828 mk2 is much better

The question is do you really need protools or not. I think most people on this board will agree that protools is not the end all and be all of recording. I have the 828 mk2 and am using it flawlessly on the pc and on a dell laptop and it works fine. As for the preamps, they are horrible, but again they do the job any budget mixer would probably just as well. I use cue mix to mix different feeds to the artists and they love it, some want verb on thei mix others dont. I infact did try the 002r and couldnt get it working on the dell laptop. It wouldnt recognize and with my 828mk2 it was like magic. As for converters, i have used the multiface and RME stuff and i think that this is on par with that. Again if you want a good converter then get an outboard one. Im thinking of a isa 428 with the conversion option. dollar for dollar the motu wins hands down

The 828 mkII works well for me with DP. I agree with the preamps being s**t but hey, we pay xtra for good preamps anyway! Also I use apogee converters but the 828 mkii kakes a solid front end for my daw.

I gotta vote for the 002r. The preamps are actually pretty decent (even though I don't use them) and I'm a fan of Pro Tools. I considered going to DP and MOTU, but decided against it.

Asio Latency

you may be considering latency for soft synths. I use the 828mk2 live for soft synths, mainly Halion within VStack and it works like theres no tomorrow. Lowest latency i have ever had even in comparison to the M-audio stuff

depends on, as has already been said, whether or not you want pro tools. pt is the industry standard for a reason, though, i was a DP user (and still am for sequencing) but was recently turned back on to pro tools, simply because audio editing is simply easier in digi land. the 828 is a better box, yes. but i would base your decision more on which program you prefer--that's the aspect of the purchase that you'll be interacting with the most. it shouldn't work that way, but, alas... digidesign has all our nuts on the chopping block.

Thanks a lot guys for your opinions. I picked up the 828MKII. Haven't really thrown anything at it yet but it seems nice. One problem I'm having right now is getting in the way of listening tests though. My Bryston amp needs to be serviced (left ch. output is 4 times greater than the right ch. output). I'm slowly learning its routing features which seem damn flexible. I'm gonna have a lot of fun with this thing :P