[alexja38]

Hi everybody!
I plan to be getting my first mac very, very soon (a black macbook, at least before Jan. semester starts) and need some tips on what to get for recording songs and such. I am a total newbie at this stuff, so bear with me

for now I'll be recording just my acoustic guitar, vocals, and using whatever else Garageband has to offer. I'm already pretty set on picking up the Griffin Garageband guitar cable so that takes care of guitar recording (hopefully that's the right choice!).

now, I'm a bit confused on what I need for vocal recording...I looked into mics and really like the MXL 990 condenser mic. From what I've read so far it needs phantom power like a mixer of some sort (I've seen people recommending Behringer so I'll prob go with that). I also planned on getting the Griffin microphone XRL cables. Would I also need a Griffin imic to set up my microphone?

I'm kind of lost on what I need for the MXL 990 condenser mic (any additional cables?) as far what plugs into what so if anyone could help me, I'd be so grateful! Any opinions on the products I mentioned are also welcome Thanks for the help!

[Jacke]

Personally, I'd just get an external Firewire-interface. Or rather, that's what I did...

A mixer is for the most part completely useless; people buy a mixer because they think they need it when you go well without. Some would say that goes double for Behringer. I've never owned any Behringer gear myself (having listened to that advice) so I can't say myself. I have an M-Audio Firewire Solo myself, it fits my needs. If I had had a slightly larger budget I'd have gone with the Presonus Firebox. You can also have a look at audio interfaces with USB2.

Have a look at Tweak's guide and the forums there. Once more: Read The Guide!