Okay for the full post
Shure SM-58 - A very clear mic espisally for the price. I have 3 or 4 of these now and I love them. They even have a 10$ rebate now. Your daughter maybee using a better mic now though
http://www.shure.com/microphones/models/sm58.asp
The LC is the same the same as the normals, but either has an on \ off button or is basicly an "oem" without a cord ect. Send the good guys at agi for an email since they usually have the cheapest prices (never seen their prices beat more than 2% ever before)
http://agiprodj.com/detail.php?id=354
Mic Preamps - The ones i was reading all the good stuff about in my mag were the Focusrite ones. I was particalurrally intrested in the twinpak, which is a dual mic preamp. You need only a single, and they sell those as well
http://www.focusrite.com/products/pl...indexplat.html
The Voicemaster pro is expensive and I have heard nothing but good things about it. It's 575 (or around their) so it maybee a bit over your budget.
The behringer Ultravoice digital is worth a look as well as some of their other mic pre's. It has digital so running to the M-Audio card you will be losless. Behringer is terribly unreliable in the DJ field, but make some decent products in the pro audio, that sometimes break, but are dirt cheap and not much compares. The great thing is the price of 120$ USD
http://www.behringer.com/02_products...D=100&lang=ENG
Here's the m-audio card, exactly what you need
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_u...2496-main.html
Never used one myself, read up alot on it. It will be 10x better than any soundblaster and is simple and quality. 1 stero in, 1 stero out, with MIDI for your keyboard and the SPDIF in and out.