Part 1

Terratec EWS Mic 8

Has anyone out heard - touched - messed with - or seen one of these
yet? I have found it on a few gear sites. Some sites say they are
about a month out on shipping and other say available now. I have
found a few posts mentioning Terratec as good quality when compared to
the m-audio stuff but nothing on this box specifically.

The Mic8 has 8 class A pres and a load of very impressive features.
The specs on the pdf file from the Terratec site look good to me but
since I am pretty clueless to what an "weighted @ 96K" chart is
actually showing me I can't really place a aural value on it in mind:

i.e. "wow, look at those specs that box must sound like chorus of
angels!"

So...

Part 2

I am asking because it is time to upgrade. I have a good-sized project
studio and run an indie web radio station. I was using the Tascam
MSR24 1" (look for it on ebay shortly) for a long time as a demo and
low run CD machine then we started having more bands in for internet
exclusives and I got the M-Audio Delta 1010LT just to speed things up.
Now I am hooked on digital. I have to admit I was happy with the
1010LT until I heard what one of my partners did on his low end
Pro-Tools box.

It was night and day!

I know his mic set up - I know his board - I know his room - and I
have heard what he did before the Pro-Tools box (using Delta 1010)and
after on the same gear - again I say - Night and Day difference. I
don't want to go with PT for a few reasons so I am interested in
alternatives. My budget is 800 to 1200 USD so I am looking for input
from the group on the higher mid-level 8 I/O interfaces.

Has anyone had a chance to A/B any combo below and can give me and
others in this group some real world experience of hearing material
recorded and played back through the following:

MOTU 828, Aardvark Pro10, Layla, EWS Mic8, etc.

Please - before people start dropping names like Apogee - I know
Ferraris go fast - I know Dom makes a fine bottle of fuzzy wine and I
know there ain't nuthing a Marshal can't fix.

Thanks