Hi,

Im wanting to start to do very basic recordings down in my basement which will involve drums,guitar,vocal,keys and bass. I currently have a few mic's but dont have any software or interfaces.

From doing research it seems Pro Tools with the Mbox 2 is everyones reccomended choice,am i right in thinking if i was using this to mic the drums i would only be able to have a stereo pair and one other mic as it only has two inputs/outputs?

Also ive seen alot of people mention just buying a Mbox or M-audio and torrenting the Pro Tools software,is that something that is normally done?

Im going to be running from a Hp laptop and would ideally want something as cheap as possible,with so many options out there im confused as to which is best to start off with?

Any advice/links would be much appreciated.