Greetings gentlemen.
I have a question for you guys..

My current setup is as follows:

900 Athlon
a7V asus MB
628 Mb ram
PLEXTOR 12 X crw drive
ATA 100 7200rpm 30 gig HD
ata 66 5400 20 gig HD
echo layla 20
us 428
Nuendo 1.53 release

ART tube MP
Marshall MXL 1006
CAD 95ni
Orban Parmetic EQ

I want to my my system better I have about 3,000 to spend... I currently work on Hip - Hop projects tracking beats and recording vocals.. I was considering buying AW4416 but because of the balanced and unbalance analog i/o I am not confident in achieving consistent quality from the unit for tracking or dumping..

My goals are to produce Masters from this setup only thing I will not do from my studio is Mastering.

I was thinking maybe adding the Nuendo 8 I/o and 9652 card to get a better quality into Nuendo and to also expand my analog i/o to 16. I was also considering selling the us-428 and getting the Houston with it's motorized faders and natural support of Nuendo, also maybe upgrade to the Studio Projects C1... Any suggestions would be apprieciated.