Hey all, I know there are a few musicians in the house and I could use some help…

I’m looking set up a pretty minimal home recording studio (just for myself) and am looking for opinions on audio interfaces and maybe software as well. For the interface, probably just looking for a 2 channel (1 mic, 1 line). For the DAW, not so sure… I’ve used GarageBand in the past with decent results and it obviously has the huge benefit of being free. I know some of the interfaces come with software packages and some don’t. Is it better to get a package interface / DAW deal or use third party software? I have a Window machine and a Mac, but the Mac is pretty old and might have issues, I need to check what OS it can be updated to (I may be in the marker for a new Mac anyway). Thunderbolt vs. USB? I’ve started looking at stuff like the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, Presonus AudioBox, etc… Is there reason to avoid the low end stuff?

Any opinions / info is appreciated!