Laptop recording

I would like to start recording on to a laptop and have done some basic research however, I now have more questions than I did before.

Heres a few to begin with:

1. I have a powered PA/mixer combo. Is this best to record through, all a plain mixer etc.

2. It seems I need some sort of

First off, immediately get a good beginner recording book (spend $20 before spending hundred$/thousand$) that shows you what you need to get started and how to hook everything up in your studio:

Home Recording for Musicians by Jeff Strong - $15

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764516345/102-9059220-3248917?v=glance&n=283155&%3Bn=507846&%3Bs=books&v=glance

(Wish I'd had that when I started; would have saved me lots of money and time and grief)

Good Newbie guides that also explains all the basics:

http://www.tweakheadz.com/guide.htm

http://www.computermusic.co.uk/page/computermusic?entry=free_beginner_pdfs

21 Ways To Assemble a Recording Rig:

http://www.tweakheadz.com/rigs.htm

1. All depends on the quality of your mixer. The weakest link of the chain is the level of quality you'll get.

2. There is no 'quality difference' between Firewire and USB. Both are digital ones and zeros. You WILL see a difference in the quality of converters and preamps used. See Tweak's guide listed above under "soundcards" for a in-depth discussion including the difference of Firewire vs. USB vs PCI.

3. You ALWAYS need a preamp. See the book and guide above.

4. See the book and guide above. Everything is listed. Tweaks '21 ways to assemble a recording rig' is a good basic starter.

1. Remember that if you're recording through a mixer or pa of any sort, generally you have limited outputs on the thing. For instance, if you only have a main left and right out, everything that comes out of the mixer is on those 2 tracks. If you plug this into your computer you will have to get the mix right from the start, because you can't go back and isolate a specific element. Audio interfaces for you computer do transfer the tracks seperately, so you may be better off skipping the mixer or PA entirely and using just the interface.

2. An audio interface can basically act like a sound card for your computer. It transfers the signal to and from the computer as well as provides the conversion between analog and digital. While there's no difference between the sound quality of USB and firewire, there is a difference with data transfer speeds. Generally speaking, you will be able to transfer more audio tracks at once with a firewire interface rather than USB. This can make a huge difference, because it will allow you more options with how many parts you can track at once.

3. Yes, you need a preamp, however most computer interfaces come with preamps built in that are generally good enough for basic tracking. There are a few interfaces out there that don't have preamps, but AFAIK, they aren't really any cheaper or more usable with what you already have.

4. Definitely look more into recording guides like TimOBrien said, but the general path would be Source -> Preamp -> Computer. There's many different paths that can be taken to get from one to another, like mic -> PA -> interface -> computer, or Mic -> interface with built in preamp -> computer. The end result of all of them is getting sound into your computer though.