What is better for simple home recording: analog or digital?

As one poster stated, I have a profesinal recording studio and still use Analog.

Why ? You can't beat the warmth of the bass sound. Digital will never come close to it. Just like in printing, digital press is never as warm and lively as offset.

Now, Portastudio multitrack from Tascam is a DARN good unit. I recorded good stuff in the living room back in the days. Analog is warmer no doubt. With digital, you don't need tapes anymore and easier to edit etc..etc..

So to sum it up, your observations and your ear is not fooling you. Analog is pure. End of story. Their is a difference in the bass especially. Digital is crispier on the highs. If you want to forget analog altogether and are more towards creating quick demos, get the DP-004. Period.

Edit....as Barco puts it....back in the days....AMPEX ruled and was the best equipment available.

Having said all this, you might want to look at Propelhead software called REASON v4. This is a virtual recording software that works with a simple USB keyboard plugged in the computer.

This software is simply AMAZING. You can duplicate guitar sounds, piano, drums with amazing accuracy. You record your tracks from the keyboard and then, you can choose the sound and instrument for that track .

The end result is ASTONISHING. I have a full blown recording studio but , for the hell of it, did a few tracks on REASON and I fell out of my chair when I heard the playback.

Here is the link.... cheapest way to go and veryyyyy efficient.

http://www.propellerheads.se/products/reason/

You're actually incorrect on a few points, good sir. Digital is actually far more 'pure' than analog. That's the point people do not enjoy though. Digital signals transfer perfectly, analog signals degrade...and while generally an analog tape will record more resolution than digital, it still doesn't make a difference when one considers the limits of sound and human hearing to begin with...therefore a digital signal can more than accurately map a signal beyond the means of human perception.

What you like about the analog signal is the 'warmth' to it, right? What that is is distortion. Since an analog signal can accurately map the compression and rarefaction curves of a wavelength, it will clip in a curved fashion. Digital signals, however, can not. They are made entirely of squares, so dependent on the resolution they will dis pleasingly distort when volumes exceed the maximum decibels.

Now, on to your actual question. I recommend an audio interface above getting a 4 track recorder. You won't be limited by track count, you won't have to purchase tapes, and editing is infinitely easier....also a note to consider is the fact that if you ever want to upgrade, you're starting from scratch again by making this your initial purchase.

Find a good audio interface that supports at least 24bit/48K resolution....but if you can get 96K resolution consider that. Theoretically 48K, according to the Nyquist theorem, is enough to accurately map the range of human hearing...but it is debatable as to the accuracy of this. Humans cannot hear 'tone' above 20 KHZ, but a signal that captures resolutions up to 40 khz and even further can be felt by humans, and is perceivable. Far more important is the bit rate, though...it determines dynamic range. Therefore, a 16 bit signal only has a dynamic range of 96 DB (6 db per bit), wheres a 24 bit signal has a range of 144 DB. This gives you more room to track transients and peaks.

List of what to get:

DAW (I personally use Acid Pro 7. Pro tools is a waste of money)

Audio interface (Check reviews to find out the quality of the D/A conversion. Also, check to see if a few pre-amps are included. You can find a 4 channel interface for a few hundred dollars that'll work well)

microphones (Get a handy shure sm57, and sm58. Cheap and effective for a lot of situations.)

cables. (Balance, preferably. A balanced cable can run far longer without signal degradation due to noise being picked up along the signal path.) Get either XLR or 1/4 TRS

FIRST you asked about getting QUALITY recordings and then you mention CASSETTE tape...

I don't think you have a CLUE about recording.or you would know that a PROFESSIONAL QUALITY Cassette recorder with PROFESSIONAL QUALITY METAL TAPE at about $25 PER CASSETTE is MINIMAL.

If you want to do ANALOG recording, you need a MINIMUM of a REEL TO REEL recorder and one with as MANY TRACKS as you can get. I still have a 24 track AMPEX from the good old days and I still fire it up from time to time when I want something a bit different.... Driving that Ampex is my workhorse 24 channel NEVE board with flying faders.

I grew up on analog.. I'm 70 YEARS OLD so Analog was all I knew how to use until about 15 years ago when I built a whole new digital studio with computerized equipment... it gives an entirely different sound than the analog stuff and I don't like it as well, but it's a whole lot faster to churn out production stuff... and I can be sending a piece out to the customer via the internet, within seconds of it being finished and in the sweetening business.. time is money.

If you are serious about doing Analog.. then look around and buy a vintage multi-track machine.. they are still out there.. but you had better know something about repairing electronics... to fix those old machines you don't repair by replacing a board.. YOU FIX IT AT THE COMPONENET LEVEL.. and if you don't have THOSE stills.. you are lost before you start because mosf of these so called "electronic technicians" today are nothing more than BOARD SWAPPERS.

The audio interface simply converts the signals coming from the microphone into something that your computer can understand. The simplest solution is the Shure x2u (XLR to USB interface). The SM57 with x2u interface runs about $200 USD ( £127). The x2u interface will allow you to plug almost any professional grade microphone into a USB port on your computer. The advantage, if you want to use the mic to connect to a mixer as you expand your setup or perform live, just unplug the x2u and you are good to go. The SM57 is being sold primarily as an instrument mic. I would also look at the SM58 which is a bit cheaper and intended more for vocals, but also does quite well for instruments.

The debates about 'analog vs. digital' are for recording at the high end of the audio quality spectrum. For someone recording a demo at home, especially just starting, go digital. Don't even think about cassette tape.