica AT2020 condenser mic.  I like this little unit, but the songs I've done haven't left the machine. I haven't done anything with them.  So I got the bright idea that I needed to get some kind of home recording software to put on a laptop I had sitting around that wasn't being used for anything. So yesterday I was at Best Buy and I saw Music Creator 6 for $39 and I snapped it up. 
 
Everything installed fine and I was even able to export the wav. files from the Tascam to the MC6.  But I'm wondering now if this is the way I should be going.  Why do I need the Tascam, and wouldn't be easier just to buy an interface to record directly to MC6?  What is the advantage of having the Tascam?
 

Thanks!  I'm going to review the tutorials this weekend and see if I can figure out how to work this thang.  I'm sure I'll have many questions.
 
peace!

XP is a good OS to run MC ..... 

I am using XP as well. 

I have a Focusrite Saffire that rocks. 

To get a good idea what is available you should search the MC thread here for BEAGLE. Go to his web site and look at the interfaces there. He has them listed for easy comparison. 

I recommend for MC6... a USB interface with 2 audio channels and midi input as well. You want to be sure it has preamps and phantom power for condensor mics as well as the normal 1/4 inch guitar jacks as well as XLR for the low impedence mics.  Many of them also have a software control panel that you set up once and let it roll. It sets input levels and controls some DSP effects in the software. 

M-Audio, Focusrite, and the ones that cake sells are all good ones. 


Be sure that it can use ASIO drivers....most of the better one will have that automatically. 

Would the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 be good? There's a brand new one on Craigslist for $100. Also, I had ordered an ART Tube MP Studio mic preamp to use with the Tascam, which just arrived today. Would this still come in handy if I end up selling the Tascam and buying some sort of interface? Sorry if these questions are stupid and redundant.

Yeah... a number of folks here use external preamps for the sound coloration they provide.

The Focusrite gear  generally has nice pre's built in, but I'm guessing as long as you set the levels on both properly, you should be OK. 

I haven't really looked around at the newer interfaces on the market since my Saffire is working perfectly, but.... I took the time to have a look at it.

It looks fine and I believe it will do a good job..... HOWEVER.... be aware that it does not have a midi input on it. So it is AUDIO ONLY. 

This would be important to you because.... in post 1, you said you play piano. Most of the portable keyboards all have MIDI  on them. If you have midi in on the interface, you can send the midi data into MC and then use a softsynth to add piano, strings, horns, choir, or whatever to your compositions. 

Side note: many keyboards today have USB outputs on them... if that is the case, you can plug the keyboard straight in to the DAW computer and do not necessarily need midi in on the interface. 

I'm old school and still use the 5 pin midi on my Saffire.

Well, you made Beagle happy, I'll bet.