Is Reaper a standalone?

Ok, million times, no degredation, not like a tape recorder. :)

I think I'm getting with it Ted: New mic in January - C414 B-XLS - and then start looking at pre-amps. In fact, start taking in info about mic pre-amps in general. All I've got is the Pre-Q 502 by Behringer and I could use my Dbx 166A as one too, but not balanced hence only with a dynamic mic. We'll see. :)