Rob, As A Home recorder on Keyboard I also went thru this. I think Kirk has given you the professional answer and he knows whats what. But we poor shlebs dinosaurs from the Seventies are just home enthusiasts.
Amateurs.
With this in mind I would say the puter adds layers of edits but also layers of more complication. I was happy with my old Sony 4 track reel to reel.
Truth has the ticket. This is a fairly easy machine to use and you will get satisfying results very soon... you can play Bass for me anytime
Here is some Fosgate Info......
http://www.zzounds.com/item--FOSVF160EX