[Beginner] Audio Setup

To get audio into the computer you need an audio interface. The USB mixers have one built in, but they are often not ideal for quite a lot if reasons, especially if they only send a stereo feed to the computer and you need to record more than one source at a time.

PC built-in sound cards can be used, but are again not ideal, especially if you need to record audio rather than just use samples or software synths. Their mic inputs in particular are poor quality and noisy, but if all you need to do is spoken word voice-overs as cheaply as possible running a suitable adaptor lead from the mixer outs to the PC's line in might be worth a try. The lead needs a stereo minijack on one end and a pair of jacks ir XLRs on the other.

If however all you want to record and mix multi-track audio then that requires something better, especially if you need it to sound OK on sysyems other than the one you recorded it on. It would help to know more about what you have in mind.

As for cables, if you're in the UK (using £s means I guess you are) Studio Spares do a huge range at decent prices. Their own "economy" range is pretty good if you need mic and patch leads and doesn't cost much if any more than making up the cables yourself. There's a lot of nonsense talked about cables, especially in the weird world of very expensive "hi-fi". For mic and patch leads all that's needed is a basic cable that's low noise. Personally I go for oxygen-free copper (OFC), which doesn't improve the audio quality but means the copper has been treated to remove the oxygen that's usually present in it so the cable's don't oxidise and rot away internally.

There are people round here who think even that's going over the top and they're probably right :-)

Guitar/bass leads are different though, they have requirements of their own.