Hi jonesy, I don't have any experience with the brands you mentioned, but I do own an M-Audio Fast Track Ultra (USB 2.0) and love it. In my experience, it has been extremely stable and reliable (it gets a lot of use!).

It has 4 pres, and for the cost of the unit they sound fine. What I really like about this unit is that 2 of the 4 pres will operate from USB power (so if you only need 2 pres for a project, you don't need to plug in the AC Adapter). That's a huge plus from a portability perspective (sometimes I find myself editing or mixing with my headphones on in the living room etc - it's great to be able to quickly and easily take your audio interface with you around the house!). It has two headphone jacks too (great if you're tracking with someone and you want to easily setup separate cue mixes).

M-Audio makes smaller, slightly less cost units with 1 and 2 mic pres, so depending on your budget and needs, you could get one from the Fast Track series for anywhere from $150 to $375.

thanks mate looking into the M-audio but can i use this on programs other than pro tools?
because surely M-Audio is digidesign?

cheers

I have an M-Audio Mobile Pre USB. It's been very handy for a lot of less critical recording, like live recording, and as part of my test setup. The sound isn't as good as the MOTU 24i and 2408 that I sometimes use. It works with all sorts of software, including Windows Media Player, Audacity, Sony Vegas 6 etc.

Some M-Audio interfaces, called "M Powered", work with a version of Pro Tools, but that doesn't mean M-Audio is part of Digidesign. They just have an agreement to give Pro Tools some reach into the low end of recording.

Thankyou Bouldersound =)
also spotted the M-Audio Fast Track Ultra 8R looks pretty snazzy haha

and can someone enlighten me i have been Told that USB 2.0 can only record stereo/2 tracks at once is this true?

I think the limit depends on how much bandwidth you need (bit depth and sampling frequency) but I haven't had any problems recording multiple tracks at once. Specifically with the M-Audio Fast Track Ultra, if you want to record using more than two mic-pres (with Phantom) at a time, you would need to plug in the AC adapter. I think that's just a voltage limitation of the voltage supplied by the USB bus, but if you're using the AC adapter then you can use all the pres at once.

RMSaudio this is the straightforward answer ive been looking for for ages!
everywhere i ask this i get a massive long "talk" about the difference between USB and Firewire and bandwidth and stuff haha

thanks mate =)

Anytime! Let me know how you make out.