Most practicle way to finish my set up

[electricity17]

Ideally you'd want to go in through a line input on the Presonus (pre/eq/comp/line input), that would allow you to skip an additional preamp stage on interface, don't know if the Presonus has that or not.

If you have the cash, I'd think about getting a small tube amp for the guitar and a real drum kit if that's at all practical, and good microphone if you don't have one. I feel like there's a depth to real instruments you can't get with samples. But that's not gonna work if you're recording in an apartment building or something, so do what makes sense.

[Bill@WelcomeHome]

Originally Posted by sleepmode

I also have a small Mackie 1202 mixer that sits and collects dust because it's not decent mixer.

If you stay away from the eqs and run the board correctly (paying attention to gain structure, read the manual...) that is a pretty neutral mixer, which is why it was so widely adopted by video houses. You could use it as an interface for your home-built eqs and comps, run through with minimal or no level changes, and record the result to another channel.

My preference is to get the mojo on the way into the box, then never come out of it until the end listener plays it back. So I pick my mic pres and stuff like that while tracking.