Where to go from here?

[Phuct]

A while back i decided i wanted to produce trance/house music and in my ignorance went out and bought a yamaha cs2x. I became very busy with school and sorta ran out of money too and so i really have'nt done that much in the way of music making nor had any money to get any new gear in a long while. That's changing. I'm going to have a 1000-1200 dollars US in a while to purchase some gear with and alot more time.

I'm wondering what you guys thing i should get. I have a very competent computer, a very poor audio card, reason, cubase, and a yamaha cs2x.

So... first off... what's a good audio card i could get that would'nt take up too much of my budget?

secondly what direction should i go in? should i sell my cs2x (i figure i could get 425US) and then have 1500ish to purchase gear with? Or should i keep it and use it as a controller and for it's sounds?

And finnally with whatever money i have left, what synths/modules software should i purchase to be used to make progressive/uplifting/hard trance and the occasional house (and mabye a bit of dnb)?

 

[acidim]

for the audio card, lots of people seem to love the delta series cards. midiman
If you are going to have external gear, the ins/outs are what you should be looking for unless you have some other way to record your stuff.
As far as software, cubase should be fine for a sequencer, and reason's fun to play with. Maybe try some VST instruments. Personally I think the Pro5 and Mercury are excellent for any type of trance.
I cant help you with the gear part, i'm in the same position as you were when you bought your keyboard