Various Hardware/software Combinations Confusing.., How much is enough/too much/flexibility Options

[arenson]

I am glad I found this forum. Various posts on Apple's board and Harmony Central led me here. I have read many reviews and ads, talked to a number of people, and have an idea what I need, wi tha lot of loose ends remaining. Would appreciate any advice. I have looked at the following, which seem more or less to fill my needs, but at vastly different prices and levels of difficulty. I am trying to write my question in a way that will be useful for others, not suimply to repeat what others have said. That is why it is longish, to try to put all products in perspective. Sorry if it is too long. The more I consider, the longer it becomes.

I am aware there are other sub-forums here, but HARDWARE seems the most relevant. Hope I am posting to the right one.

HARDWARE I AM CONSIDERING
Digidesign 002, Tascam 1082, Tascam 1884, Yamaha MLan 01x. While these differ in price, they all seem similar, with the lower priced Tascam 1082 looking similar to the expensive Digidesign 002. The higer priced Tascam is still less than the Digidesign (at least in Japan it seems). Yamaha is in the middle. I am wary of various things. Maybe a chart would help....


MAIN NEEDS

(1) A firwire interface for me to record digitally to my Powerbook 1.5 Ghz Power PC G4 (1 GB DDR SDRAM). It should have a control surface. I am of the old mixer school. I feel more comfortable if I can manipulate dials and faders.

LEARNING CURVE
(2) Also, I am learning disabled (left brain tasks) to a certain extent. Diagrams of patches, routes and things like that leave me confused, though I did ok when I had a small patch bay and several open reel multitracks 120 years ago. I learn by trial and error, but the above problem caused me to ditch a Roland hard disk recorder because the learning curtve was too much for me. So I hope to find out if the equipment can be used with other than the bundled software, should that be a problem.


PAST SOFTWARE EXPERIENCES
(3) I taught myself Cakewalk (Windows) basics for radio show recording in multi track and did ok. With MIDI, I have a better experience with MOTU's Freestyle Sequencer because it seems more intuitive and forgiving, but I do not think MIDI will be my main thing. Though I wish to have it available, I probably will do more recording of keyboard audio out.

WILL SOFTWARE BE COMPATIBLE WITH GIVEN HARDWARE
Given my experience with Cakewalk, Garage band is similar (though have heard on their forums that the new version 2 has problems with crackling and popping). I have alternately been told that ProTools is easier than Digital Performer, which is easier than CU-Base, which might have problems with OS X. None of this can I confirm, though. Just what others have said.

AND SO MY QUESTIONS ON THE ABOVE HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

TASCAM 1082 or 1884 (800 dollars and 1500 dollars in Tokyo)
(1) Tascam seems to come bundled with CUbase but may be compatible with Protools and Digital Performer. I don't know about Garageband. Considering that I need software that is easy enough to learn but not that limited, I am listing these 3. Maybe there are better choices On the other hand, a look at Tascam's manuals made me wary. Seems more complex than it has to be. Should I consider instead the others:

DIGIDESIGN 002 (More than 2000 dollars in Tokyo)
(2) Digidesign ships with LE version of Protools. Is this enough or do I need some upgrade? Conversely, I have seen that it may work with other soft but wonder if anyone knows more. Specifically the above Garageband 2, Protools LE and Digital Performer.

YAMAHA MLAN 01X (About 1300 dollars in Tokyo)
(3) Have only recently heard of it, and it seems to be playing with new standards. Since I have experience with the Japanese watch industry, I am always wary of such things and new standards. Also, their Japanese online manual seemed to imply that OSX was not supported, though OS 9 is!!!!!

FOR ALL:
AUDIO INS AND OUTS AND CONTROL OF SOFWARE
(4) Does each have enough inputs for my mics and lines (I had to get rid of M-Audio Firewire 410 for this reason). I have 2 mono mics (Shure, have normal big phono plugs, can use those 3-prong balanced cables if need be), and 1 stereo mic (Audio technica), plus a Yamaha P250 keyboard (want to connect either stereo line out AND/OR MIDI out), plus 2 guitars (6 and 12-string RAINSONG) that have audio out). Plus I will want to connect my portable Mini-disk (SHARP) either via analog or digital. Not necessarily all together, but occasionally may need to when others play together).

MULTITRACKING
(5) If I use any of the above hardware with any of the above software, can I expect to use the faders and dials to record:

(a) several tracks at once (up to the number of inputs)

(b) additional tracks after initially recording one or more tracks
(I have seen that some hardware claims to have a digital WORLD CLOCK, implying that without it one would have problems)

© EFFECTS: I am not into them much, but I do think I will need equalization (either while recording on on mixdown) of EACH CHANNEL. Likewise, I will need to add echo (well, digital delay I guess), just to add presence and a sense of spaciousness. Can I do this easily, and is it via the hardware or the software (I know Garageband has it to some extent)?

-while recording (on selected tracks)
-while listening and mixing down to stereo

MIXING TO STEREO FOR CD ROM, ORANGE BOOK CD, MP3 for Internet
(6) I will primarily be making MP3 files for my Internet radio show, but will also want to burn CDS (mostly CD Roms, but real Orange Book MIGHT be useful). Can I accomplish this via the faders and dials (mix down). Likewise, see above 5C.


Well, lots of questions, but I hope they are sufficiently inter-related to be useful not only to me. Maybe one hardware/softwrare combination is better than another depending on one's skills and needs. Maybe what i really need is not listed. I have heard other names, like Mackie (but they seem to have a control surface without audio inputs). Am open to buying from abraod (Ia m in Japan) should Japan not have the best options (manuals often have to be downlaoded in English, which is what I prefer to use in such cases). Thanks in advance, and once again, hope my post is useful not only to me.