Keep in mind that not al 16 of those tracking capabilities are mic iputs. There are only 10 mic inputs.

You can pick up 2 Firepods for about $400 and daisy chain them for 16 mic/line inputs. Just an idea.

yes i am aware that not all are mic inputs. My concern is having mic inputs for just the drums and using the 1/4 inch inputs as scratch tracks to later go back and rerecord the guitar and bass.

I figure in a typical micing setup I can use all 8-10 mics on the drums and go direct with the guitar and bass. Vox is not a concern because I do mostly instrumental stuff for film.

Right now the budget will not permit buying two interfaces. I need something that will give me the most bang for the buck.

Buying one interface is an idea I had to get me over that hump for the short-term. I can reexmine my options and look at purchasing another unit in 6-12 months.

Yeah, but one firestudio tube is more expensive then two firepods. ;) I do like presonus though. Haven't had a problem with them yet.

I defintely see your point and appreciate the info.

Im still looking around at my best options for the moment. I'd like to be able to record multiple instruments - mostly drums. I dont mind going back and rerecording the guitar and/or bass part - either direct or mic/ed. I usually do anyways or I double the guitar parts.

I was wondering how well the firepods sync up when daisychaining? Do
you need a wordclock to keep them in sync?

You do not need a word clock to daisy chain 2 Presonus interfaces of the same model. One is a master the other a slave, after initial set up which took twenty minutes no problems. I also use Presonus interfaces daisy chained and have not had any issues but I am running XP for my DAW computer, so can't really answer about Vista compatibility. I played with the tube unit which if I remember correctly can not be chained and was not really very impressed with its supposed tube warmth, IMO it's more hype than effect. Curious when you say guitar direct do you mean from an amplifier out, because from a Direct Box or most pedal boards you still need a preamp, but you probably knew that.
Other units Motu Ultralite or (Octo) 8 pre, Focusrite Saffire Pro 40, M-Audio Profire 2626, there are others like digi design if you are into PT.

IIRC, the presonus tube unit can be chained to the firepod studio, but not to the fp10 or classic firepod. I used to have two fp10s, under XP, never had any problems running them together - just follow the installation instructions precisely.

Thanks everyone for your replies....Any one had any issues with Presonus products under Vista?

Some people stated that the Firepod won't daisy chain to the FP10. This isn't true, they are the same unit just with a new name. The Firepod firmware just needs flashed. You can download it rom the Presonus site.

Just letting you know in case you do go this way. And you can download the Vista drivers off the Presonus site also.