Thank you for helping me in the final decision making.

So I was looking at both your recommendations and they were both good alternatives. Yamaha is Yamaha, it's really sweet! However, to go with the Yamaha I would have to choose a more cheap sound card and I think that would be a mistake. I have compared the MOTU and the RME and believe that the RME is a little better overall. But I'm sure it's not a big difference. What I like about RME is their focus on drivers, I also read the manual which seemed to be very well written. I had a hard time founding a manual for the MOTU.

Today was a "take it easy" day for me. I had to think over my decision of going analog, just for a last time. But I think I have got a decent price for the recording platform, I am buying stuff that has got good reviews, I know what I will get because I have studied the manuals in detail and compared it with others. I have also noticed that I have to spend more money on the sound card, not the other way around. I have also figured out that the mic pre-amps in the Mackie will be very useful for me in this context and I think I will get a better result going with a good analog mixer and a good audio interface instead of a medium audio interface and a great mixer, partly because the mixing will be done in the computer, I won't do any mixdown back from the computer. So the only noise that will be introduced in the signal path, expecially on the mic channels, is the mixer and the Mackie should be quiet enough even though it's analog. But don't make any mistakes, I would have gone digital this time if I would have had a better income. I would have chosen a digital mixer and two firefaces then. But this time around I just want to get creative, use quality products that fulfill my needs and get things done.

So tomorrow I will order it all and start focusing on the computer and the studio itself. I will also start playing in a band soon, so I just need to let things happen now.
If buying these units is a bad choice, I won't take it that seriously. I'm new to hard disk recording and studio recording, so in that case I have to see it as a chance of learning stuff on a deeper level. Since I am both a keyboardist and a guitarist and will be doing live playing also, I think the RME Fireface and the Mackie will both be very useful. I can use the Fireface for virtual instruments at high sound quality/low latency and the Mackie as a guitar + keyboard + vocals mixer. I know the mixer and the audio interface will be good enough and I think the price tag is good. So this buy will be totally worth it!

When I get the gear I will tell you how I feel about this purchase. Thanks again guys for helping me out. I really appreciated it!

Best regards,
YamahaAndy

[This message has been edited by YamahaAndy (edited 03-09-2005).]

Today I ordered the RME Fireface 800 audio interface and the Mackie 1604VLZ-PRO analog mixer and the Edirol UM-880 8*8 MIDI interface. For me this means I will soon be able to setup a hard disk recording environment and start making music.

[This message has been edited by YamahaAndy (edited 03-10-2005).]

Cool! if you are planning to do all the effect processing on your computer then this should be a great setup.

I also have the Edirol UM-880 on order, I should get it next week sometime.

Yes I will mix in the computer.
So you will also buy the Edirol UM-880, cool!

This evening I made a map of my upcoming home studio recording project:




Best regards,
YamahaAndy

[This message has been edited by YamahaAndy (edited 03-10-2005).]

My next purchase will be an additional graphic card and 2 19" flat screens. The computer interface is crucial in this kind of a setup.

BTW, as you can see I have plenty of space for additional keyboards in the back!

[This message has been edited by YamahaAndy (edited 03-10-2005).]