So many people have said it that I don't know who to quote: it's not your gear, it's what you do with it. A teacher I had began class with the question, "What recording gear is better, digital or analog?" The answer of course, is neither, because it depends on what sort of sound you are after.
Since most of the people reading this are into extremely pure and unaffected tones, I'd say you just need something that transmits that as transparently as you can handle. For recording, a good cassette deck will do. For mixing, anything that can take getting spiked by a hot signal will do. Search for the property you want, and find out what it costs, then worry about how much money you need.
