Back from hiatus?

[L-Dogg]

Hello all. I've been gone for a long time....not just from the forum but also from music. Several things rocked my world that I had to take a break from it. Some of that was a few industrial accidents, which are finally being settled. I will hopefully have a small settlement in the not too distant future, that I want to put back into music.....dial out my studio.

While I was still at it, I actually bought an Apollo 8 Quad but when I got it home I found it required OS11 (I think) and my Mac Pro would not go beyond OS10.6 or so. Plus no Thunderbolt. So I had to take it back.

Now....I want to purchase a new computer, interface, possibly Pro Tools 12....and a couple really good mic's.

So my long winded question is......which way should I go? What desktop computer, interface and Pro Tools version would you recommend?

You can see from my signature what I have currently. I still have my MBPR laptop, but it's the studio computer I want to change...the Mac Pro. Maybe I'll use the laptop as a slave for Vienna Ensemble Pro.

Not sure I like the trash can Mac Pro's. What's that leave.....8-core or 12-core Mac Pro old style? iMac? I like the idea of all my drives being internal...but I'm open to what is working for you folks.Budget around $2,000 or higher. Not opposed to used.

I don't want to compromise if possible and want to get something very good in an interface, excellent pre's and perhaps around $2500 budget.

Obviously if something is excellent and less than these amounts.....I'd prefer to spend less.....but not anything to the point of compromising the quality. I may even have to spend more.....I don't know....I haven't been keeping up so I have no clue what is hip these days. I'm sure I'm looking at paid upgrades for much of my software also.

Thanks folks.....looking forward to reading your suggestions.