Trouble deciding on ideal Pro Tools setup - non-HD, HD Native, HDX, etc.

[rockafella]

Hi again to anyone who posted - and thanks to the Mods for posting my other original messages, in sequence! :)

Anyway, just to wrap up - I think I've found the ideal solution for now... I've obtained a second-hand HD MADI, and also, the kingpin of this - a MOTU 112D. I've already seen one YouTube video linking a Presonus 16R to the 112D, so it should work fine with the 32R and the StudioLive mixer.

[rockafella]

(the forum will still only let me post very short messages! I guess this gets upgraded with more posts?)

...continued...

In the end, this seems the best solution (along with an HDX card for the MADI) - if I find I don't like HDX, I can swap out to an HD Native card or Thunderbolt device.

[rockafella]

Plus, if I use other DAWs, which I will still - the 112D will present my hodgepodge of AVB and ADAT and AES/EBU converters to the computer via low-latency Thunderbolt 2! Take THAT, ye who preach the use of "aggregate audio devices" in Mac OS! :) (seriously, though - that software aggregate always runs the risk of the clock going out of sync across interfaces, from what I understand, even if they're synced directly via word clock - whereas this way, the 112D is physically aggregating them and clocking/being clocked from them, and presenting a unified, 128-channel I/O via the Thunderbolt port)

Who knows, if I stop using other DAWs completely (or at least lose any need to track more than 2 tracks in them), maybe I'll swap everything out for more HDIO units or old 192s clocked externally, or the various other Digilink interface solutions.

The only downside of my current plan is that I won't get the automatic recording latency compensation - but seeing as how even the Avid MTRX doesn't do that either now (which I don't get - it knows the latency on its internal I/O - I can see why not on the digital interfaces - but perhaps that DAD software doesn't allow pass-through knowledge of the fact that some converters going to Pro Tools are the built-ins with known latency, vs. outboard digital ones with unknown latency?) - doesn't seem that bad.

Thanks again to all who responded. This has been a great sounding board. I promise to strive to keep these as my longest posts on record. :)