I've also posted this in Budget Gear as I need to keep the cost down at this time.

We have nearly all we need for live shows, now I would like to record the live shows and small studio sessions into a digital multi-channel recording. Currently I'm using a small 2 channel DAT, but find I want to be able to re-mix later.

I'm trying to decide which is the best way to get a multi-channel recording on budget equipment. I need a minumum of 12 channels, 16 is prefferable. I have a decent laptop (Win 2k OS, 2GB processor with 1Gb ram) and can get 16 line levels from our Mackie mixer.

One of the descions is should I use a stand alone recoder, or interface to my laptop with something like the MOTU line of interfaces. One concern is using my laptop that is used for my business as well and the reliabilty of Windows computers, though I have seen a friend's Yamaha stand alone recorder fail on a couple of occasions!

Most of the stand alone recorders seem to do only 8 channels at a time unless some large bucks are spent, $1500+ for used. Are there any decent ones for much less? Anyone know anything about the Alessis ADAT-HD24 24 channel recorder? I' seen them on eBay for about $850.

Does anyone know how much cpu power and memory I would need to record 16 channels at 24 bit?

Comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!