Just out of interest how is the setup above infinitely more powerful than an all in one recorder?
I'm not being narky here :D , I'm just genuinely curious as to what that setup has that something like my Boss unit doesn't?
Good question.
Firstly, a PC-based DAW will give you proper virtual drums, bass and all sorts of other instruments. These are all programmable using MIDI on the PC. THis is a very, very powerful way of programming virtual instruments. You can do things like build your drum patterns from the ground up, with a lot of the delicate nuances and "feel" of a real drummer programmed in (if you learn how to program like that anyway - just like owning a drum kit doesn't make you a drummer !). the Boss machine just seems to have 294 pre-programmed patterns, which you put together to make a drum track.
I spend a lot of time programming drums when I record a song. IMO, the feel, and variety of the drum patterns, and little nuances of the drums are often what really picks out a professional sounding recording, rather than just someone else's home studio effort.
Also, using a PC-based DAW, you could also choose to construct your drums around the millions (probably billions) of sampled drum loops that are out there. the sequencing possibilities are so powerful.
The other huge advantage is that something like Cubase SE3 (pretty cheap !) will give you up to 48 tracks of simultaneous playback for audio tracks, plus an unlimited number of simultaneous MIDI tracks at the same time.
THe Boss machine is effectively an 8 track recorder in terns of real-time playback. This would be hugely limiting, unless you are producing just a very simple, basic demo.
When I record a song I'll easily use about 10 guitar tracks, about 8 vocal tracks, 3 or 4 for bass guitar if I'm not using MIDI'd virtual bass. At least 2 MIDI drum tracks, about 3 or 4 separate MIDI'd keys tracks. I'm no professional, but I've been doing this for quite a while and I fully recognise the benefit of having so many tracks available.
if you can only spare say 4 tracks for guitars in a recording, you might fit them all in on those tracks, but the EQing would have to be the same. Changing levels between different parts of the track would be a complete pain. having loads of tracks makes it flexible, powerful and quick. When you're doing a final mixdown, you can really finetune everything with so much more precision.
Effects-wise, I'd guess the Boss machine and a basic version of Cubase, like SE3, is pretty comparable. But, again, the PC-based DAW wins again, as you can add whatever extra effects you like by getting new plugins, which will seemlessly incorporate themselves into your DAW. Also, I am sure that Cubase allows you to use what effects that are there in a much more flexible fashion - like if you want to use 4 send and 4 insert effects at the same time (can't imagine you would wnat to do it often !), you can. I am certain the Boss machine doesn't have that ability.
if you look at JJretroTONEGOD's original list, in this thread, of basic things needed to build a recording setup, the Boss machine would basically just replace the DAW, the mixer, decent soundcard and connections (I'm assuming most folks have access to a reasonable PC - I use an old 1700MhZ processor computer, and it works just fine for me.)
So, if we're pricing that up compared to the £350 Boss BR900CD :-
DAW - Cubase SE3 - £90
mixer - Behringer Xenyx 802 - £46
Soundcard - M Audio AUdiophile 2496 - £48
Leads - lets say £50.
Do the maths. If you have that PC already, buying stuff to build a PC-based setup is actually cheaper than the Boss machine.
With the Boss machine, you would still need some sort of monitors (and I would strongly suggest that you need nearfield studio monitors. Hi-fi speaker or h'phones are a very poor second best !), reasonable headphones, a mic and a mic stand.
Oh, also, the Boss machine only samples your recordings at 44.1kHz. Cubase will do it at 96kHz. This gives a perceptable increase in general sound quality of everything.
this is all just my opinion and experience. I hope the info gives you something to think about.
I've answered this question before on other forums, where people ask about cheap setups. In the end it can all become rather expensive.
