Hi there,

A friend of mine wants to record some of his vocal/acoustic music onto a laptop with USB 2.0 inputs (I don't think it has Firewire). Ideally, he wants to simultaneosly record his instrument and vocals onto two separate tracks in Cubase SX3. I'm going to lend him my Apex 415 condenser (requires Phantom Power) for vocals (http://www.apexelectronics.com/index.php?tmp=4&id=80).

Question #1 - Do you suggest he mic both his vocals and the acoustic or should he mic his voice and use a line-input for his guitar (through a Martin insert pickup)? The former would require the purchase of another mic, so do you have suggestions for a decent quality/low price range model if this is what you suggest?

Question #2 - What sort of input device do you suggest he get (eg. Line6 Pod)? He has a pretty tight budget (~$200) and he's not looking for top-notch studio quality. Mixing and mastering can be done afterwards and there's always to option to buy studio time if he really wants to get serious. Bear in mind, the device would need to supply phantom power to the condenser.

Thanks in advance!