[lespaul]

All PRO level opinions would be greatly appreciated:

I need some guidance in what to do here....

My personal project/songwriter studio needs your help. For the past year and a half, I have been tracking and mixing my OWN stuff - no
outside work - ...live guitars and vocals....to (2) Tascam DA-38's; and syncing midi tracks (loops, keys, etc) from sampler/synths. Brief list of
gear - AT 4033, Avalon 737 (direct to tape), Mackie 24x8 (monitor and mix to Panasonic SV3800, burn to Tascam CD recorder), MOTU Midi
Express XT running a sampler and a few synth modules, a few inexpensive outboard processers (typical Alesis/Lexicon fare)

4 months ago I bought a G4 Yosemite 400 / 192mb to incorporate more pro level midi (NO hard disk Audio yet) applications - Logic & Digital
Perfomer; AND with the intention of eventually buying an audio card ( this is just at the time the 001 came out; and the 2408 gaining in
popularity). So now I have the computer stuff happening - midi is becoming more sophisticated, getting good tracking done....then, .DA-38 #2
starts giving me trouble with errors. While it's in the shop, of course all I can think of is what to do next - I bought tape machines so I 'd
have an easy, trouble free, reliable way to get stuff down and backed up. Is it time to dump them altogether?

Now that I already have the G4, I am at a crossroads - what do you all think is the best step UP (NOT DOWN/ACROSS)? What will be most
cost effective AND make the music sound better?

1) I had previously considered a standalone hard disk to sync to the midi/MAC (Roland VS 1680/1880) but this seems a bit of a step down -
too much in one box, not great converters. I guess the step UP from this would be the new Tascam 24 track or Mackie unit. bigger bucks,
still need backup/archive system, better off used with digital desk (D8B, etc.) May be cost prohibitive - but if it's that much better, I can
scratch #2-3 and WAIT!

2) MOTU 2408Mk II would go well with DP (Already own for MIDI, just add Audio), could keep DA 38 tape machine(s) for importing tracks
to and from other studios/backup. BUT I have never done this, so I don't know why I would need this feature. Good value.. BUT - do I want
something that revolves around STILL using tape machines - I guess I could eventually add a digital desk and lightpipe to the 2408 (and use the TDIF/ADAT digital ins-outs for THAT instead of DA 38's). so I don't have to use the mouse for everything. I only have a few hundred dollars invested in this (DP software and Midi Express).

3) Digi 001 - great audio software - limited pro midi / MTC abilties; unbalanced outs (not "pro" enough?). All in one box could be a plus or a minus - too
much in one unit - MIDI AND mic pres?, but it's more elegant than syncing tape machines! Don't like the idea of having to use OMS; but you get to
use Pro Tools!!!

Still a bit shaky on: latency, crashes, backing up/archiving with hard disk vs. tape, but would LOVE the faster way of working and editing...#2
and #3 would of course require buying SCSI hard drive for audio(?), cd burner for archiving, more ram for MAC(?).

I COULD just keep doing things the way I am, but am afraid of having to keep fixing, spending money on tape machine repair, I'd rather be
buying mics, guitars/amps, plugins, and stuff that makes music.

Please help - I want to stop thinking about my studio problems and get on with making songs.

Thanks SO MUCH.