Soundcards, in and of themselves any more, do not have their own sounds. So, a good soundcard will give you the best representation of the software synth already installed on your computer (if you're using Windows). Other software synths, like the Roland VSC, or Coyote, may give you a slightly better sound, but for me, a hardware synth is the way to go.

The Ketron SD2 was mentioned earlier, and for $400, it's a phenomenal piece of gear. Plug into the computer with an USB cable, and then plug the outputs into a mixer, amp, or powered speakers. The sound quality is unbelievable, and will blow away anything you'll hear as far as a sound card and most software synths, and it's plug and play. For someone starting out, that is what I highly recommend, unless you need a keyboard attached to it.

You WILL need a good sound card to get any external audio into your computer, as well as out of the computer. For this, I'm recommending the M-Audio 2496 Audiophile. With no sounds of it's own, it's purely an audio interface. It records external sounds, and then plays them back. It also has a MIDI interface on it.

So, if you're doing something like guitar, vocals, and some synth tracks, a Ketron SD2 to cover the backing synth tracks, the M-Audio 2496 to get the audio in and out of the computer, a small mixer board (the Behringer UB802 works real well) and a couple of mics, and a set of monitor speakers (I prefer powered ones) and for less than $1,000 you can be ready to produce near pro quality sounds.

Gary

I'm blessed watching God do what He does best. I've had a few rough years, and I'm still not back to where I want to be, but I'm on the way and things are looking far better now than what they were!