[TimothyJohn]

Any suggestions? In my current setup, I have an iMac core 2 duo, 3.06ghz w/8g of ram. Also a 17" macbook pro, 2.3 ghz, 8gb ram. PT 10 and 11.

Both computers can do firewire or usb. I'd have to daisychain the firewire audio drive on the iMac (done it before, no problem), but on the macbook pro, I could either stick to my Lacie ssd on the thunderbolt port for audio, or use a firewire audio drive and run the Saffire Pro through the thunderbolt port with the thunderbolt to firewire adapter. I have three usb2's on the macbook; interface, axiom pro 61, iLok. The macbook pro with mBox3 is my current preferred setup. I'm upping to 8 xlr ins.

So, presently, either system works. But for the future, especially with the macbooks, it seems as though there will be less usb ports! I'm seeing two thunderbolts, but only two usb3's. And of course, no express card, so to use UAD, I'd have to daisychain a UA Satellite. I'm also noticing no ethernet on the 15" models with two thunderbolts! What a difference from what I have now! (Cheez-------You probably have to get a thunderbolt Cinema display to get enough connectifivity to run a laptop system. So much for portability!)

So; the Scarlett is newer, but Focusrite have confirmed current compatibility and at least unofficially committed to keeping their firewire stuff working with thunderbolt.

The only other differences are the word clock and connectivity to iOS devices with the Scarlett, and I believe, somewhat better tracking latency with the firewire.

I plan to record up to 8 tracks simultaneously, using all 8 ins of either device.
And I like the future "upgradeability" of both with the optical digital and spdif to increase io later. Can usb2 handle recording 8+ tracks simultaneously?

Any advice, insight and recommendations are appreciated, I'll probably pull the trigger this weekend.

Thank you for your time. The DUC is a great resource!

Tim