i would put your primary focus on getting the palette of sounds dialed for the style(s) you're going for. this is the source, and everything starts there; if your sounds are limited, so are your avenues of expression. if your sounds are mediocre quality, so are your recordings. if it's pop/rock that means, e.g., a great sounding guitar and amp. if it's hiphop that means a sampler, a beatbox, and a synth or three. virtual instruments are handy, but ime they don't inspire the same creative flow and mojo that hands-on instuments do. and they never sound as good.
i would also get one really nice front end chain; one of the many ~$1200 mics that sound great, one ~$1000 pre that makes it sound even better, one channel of good tracking compression, and reasonably good converters.
if your intent is to mix everything, i would then make sure i had killer monitors, because nothing will make the process of tone selection/capture/mix easier, and allow for better results, than killer monitors in a well treated room.
your room is well treated, right?
welcome to the game
. as you can see, everything is equally important, any compromise at any stage results in a compromise overall. figure out what your budget is, what your priorities are, and act accordingly. do all the gear hunting and inquiring you desire, but don't put the writing on hold in the meantime because the writing is always the most important thing. ALWAYS. build up your things around your workflow, let it evolve organically, keep the music flowing. despite what the romantics would have us believe, creativity takes practice and discipline!
enjoy.
gregoire
del
ubk
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