Audio Technica AT-3035 and the Emu 0404 USB 2.0

[kingbg23]

Is this a good starting point for my home studio? I record mostly rap,hip-hop, and r&b. If knowing of my pc is required, the info should be in my signature.

[tweeksound]

The mic and interface are fine assuming you will not want/need more than 2 mics at a time. If you do find you need more than 2 at once, (drum recording, ensemble recording, etc) you can find a 2 channel preamp/converter that will utilize the digital in (coaxial or optical).

I'm a bit concerned about that Emachine. It's spec'd fairly low for a recording PC and I've not heard of anyone having much luck in general with the Emachines.

If you're looking to keep your projects at or under 8 - 12 tracks or so, with few plugins, and probably no virtual instruments, you should be fine. The day you need more, you will either need to up the RAM to at least 2GB, or get another computer with at least a dual core and at least 2GBs RAM.

And simply because I tell everyone starting out the same thing, I'll throw this little bit of seemingly irrelevant but greatly important info in... Get your room acoustically treated. It's the biggest improvement to your recordings you can make besides a better performance. Look into building your own acoustic panels with rigid fiberglass and stick them in the corners as bass traps. You'll hear all sorts of recommendations on mics and interfaces and you will likely never be satisfied until you spend at least $10,000.
But acoustic treatment is a sure thing for every studio.

Good luck!