[the_kiddy]

Hey people. I've learnt a lot of stuff on this forum. Everyone's been so helpful and informative. I've never had to wait longer than a few hours to get my questions answered. The soundcard wizard has been really helpful. At first I was confused as to why is kept offering me interfaces with 8 inputs when I'd only asked for 4 - but now I know it's because I was telling it I also wanted 4 onboard preamps. I've done some searching online and it seems most (or all) interfaces with 4 inputs only offer two built in preamps. I have no idea why this is. For a while I was set on getting a presonus firepod seeing as it has 8 inputs and 8 supposedly decent preamps - but then I thought - what am I really trying to achieve? I'm not looking to record a band - just myself. Once I have my stuff sounding good then I can try and get other people interested in forming a band - which is what I want to do. I also want to present venues with a demo cd. There for I only need three inputs. One for vocals and two for micing my guitar up. But if I only have two built in preamps...I'll be limited to two mics, unless I buy a standalone...but then if I'm shelling out for one of those I might as well shell out for the firepod....after all a few extra inputs might come in handy. Does anyone know of any good quality interfaces with 4 inputs? I don't really want to spend more than £200 ($400) on a preamp as I have to get monitors, mics, and I'm building a PC from scratch. Thank God I plucked up the courage to finish with my girlfriend eh?
One last question. If my interface doesn't have a MIDI port - but my MIDI keyboard can connect via USB....that'll take advantage of the interface right? Thanks