Mbox Vs. The Rest Of The Usb World, guidance for powerbook recording set up Options

[tgwj]

I have a g4 powerbook 867 Mhz, 384 mb RAM, running 10.2.8. After some investigation, I've narrowed my choices down to two, for money, quality and reliability: getting an M-Audio Duo and Logic Audio Big Box or getting the Digidesign M-box. (roughly $500 for either) I'm wondering if there's any major differences between the two set-ups (hardware or software advantages, etc.) and also if anyone has any recommendations or warnings for me on my set up in general.

I'll be doing some recording with a mixer probably or just using the 2 inputs for mics, etc. I recognize the limitations of USB but I need good software more than inputs/outputs right now. Maybe I'll upgrade to FireWire sometime. Thanks for your advice!

[gahlord]

Hey all,

So this topic is sorta like what I need to know. Now that GarageBand is coming (please don't groan too loud... I'll get something nicer later) I'm getting excited about getting back into recording a bit.

What I want to do:
Record live music.
Record more than two channels at once.
Do a little bit of MIDI messing around.

What I currently have:
12" PBG4 867
8 channel mixer
a bunch of mics some good, some bad
GarageBand (real soon)

When I was a kid I used to mess with a 4-track. That was great. I'd love to get at least 4 channels in (I know a human drummer and you need at least 3 mics to begin getting drums on tape).

I do have an 8-channel mixer so I could smash everything down to two channels that way. But I'd rather do it in the software (I'm sure you understand).

So to the real question:

What AD converter thingie can/should I get? I see a lot of different sound-in devices that only offer two channels (i.e. only obvious benefit is moving the converter further from the computer noise).

Thanks,
g