Home-Studio Overhaul

[brasic]

I'm remodeling more of my basement to have a vocal booth. I'm also upgrading my equipment.

When I bought my equipment, I made minimum wage and went somewhat cheap. I have a better job now and money is easier to come by, so I need advice on a few things:

1) I am going to treat my room - auralex? Or is foamfactory/foambymail good? What works / doesn't?
2) I'm aware an open environment sounds better than a booth, but I need isolation from the A/C or heater. Being in a basement can be noisy at times - what size does a booth need to be to not be considered boxy?
3) Soundproofing the booth - drywall with insulation, then more foam with basstraps throughout corners? Or is there a better way of doing it?
4) Equipment upgrade. 80% vocals for RnB/Hip-Hop, 20% Acoustic (singing/guitar). I have a Perception 220, a TA-1VP, MBox Mini, Mackie MR8's, etc. I just built a new desktop, so my computer is good. But what equipment (if not all) should I replace?

Mics I'm considering are the NT1A/NT2A, MXL V69ME, and a couple others, what to consider? I'd also like to get an interface with really good Mic-Pre's built in, but will do a separate Mic-Pre if needed.

Suggestions are welcome.

Thanks

[aFpe]

Not sure if it will work, but carpet rather than a hard floor?

[mwandishi]

I'm in the process of treating my room (basement also) and have come across a few site and forums that may help:
Acoustics Forum • View forum - I. ROOM DESIGN

This guy is pretty well known and has a company that makes traps and whatnot:
Acoustic Treatment and Design for Recording Studios and Listening Rooms
His company's site has some good info:
RealTraps - How To Set Up a Room

Acoustic Primer - Room Setup, Testing, Treatments

The Recording Manual


Finally I just ordered a bunch of stuff from this site. You can either build your own or buy pre-made stuff:

Acoustic Panels by ATS Acoustics