Newbie Needs Advice!, software/hardware setup can't decide Options

[mook noodler]

First of all, Hello! I've been looking around in here for about 3 hours now and I'm really impressed. This is one of the best forums I've been to and seems to be the most helpful. Now that my nose is well browned...

here's my situation: (and I don't mean to repeat other topics but there's so many that I'm overwhelmed!!!) I've been recording music for the past 3 years or so on a PC with Cakewalk and Cakewalk Sonar. I like Sonar, but I got so sick of PCs that I went and got myself a PowerMac dual1.25 G4 with OSX. Now I needs a new setup. I record guitar, bass, vocals, and keyboard and drum machine. I have a Midisport 4x4 for midi, but I'm definitely not a midi whiz. I also have several outboard effects (delay, compression, etc) that I like to use.

At first I leaned toward the Digi 001 cuz of all the I/O's, but this forum has me thinking Logic or Cubase, which leaves me pretty confused about a hardware interface. I don't think I need a mixer type thing (already have a mixer), but I'd like something with several I/O's for sending tracks to outboard effects, and I'd really like a breakout box. I just need basic plug-ins but would like to be able to add more later. Softsynths would be cool too.

Hope I didn't go over the top w/ details. Any advice/input would be greatly appreciated, and I thank you all in advance! PS: my price range is about $1200.

[PlasTree]

mook noodler-
Word clock is a sort of "metronome" that governs the sample timing of interconnected digital audio gear. It is mainly used in larger studios that have lots of different digital devices that need to communicate with each other. Interfaces such as those included on the 828 (ADAT and S/PDIF) include their own clock signals in their data streams, but sometimes it is necessary to sync all devices via word clock to prevent audio "jitter", or clicks and pops that can ruin a recording. Word clock is not used for midi timing.

That said, you probably have little use for word clock. I doubt that you'd ever run into sync problems at your scale, assuming that you even own any equipment with digital output/inputs. This is why MOTU decided not to include the feature in the 828.

manexmachina-
I use a 600mhz iBook and a 867 Quicksilver with DP. My experiences with latency are pretty much the same with either machine. When monitoring through the virtual mixer with abundant plugins and bussing, the latency of incoming audio is very hard to notice. I don't know the exact milliseconds. It seems as good as the latency in Protool's "Low Latency Mode". I use MAS and VST plugs through the VST Wrapper, and haven't noticed a difference in latency between the two formats. I don't use virtual instruments, so I can't comment on their performance, unfortunately.

When I use midi to control my synths, however, the latency starts to get noticeable. It's not an issue when recording or editing midi notes, but when I record the audio of my synths that are being controlled by midi tracks in DP, I always end up having to back the audio tracks up by, I'd guess, 15-20 milliseconds. This, in my experience, is far from unique to DP. I've always had to compensate for latency when recording audio from midi-controlled synths. Supposedly CoreMidi reduces this issue considerably, so I can't wait untill DP4 comes out.

The DP usage of balloons is notably impressive however, and I'm wondering what they are doing in DP X since there are no help balloons anymore.

I wonder if this is what's taking them so long! haha