Hello all,

I am looking to invest in some gear for the purposes of mobile recording.

I am looking for a firewire interface with 8 preamps of decent quality that I can place into a 3U rack bag with the option for expanding with another preamp unit in the future. For this reason I would love the interface to have ADAT inputs. I also will have the option of using the preamps in my Yamaha MG12/4 mixer using the insert points so anything with extra jack inputs could be useful. Am I correct in saying that the insert points will be unbalanced? Are there any special issues to bear in mind in that case?

I have been looking at models from Focusrite, Audiofire and PreSonus, my budget is in the £500 region.

I will be mainly recording live choirs, practicing musicians, recitals and amateur dramatic productions and recording everything into Logic on a MBP.

I currently have a pair of NT55s and plan to invest in another pair soon, if anyone could suggest a decent budget pair to supplement the NT55s that would be awesome. I have been very satisfied with the results from the NT55s especially in large spaces with the omni capsules attached. I even had ideas about purchasing a pair of ribbons at some point for the purposes of setting up a Blumlein array, if anyone has experience with this technique for recording recitals and things I would love to hear your stories.

I am mainly looking to get another pair however am open to suggestions on good mics for spotting and general purpose recording to supplement the stereo signals I will be recording.

Thanks in advance for all your help

Alex