Greetings from Greece!

I am posting for the first time on this forum although I am a frequent reader for a long time now! I currently have in my Studio a Tascam Firewire 1884 audio interface connected to a PC running Cubase SX 3. I also have a Focusrite Voice Master which I use mainly on recording vocals bypassing the Tascam pre's!

The think is that I never use the fw1884 as a controller because I've learned to control the Cubase via the keyboard before i purchase the Tascam and its hard to change habbits now! So I was thinking of selling it and upgrade to something better. My basic needs are 1 to 2 tracks for recording instruments and vocals and I also need 6 to 8 tracks for tracking drums. I've read good reviews about the RME firefaces and I am thinking of buying one.

My first thought is to buy an RME fireface 800 and an 8 chan preamp without digital output like the Focusrite octopre le. This overcomes my budget a bit.

Also I was thinking to buy an RME fireface 400 and an 8chan preamp with digital output like the Mackie Onyx 800R thus I can bypass the onboard preamps(and use them only when needed) and use the Onyx and the Voicemaster. This will save me some money in order to put aside for a future purchase of a good one or two channel preamp.

Any other recommendations? My budget is 1500 euros ($2000)

Thanks in advance!