I am an anthropologist/linguist with little technical experience in sound engineering/music recording etc. My problem is simple I'm simply looking for the best way to solve it.

I record Nahuatl langauge material in the field on a portable minidisk, occasionally with audio tape, and (most often in a studio setting) with DAT. I am working on a online audio dictionary of this langauge. For the DAT I have coxial output; for the minidisk I have a desktop Kenwood player with Toslink and coaxial out; for the analog I have a regular tape deck.

Basically I want to be able to do the following:
1) Digital to digital (from either DAT or minidisk) to computer;

2) D/A conversion (from tape deck to computer)

3) Listen on headphones to my material

4) Record directly onto the computer with a mike input. This is not for my archive recordings but simply for when I'm working with a native langauge consultant and I want to check something quickly and on the spot (e.g., pitch contours, vowel length, etc.).

I have looked at the following sound cards:

a) RME DIGI 96/8 PST
b) Aardvark Direct Pro LX6
c) Midiman Omni Studio

The DIGI 96/8 is $299; but as far as I can tell, I can't listen on headphones without an amp, and I can't record without a pre-amp for the mike. The solution (two preamps ) would be extra money and, I'm not sure if it would be better to have everything in one system.

The Aardvark Direct Pro LX6 will let me listen on headphones, but I'd need a mike pre-amp to directly record. The LX6 runs $349. Someone suggested the Midiman Audio Buddy for $89 as a mike pre-amp.

The Midiman Omni Studio seems to allow me to do exactly what I want: Digital to Digital; Analog to Digital (both line in and mike in); 2 headphone jacks out. It costs $399.

So. Is the Omni Studio the best solution, both in terms of price and quality, for what I want to do? Is there anything else I should be thinking about, looking at?

Thank you all for your time.
Jonathan jonathan.amith@yale.edu