Just as an update....

If I don't get one of these, I'll either have to look for something in the same range or not get one and pay an engineer for mixdowns.

I.e. there aint no more money in the budget!!

Mixing in the box is going to sonically kick a Mackie's ass all day long. You can do a respectable mix on a Mackie, but they're kinda fraught with a lot of compromises. They're pretty decent boards for the price point, but they're not what I'd consider a first-choice mixdown desk. They lack headroom, have a wealth of crosstalk and just kinda fall a bit flat compared to taking that $500 and buying a 1/2 day at an SSL studio. $90/hour around here will get you a REALLY nice room with a squeaky new SSL4000 (one of the last made) and an engineer. That's a friggin bargain.

I would recomend the SR 24 over the 1604 I have ahd both and for some reason, the SR 24 seems to sound better that the 1604 and it has better aux send facillities.

The SR24 is real ok for what it is ... you are running digital electronic instruments so you probably will not hear any degridation with any Mackie ... it should be fine.

This is my planned setup:

2 x synths (outboard)
Logic
Mixing desk (16 or 24 channels)
Midi controllers (keyboard and a box of knobs and sliders)

I currently have a Midiman Audiophile with 2 ins and 2 outs.

If I get a 16 / 24 channel desk, will I have to get a new soundcard? I’d like a synth on channels 1 and 2, kick drum on 3, snares on 2, hats on 4 etc. etc. rather than mixing within Logic.

I think I'm going to go for the 24 channel job, this is the s/c I'd get (I'd buy another eventually)

[[url=http://[/URL]="http://cgi.ebay.co…"]E Bay[/]="http://cgi.ebay.co…"]E Bay[/]

Do you think that because it's internal, this will be detrimental?

Could I buy an interface at a later date and use it with that card to keep the mixing away from the PC??