Hi all,

I'm looking to upgrade my system soon. I've got 16 channels of instrument/mic sources, an 8-track DAW interface and four 2-track recording devices (Otari MX5050-BII, DV interface, VCR and cassette) I want to be able to plug all those into one place and pretty much never have to rewire anything.

I was thinking about the Tascam DM24 with an Analog I/O card and a Firewire interface, but with the Firewire option being a no-show so far from Tascam, I'm not feeling too great about it. I'm also hesitant about the DM-24 due to its complexity and the fact that I'm still an analog guy at heart.

Since then, I've been looking for compact (it's a small room) analog consoles, trying to keep costs low, and discovered to my dismay that budget analog consoles are designed and marketed more for stage than studio. The front runner in my mind seems to be the Allen & Heath GL2200/24, mostly for sonic reasons as well as it seems to likely have the ins and outs I need. I'm trying to map out what my new setup would look like to verify this choice. I think I've gotten the instruments, mics, DAW-interface-to-be-upgraded-someday figured out--using the direct outs of the DAW return channels for occasional surround monitoring.

Here's what I've come up with (questions follow afterward):

In trying to keep this as simple and prewired as possible and minimize the number of opportunities that would exist for starting a ear-splitting, speaker-frying feedback loop, the two things that have me stuck are...

:?: 1.) where to connect the 2-track recording devices? Traditionally in a recording setup, 2-track mixes ordinarily come from Main L/R right? I'm assuming a common stereo feed from the board through a distribution amp would probably be OK--I see no real reason to have to route different things to different recorders at the same time. I'm wondering, though is how to best deal with playback. There are returns and other various inputs on the GL2200/24 labelled as "channels 25 thru 32" that seem plausible, but how would using those inputs as recorder returns interact or limit other use of those channels given the architecture of the GL2200?

:?: 2.) where to connect the stereo control room nearfields? There is no apparent Control Room output on the GL2200 other than headphones. On a live board, I wouldn't think Main L/R has all the capability to serve as monitoring--besides I might want to listen to one thing while something else is feeding to the 2-tracks.

Just wondering from anyone who has worked with the GL2200 series if this makes sense and how would you approach this? Suggestions from non-Allen-Heath'ers are welcome too! :)

Thanks

--Bob