Also check out the M-Audio Delta 1010, it has 10 ins and 10 outs (8 x 1/4" and 2 x spdif - you can always use a quality xlr jack on a 1/4" if needs be) so you can mic a whole band live if you want or set up a serious amount of mics for a large drum kit http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Delta1010-main.html. Great piece of gear and very well priced considering the quality (very nice preamp and zero latency). If you get one of those and record direct into Reaper www.reaper.jm (if you don't already have a recording/editing solution), then you have a kick ass setup without having to spend too much. Check out the reviews online, I have one and it's perfect for me. I run a 1010 with SX3 or Reaper for recording/editing/mixing. It also supports midi and has SPDIF so you can hook up a lot of extra gear if you want (eg outboard rack gear for pre and post fx). One thing though, you will want to have a powerful laptop to be able to record multi-tracks simultaneously without any glitches.