That's the card I use. Its converters are excellent and if you use "balanced" TRS cables (to a balanced line mixer or preamp) it will be very low noise. For $40, that's a score. With its own converters (on the daughter card) it can record two tracks at a time, "left" and "right" (since it only has one pair of stereo inputs). Connecting the digital i/o to other devices of course means you can record more if you want. But if you're recording yourself at home, you may not need to record more than one track at a time (unless you're recording a real drum kit), so don't rush out and buy stuff you don't need.
I'd advise recording at 24 bit (and then dithering to 16 bit when you're mixing down to CD or MP3), but as for the sample rate I stick to 44.1 KHz. It seems that sample rate conversions don't exactly translate as well as when you dither 24 bit down to 16 bit. So I've just avoided recording at higher sample rates than 44.1 KHz.
My mixer is
a Mackie 1202 VLZ, not the newest "VLZ Pro". It's fine. The preamps are no hell, but then again unless you're willing to get something that costs more than twice as much as the mixer, the preamps in the Mackie will probably sound as good as anything you'd buy. The only exception I know of is the EH "
12AY7 Mic Preamp". It sounds fantastic and costs under $200; I highly recommend it, and know nothing which touches it for the sub-$1000 price range. The combination of that EMU card, a small Mackie mixer made in the last 12 years or so (VLZ or VLZ Pro), and that EH mic preamp, is about as good a setup as you can expect to get without breaking the bank...and possibly as good a setup as breaking the bank as long as you respect its limitations. You don't necessarily need a mixer, but after you've used one you won't want to ever go without one. I'm sure people will recommend Behringer, and they're a decent alternative if you want to stay "on the cheap" as much as possible, but you may want to consider finding a used Mackie VLZ/VLZ Pro instead.
