Hi,
At work, we have two fully featured Pro-Tools systems. Synchronized together we can easily achieve a track count of 128, with lot of FX and EQ. But naturally that comes at a very high price tag.
I use Logic Audio on a G4 400Mhz in my home studio with MOTU 24i and 2408 Audio interfaces. When Comparing sound quality, I have the feeling that the MOTUs are as good as If not better than the Digidesign 8/8/8. In my opinion they sound more open .
Naturally the track count is not the same: On my home system I can play back around 40 tracks (24 bit - 48kHz) with around 15 Eqs, 8 inserts, 2 Aux FX + a stereo insert. The main drag with a native configuration to me as compared to Pro-Tools is Latency. With a 400Mhz system, you cannot go much lower than 1024 samples, and that is a lot! When working in an integrated studio (No mixing desk), it's frustrating to try and synchronize live Synths inputs with recorded audio. And it's hard for the musician to play when he hears himself delayed in the cans. MOTU addressed the problem with a software cue mixer that greatly reduces latency, but it still cannot compare to an analog direct sound (or Pro-Tools )
I am investigating on other audio workstations too, in particular:
- Nuendo : However Cubase isn't very clear on the real performances of their system, and claI'm that it can play way more tracks, than what physical restrictions impose on a computer system.
http://

- Merging Pyramix. A very... Very interesting product... Probably the hottest new software (and hardware around). I attended a demo at work, and the ergonomics are fantastic. It is a truly powerful system, and the price is more than moderate.(Running on Win 2000, with a proprietary PCI board for processing [Mykerinos]: 64 tracks mixer, onboard proprietary processing) Main disadvantage: No midi sequencer
http://www.merging.com

Thanks for this great discussion Forum.