Hey Sywaro. I just went through the exact same exercise as you are going through...Layla vs. the Q10 (You said you read the thread on this forum).

I finally decided on the Layla for several reasons. First off...with 8 mic pres *plus* phantom power...something had to be sacrificed to provide that much bang for the buck. (for example, I just bought a dedicated 8-channel mic preamp, and spent over $1,200 US...that's $1700 list price, *just* for the preamp!). Since preamps and the A/D converters are going to make the most difference in the sound quality of what gets written to disk...I was a bit suspicious, and decided to bite the bullet and invest in quality preamps. I mentioned this in the other thread, "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is...!"

Echo's Layla has been out for several years, first as 20-bit, and now as 24-bit. It has an incredible reputation, there are several reviews in different recording magazines, and it always scores at the top of the rating scale. The Q10 has nothing published yet, so the jury is still out. Aardvark's reputation is also good, but they are known for average-quality products at very reasonable prices...which is not a bad thing, it just depends on what you are looking for I guess. I have also heard just great things about Echo's support, which is also pretty important with these types of things. From what I hear about the Layla, you can just install it, and forget it...it is *that* good!!!

I have had mine installed for about a week now, and it has worked flawlessly (other than some level setting problems that were from the preamp, not the Layla). I am getting some *great* recordings, and I am soooooo glad that I went the route that I did.

I went with a known commodity, that is *highly* recommended by everyone that I have ever known that has had one, gets *great* reviews, and great support, vs. an unknown from a company that has a reputation for budget interfaces. After I really laid out all the options...it was a no-brainer!

Good luck with your decision, and if you do decide to go with the Q10, let us all know here on this forum how it worked...I am anxious to hear!

DH

Hi Doublehelix

It was your thread that I got the most of the info. There is one review on this unit but that is not much to go on. I wish someone would do a head to head comparison. If youre interested here is the link.
http://www.audiomidi.com/info/aardvark/douglas_q10.html

I read the review on the Q10 from the link you posted...it sounds pretty dang good! I am glad I didn't read that when I was making my decision...I would've had a tougher time!

Good Luck!

DH