I retired a year and a half ago, seems like yesterday, with the intention of getting serious with guitar and related subjects including songwriting and recording. Best isn't always the most expensive. The more expense the more savvy you have to be to stay afloat. First thing I did, okay call me an old fart, was got a Fretlight guitar. Read and listen about them and on youtube before you judge. Sound is terrific and works well with future venues. Anyway, first came Mixcraft 6 Home Studio software. It was tolerable and I did a few backing tracks but the ASIO4all wasn't up to par. Didn't care for the software either and plugins/interface not included. Remember, I'm not a techie. Then comes Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 Interface. It's a joy for guitar, midi and mic plug ins and sound. A joy to pay for but don't get their additional, you pay dearly for it, hardware that includes headphones, microphone and patch cords. Get your own, I like my Shure SM48 and as long as headphones response goes up to 20,000 Hz I'm happy. Still like the driver that comes with it but absolutely hate the Ableton Live 9 included software. My deliverance has been Band-In-A-Box 2014, it has RealBand with it. And still prefer the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 audio driver and inexpensive hardware interface. Good luck.