My reason for suggesting this path is this:

It costs a little more, but not an unreasonable amount more.

You'll be using fully professional equipment that's designed to not
break very often, but which can be serviced when it breaks, and it's
old enough so that it's had all the upgrades it will ever have.

Yeah, but some of these machines can be a bear at times. They can eat your
wallet if things break. Keep in mind I'm not saying it's a bad idea, though.


People working in most forms of music production strive to get a
"warm, full, analog sound." There's no better way to get it than with
analog equipment. They may learn that this is not really what's most
important to them, but they'll never know until they try the real
thing.

I think the "warm analog sound" is overrated. Nothing beats a good mic on a
good source with good electronics in the signal path.


It can be easily integrated with digital tools where that's
appropriate.

Having a limited number of tracks and (due to media cost) a limited
number of takes changes the way you work, often in a positive manner.
It makes you think about where you're heading rather than always
wondering if you're there yet, or if you should add one more part.

An analog tape machine never stopped anyone from adding too many parts :-)


How bout some good
outboard pre/ converters and a computer?

Sure. Anything you can afford.

Add a used d8b and stir well.

If your production life centers around full automation, then this
might not be such a bad choice, but there are a lot of trade-offs (in
both directions).

I was thinking of having actual controls (even though there aren't enough
knobs for me) and taking some of the load off the CPU, but the automation
angle is a good point. I find that with a computer feeding tracks to the
console, I have to use less automation because I have so much control in the
computer. I really like actual faders, even if they are only for controlling
the DSPs in the console. The talkback section and monitoring in the console
is worth the ticket price, IMO. You also get the HUI control, which really
makes the computer act like a tape machine.