"m-audio Firewire 410" Or "egosys Hexa-fire"?, audio recording Options

[connstellation]

Hi,

I'm very much new to audio-recording. So my question is: "What do I need to record a full Bigband?" (+-18 musicians) I already have a Powerbook 1,25 Ghz and Cubase SX.
But now... "M-Audio Firewire 410" or "Egosys Hexa-fire"?
Do I need 16 channels in from the Hexa-fire, to record the bigband or is 2 enough from the M-Audio? I did read something about "Behringer ADA8000 Ultragain Pro 8-Channel A/D D/A Converter" but don't know what to do...

Thx for the help

Brecht

[connstellation]

My thinking was: "When I record all the instruments to seperate tracks, I'll have more control over the sound" but that's not completely true. As you say: "when good mixing is done before record, it has to work fine.

I like the idea of a digital mixer (yamaha 01v) but that's a lot of money , on the other hand, I think 2 inputs is not enough (I want to use all the features of Cubase SX in more than 2 tracks). So no I first have to buy a good audio-converter that works fine with, lets say, at least 8 inputs. I think I'll make groups of instruments (like you said) to record the bigband.

So my question is still: "what audio-converter?" I am now sure not to buy the Firewire 410, but there are so many options....
When I read through all the reactions on posts (from different forums) I became crazy

What do you think of the: "Motu 828 MK2"? This converter also seems interesting to me (because of the phantom power it supports and the 20 IN's).