There's nothing really on the market that I'm aware of, in the $300 range you're probably looking at something like a focusrite, or presonus. Berringer used to make an 8-ch ad/da. Either way, you'll likely only find interfaces with 8 analog inputs in this price range, so you'd likely need to Daisy chain two together.

Kash Kimmich, post: 438621, member: 49869 wrote: I'm looking for something that has around 16 line inputs, at least 2 outputs, and a way to connect it to my computer

So you need a audio interface with 16 analog inputs..
The only one that makes sens to me would be this : http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ICE16
but it's 1k.
Unless you buy used, I doubt you'll find what you need at 300$ (or the quality will be very bad..)

Maybe the best angle would be to sell the mixer, and put the money towards adda?

I can't think of anything available in your stated price range - even used, your available budget for what you want just isn't realistic.

Even if you went the "cheap" route and chained something like two Presonus VSL 1818's together (via Lighpipe/Optical), you're still probably looking at around $300 each for used models.

I suppose it's possible you could get them cheaper than that - but it's not probable.

Another thing for you to consider - is that your Yamaha mixer is an FOH desk, not a dedicated recording console, and thus isn't really the best mixer to use for recording ( or studio mixing), and, because it is considered to be pretty dated in terms of gear - it will likely give you problems at some point - and unlike Yamaha's PM Series of desks, parts for the MC Series (2404) desks aren't all that easy to find anymore, either.

As opposed to "making what you have work", it may be time for you to consider looking at an actual digital console, as Kyle suggested.

But, even if you were able to sell the 2404, I can't see you getting any more than around $600 for it, $700 tops, and that's a "best case scenario", based on it being in very good condition ... and finding a buyer who wants to inherit a desk that not only was known for being pretty noisy, and with pre's that clipped easily, but is also now tough to get replacement parts for.

So, even if you were able to sell it for that, it would still leave you a balance of around $700 or so to get into something like the Presonus 16 S/L desk, and that's if all the factors of the deal - as mentioned above - are in your favor.

FWIW
-d.

The last MC2404 (original type) on US Ebay went for $70, although to be fair it was listed as having a couple of dodgy channels.

If you are thinking that you could take up to 16 of the channel outputs from the mixer and put them through an interface in order to make multitrack recordings while mixing, then you have the problem that the 2404 does not have channel direct outs. It does have channel inserts, so using specially wired cables (or the Hosa adaptors), you could use the unbalanced signals from these to go into an interface, but it's not an ideal solution.

Beware that the signal level is only -10dBu at the insert points on this mixer, so if you were to get an audio interface with fixed +4dBu line-level inputs, it would not give you very good signal levels.

Following on from what the others have been saying about your budget scarcely being enough for an 8-channel interface, if you were careful you may be able to get an expandable 8-channel interface unit now and consider adding a further 8 (or possibly more) channels when funding was available. The thing about the 2404 mixer that may aid you here is that it has 4 balanced group outputs, so by careful grouping and some real-time mixing, you may be able, for instance, to record a solo vocal plus instrument via direct outs and also mix a choir or a set of drum microphones down to a stereo bus output. You would then record only a stereo channel pair for each multi-mic source where it would be many more channels if they were all recorded via direct outputs. It doesn't get you the flexibility of full channel count mixdown, but it may get you something for the amount of money that you say you currently have.

Doing some further research, it appears that there are still parts available for the electronics of the mixer - it's the mechanical parts that are getting tough to find; things like PFL and Aux Post/Pre switches; faders and rotaries.

I'm sure someone with the knowledge and the skill could probably "make" aftermarket or substitute parts work, but we're still talking about a mixer that was never really designed to be a recording console to begin with. As stated previously, the preamps on that series are pretty noisy, are known to clip easily, and, as Bos mentioned, the mixer lacks Direct Outs... making it necessary to implement work-arounds which are possible, but not necessarily with the best sonic results, and certainly not convenient in comparison to what most recording engineers are used to when it comes to routing and busing signals to tape or DAW tracks.

FWIW