Hello there,

I was reading a lot here before, cause I plan to improve and/or
extend my studio. I have several questions, today I start with
my maybe most critical one.

Right now, I have a Behringer MX8000 and run 16 direct outs to two
Terratec EWS 88 MT for D/A into my computer. For mixdown, I run them out
separately again and mix in the analog domain.
I know, this gives a bad signal channel because of the double D/A and
double A/D conversion, including double coloring by the Behringer.
What I got until now was not the best sound. Maybe I should mix
completely in the digital domain...
(studio pictures and songs I recorded see the link below this mail.)
But somehow I like the human touch of analog mixing in front of the
console, especially when I work with bands.

But put that aside, here's my actual question:

Now I got this dbx 386 mic pre amp that has digital out and I thought I
could leave out the console and go straight into the Terratecs. Both
units use RCA s/pdif connectors, should be no problem. I have read
that the dbx needs to be wordclock master or one has jitter problems -
is it true? If I would make it the master, does it mean it has to be
turned on when booting the computer? what about playback, since there is
no mic pre needed and I would like to switch off the tubes.

As I also have a laptop, I thought the best for future expansion plans
would be to invest into mobile equipment, so I could use it both for
live recording and studio, using USB or Firewire interfaces.
Terratec put out the new Phase88s, but now they use optical
connectors...are these units an option anyway (bad envy24 D/A)?
And what could I do about the possible RCA/Optical problem?

Thanks for any suggestions on whats probably best in my situation.

--
Nudge // PCS Records Studio Leipzig
http://studio.lieber-media.de