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Best Upgrade for "quality"?

Hi friends,

I know it's generally socially unacceptable to create a new thread for your first post on a forum, but I've been reading over these forums a lot and most people seem willing to offer good advice to the 'new' guys. It also seems that the best responses come from specific "scenarios" or "setups", so I figured, I'd throw mine out and see what you all come up with. :)

Digital recording consule or a upgraded sound card?

I am not sure whether or not to buy a nice sound card and run directly into my computer or buy a digital recorder. I will give you my equipment info and what it is exactly I am trying to accomplish.

P4 - 3.2 Processor
80 - gig hardrive
1 - GB or PC 3200/400 mhz DDR ram

Sound card - SoundMAX Digital Audio (came with computer)

As for software I have:

preamp upgrade

yup another one of those 'what preamp shall i buy' topics..
But my question is subtly different..
I have a Focusrite platinum voicemaster right now, i use the eq normally, then run through a urei1178 ..With a condenser I'm getting pretty nice vocal sounds, and my dynamic guitar sound is fairly o.k.
BUT. .I have just bought a Shure SM7B dynamic mic, for rock vocals

dbx DDP upgrade/replacement or find some additions?

I'm still using a DDP as my main compressor/limiter. I've had this thing for about 5 years now and have not had any problems. And I know there's others that'll make it look as if you're using this thing like a Alesis 3630. What I'm wondering is, will I need to upgrade to a better compressor or have an additional compressor added? My other's are software based.