Well want do you want to do (i.e. how many simultaneous inputs etc) and how much do you want to spend as this is only part of the puzzle?

Mackie make very nice kit however:

1) is not the cheapest

2) the blurb written about this desk is spurious to say the least. Do the 12 pres compare with an Avalon or a Great River or even a Focusrite ? If they did I'd be very I'd be surprised, especially considering the difference in price as you are paying between 1 and 2.5 k for the stand alone pres per channel !

3) You will need additional software (like Logic or Cubase or Sonar etc) and plugins (like auto tune etc) etc to use this puppy and whilst it will do multiple channel simultaneous recording, as far as I can see it doesn't have midi capability.

4) You will also want a powerful dedicated computer.

If you are very computer savy then the computer (vs the standalone digital all in one studio) is certainly more powerful and versatile, however it also take quite a lot of user knowledge to set up and use.

If you are hip to analogue recording and not so hip to computer (and don't care about midi), Id have a good look at stand alone Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) like the Korg D1200 or D1600 (check out the korg studios link in my sig). You can pick them up for dead cheap second hand and they are reasonably user friendly.

If you are determined to go the computer rout then the MOTU 828 mk II comes with its own (Macintosh OS9 / OSX) recording software and has much better connectivity than the Mackie. Its Pres are probably not as nice however it is more than capable of doing the job. You can always attach a high end pre with a channel strip later if needs be !
It comes in at about 7-800 bucks.

I have just installed an 828 and think it is totally cool !