soundhaspriority wrote:

Thanks to all. It looks like it's going to be the Apogee Mini-Me.

That's great news! Maybe there's hope for you after all.


The next question refers to allocating channels of unequal quality. This
is what the setup looks like:

Tascam FW-1082 firewire board, http://www.tascam.com/Products/fw1082.html.
It has four onboard pres. Four more channels are in the form of two
Midiman DMP3's, http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/DMP3-main.html

The Tascam's SP/DIF will be fed by the Apogee Mini-Me.

This means that the channels will be of unequal quality. So, how to
allocate them? In the case of a vocalist backed by a band, it seems
logical that the
vocalist(s) should be on the Mini-Me.

Gold star time! You're learning, isn't this fun?. Always use your best
stuff on the most important source. And when it's time to overdub, use
your best stuff there too.


In other situations, this is less
clear. Suppose I'm recording a chamber music quintet, which might
incorporate a variety of instruments. I would want to use coincident
stereo mic, in combination with mics for the various instruments.

1. Is the distant coincident mic the most critical?

It is if you want the natural sound traditionally associated with classical
music. In fact, if you're recording good musicians in a decent room, you
might go with just the stereo pair. That makes travel & setup less of a
hassle too.


2. Is there a clear ranking for criticality of the feed for the following:
sax, oboe, trumpet, violin, cello, bass?

In general, no. But there may well be for any given piece. The featured
soloist ALWAYS gets the best signal chain.

Anyway, you worry too much. Before you get yourself into a critical
situation, you should already know the answers to those questions from
experience (not only experience in general, but experience with YOUR own
particular gear).