You need an 8ch box- the mackie is 1k, studio project just came out with one about 600- I have a yamaha mla7 8ch box for xtra channels with my 828mkii- iti find it its ok for extra channels on the drum kit- use the 2 pres in your 828 for kick/snare. An used mla7 if you can find them are under 200-

Also if you need more channels you can get a behringer 8ch pre (forgot the model) and send it to your 828 via adat- that will give you 18 ch.
the behringer is not great but its not that bad either. A friend brought it over my studio and we tried it- a bit better than I expected. the thing only cost like $129

that would be the best way to go, get you recording drums until you can afford good pres- spend a little now and save for a brick, sebatron, great river or even a sytek later

sounds good. The drummer I'm recording is a minamalist fortunately and only uses a 4 piece and a few cymbals...

Ditto on the Behringer, it's the ADA8000. 8 pres, ADAT out. I got one and use with my 828. I did a quick test b/w the Behr pres and the ones onboard the 828. They were mightly close, and I may even prefer the Behr. Don't know if that's good news or bad ...

There's also that RME 4 channel pre.

Then again, I believe the motu pre's are there as a "last step" pre, like some of us just setting up a studio are getting into. I'm sure there's a lot better ones out there, but then again a preamp can't do recording and all the other stuff the motu can...

atleast that's the way I look at it...

I use the motu pres to mostly record my roland synth- to record vox I go through a sytek or grace via spdif through a rosetta converter. I find it a great improvement over the 828 pre & converter- however the motu pres are decent enough for most sources- I just like a better front end for vox and lead instruments

I think I'm going to pick up the behringer and piece more pres together after I do some work for cash or for my band....Maybe some primary vocal and such....

use the 828 pres for the vocals, not the beh's

Will do. Any suggestions on recording the vocals and mixing them afterwards? I like to have the vocals a tad louder than the music, personally. I'm using a cheap ($100) condensor mic that has a pretty good sound to it, so should I worry about adding any kind of compression or effects or anything to the vocals after recording, or just leaving them alone and trying to get the best true to life sound as possible?

any tips/experiences/etc...?

yzfwv wrote: Any suggestions on recording the vocals and mixing them afterwards? ... should I worry about adding any kind of compression or effects or anything to the vocals after recording ...?

Oh boy. Do some searching. There's a ton out there. Keep learning!

I picked up a new Mackie Onyx 1620 for $525 at GC. Works great. Really good pres.