Hi, thanks Daniel

Oops, sorry, I though this card was a modern form of balanced I/O. How would I connect analogue signals to this card from pre-amps then? thanks

Thanks Knut but this is way out of my dimension in price + soundcard.

Is there a card, 8 or 16 channel that will connect to an XLR or TRS patchbay that I can use with my own pre-amps?

It will take me a long time to come to a decision; and also to learn about what might be the best setup: This exercise is inspired by my DAV pre-amp.

The Fireface has been mentioned on other occassions - by Alex at DV247 for example. Would this go via firewire into my computer without a sound card?

Thanks

ok, thanks Knut: So effectively, the FF800 is the soundcard and the AD/DA.

Some more questions:

How may tracks of recording can be transmitted simultaneously down the firewire 800 cable to the computer; or should I say the DAW program?

Is there a way to bypass any pre-amps in the FF800?

Does the FF800 support direct monitoring?

Would the FF800 also be used for the final mix output that would go into my amp/studio monitors?

Is there anyhwere I can find any schematics - hook-up diagrams - for the FF800?

Thanks again 

Thanks for the reply Jeff, that answers most of my questions 

Do you also know: If I were to add some Firewire sockets to my PC, would there be any bottlneck created by using a PCI Firewire card as opposed to a PCIe Firewire card? - I only have USB.

There are at least still two deciding factors - one is time and the other is money - so I can spend the near future taking in oppinions and having a look at the manual while things, errr, mature: Extra special thanks for the manual!