Friends,

Here is my situation.  I’m wanting to do recording at my church.  Most, but not all, of it will be live recording.  I’ve got an Allen & Heath GL2400 analog board and a Alesis HD24.  We are looking to get a Mac mini quad core.  It comes with USB, Firewire, and Tunderbolt. I've been using Apple’s Logic Studio

I’d like to be able to record at least 16 channels live, but since I’m going to be mixing from the computer, I only need a stereo pair out.

As I’m learning about this, it looks like I’ve got at least 3 options, and I would love to get your feedback regarding: 1)latency, 2) ease of setup and operation, and 3) stability. 

First option:  Use the Alesis HD24 as my A/D D/A convertors.  Get a Sonnet Echo Express, and use RME’s RayDAT PCIe card.  My understanding is that the two ADAT ports will give me 16 inputs, and I can run the ADAT out back into the Alesis and have at least 2 outs.  (I’m guessing that I’ll have 8 outs) 

It also has a MIDI port which would allow me to use it as my MIDI interface for my keyboards.

Second option:  Get a Fireface UFX that would use the Firewire port, and use my Alesis HD24 as the A/D and D/A converter.  I would then have the 8 in and outs from the UFX and another 16 inputs from the Alesis via the 2 ADAT ports in the UFX. 

I would still have the MIDI. 

One thing that I would gain is the ability to do direct-to-USB recording on the UFX of all 24 channels.  The UFX also allows me to control some settings remotely with an iPad.

Third option:  Sell the Alesis HD24, and instead, pair an Octamic II as an addition A/D converter with the UFX.  I’ll have 8 addition inputs from the Octamic, and I’ll just get a stereo output from the UFX.  I’ll still use the Firewire port, and I’ll be able to still use the UFX as my MIDI interface.

Thank you alll