[jonesresidence]

Looking for some help...(ha;lp out this n0ob)

Currently at home I have a small room which I have converted to a
studio/practice room. I am looking to be able to record
drums(individually mic'd), guitar, bass, vocals, and keyboard
simultaneously onto my core2 system running sonar6. I currently have
all instruments mic'd, and would like to run them to a 16 channel mixer
and then onto the sonar computer directly. Would you guys recommend
fire wire for this? I'd rather not fuss with other crazy cable
nightmare rack mounts and soundcards, and would prefer to just be able
to go directly out from the mixer to my sonar system as simply as
possible (firewire?).

Also, another possible function I would like to get out of this new
potential mixer is the ability to be able to use it live on small gigs.
I'd like to be able to run the entire band into it for a quick mix and
then pass it on to the PA system. Is there any system/mixer unit out
there that you guys would recommend for these 2 abilities?

So far, I have looked at a few units online but am unsure of their
quality/ease of use. I'd like to keep things rather simple and need to
know the best bang for the buck out there. An example of 1 unit I
looked at is the Onyx 1640 seen he
http://mackie.com/products/onyx1640/index.html

Is this unit any good? Are there better units out there? Any
experiences or feedback you can offer on any of this?

I'd appreciate any input you guys could give me, and am waiting to get
this project rolling.

Thanks