That makes sense, and I even have a microphone with the standard 1/4" jack. We inherited it, along with a Crate Amp from a guy who moved out of the country. Looks like the output is stereo RCA for the mixer, so I'd still end up running the recording into the computer through the sound card. I found a good website regarding computer recording:

http://www.pcmus.com/AudioTips.htm

I'm just dipping my toes in the recording universe, it's fascinating, if quite complicated.