Thanks for the heads up. I ended up buying an Alesis 8 channel mixer with USB out. It has 4 XLR inputs, so now I can start experimenting with mixing. The only thing is that the only time that I will be able to use this rig is when I can set up a station with the mixer, 4 mics, and my laptop. Have not had the opportunity to run it in public, but in trials at home recording music coming from my stereo, it has proven to be pretty impressive. The only thing that I cannot figure out is what settings have to be on in order to monitor the recording from the laptop. I have monitored it from the mixing board, but there is pretty noticeable hiss coming through the headphones. However, once I save the file in Cubase, I can play it back through Windows Media Player to actually hear what I have recorded. In addition, I haven't quite figured out how to track out selections in Cubase, or would I have to use a post recording program like Sony Sound Forge? Either way, I don't think I spent very much money to experiment. The Alesis was $150 and met my minimum requirements of having USB out and 4 Ch. XLR in.