Gear Advice ?

[Norris-wf]

I've been building this stuff up for two years on a very tight budget, but now I think its time to start getting serious about getting good quality. I'd like to get the opinions of what people think is essential in a studio and that they would recommend to me. What I have at the moment isnt great ( a lot of behringer stuff but it works for the moment, heres the list:
Power PC G4 with 2GB ram and Mac osx leopard
Acer 22" LCD
Hercules 16/12 FW firewire soundcard
Behringer Xenyx 2442 (just for the preamps really as it has a direct out on each channel)
Shure SM57
AKG D112
Beringer B1 condensoe mic
Cheap set of drum mics (using aptrigga and so drum mics dont matter)
Behringer headphone amplifier
Vamp Pro
BEHRINGER FBQ3102 ULTRAGRAPH PRO
BEHRINGER DI 4000
Neutrik Patchbay
Pod Xt with metalpacks
Behringer Truth B2031P
Cubase LE (getting Cubase studio 4 for christmas)
Midi keyboard 49key

Thats what I have at the moment along with a full band backline, but I dont have and good preamps, just the ones in the mixer,
Its all cheap gear I know, but what do you think is important gear to have, like tube preamps, or outboard compressors etc. I have never recorded proper vocals so I dont even know what to expect when i start that or what I need for good vocals.
I know a lot of people will say ditch all the behringer stuff, but it was good for learnig on, but would outboard preamps make a real difference?

Cheers,
Sean

 

[Norris-wf]

Is it really that bad that no-one can offer any improvements?

 

[cobrahead1030]

as far as the projects you're working on, what do you feel is lacking the most?

 

[Norris-wf]

well from what I,ve been getting its seems to be a very 'cold' sound no life to it and kinda weak. I havent done much vocals but they always just sound weak and cheap sounding. Id prefer a warmer smoother tone overall in the mixes which is why i was thinking of a tube preamp but I'm not sure whether this would make any difference to the sound.. When people say behringer gear is bad, what are the differences in sound between say onboard preamps on the mixer or a seperate mic preamp?