I am hoping to get into recording at home, and want to set up a mini studio.
I have a G4 Dual 1.42 Ghz Mac with DVD/CD burning (Fire wire 400/800), two
mics (KSM44 & SM57), some XLR cable/stands and a pair of AKG240S headphones.
I¹m mostly going to record myself on guitar and vocals, but hope to grow
into recording multiple players and even bands.

My main issue right now is what to purchase for my I/O. I am willing to
spend enough to get a Digi 002 console, but wonder about the pro¹s/con¹s of
the rackmount version, as well as other rackmount units like the MOTU 2408
mkIII/828 mkIII, and other new firewire-based setups. I don¹t know how
important a control surface is in the equation, or even choice of software
package (it currently seems to me like a choice between Logic & Protools to
me). I know the 002 has good mic pre¹s (and more of them), but the MOTU
seems to have a better feature set overall (plus it¹s cheaper). I figure I
could always buy an external tube pre with the price difference. I could go
on...

I¹m open to any and all advice, taking special consideration of
future-proofing as much as possible for growth & change.

Many thanks in advance.

-Gregg

I¹m open to any and all advice, taking special consideration of
future-proofing as much as possible for growth & change.


i would strongly suggest buying a separate i/o interface and preamps.
this will afford you more options, as you'll probably find the cost
difference between the two different setups is minimal and the quality
of each will be better. also, you won't be tied down to preamps you
don't like. Probably the only reason i'd go with a digi system is if
you absolutely had to have a control surface or were 100% sold on pro
tools.
for interfaces, i'd check out the RME digiface/multiface and the
metric/halo offering. I use the RME with a presonus digimax LT
(pc-based laptop system) and i like it alot.