hey! We've been looking all over for you - pick up a Prism Orpheus and
a Metric Halo ULN-8 and tell us which one is better.
oh. never mind.
I use a mac. I have a MOTU Traveler (firewire) that I got modified by Black Lion Audio, and as time goes by I continue to think it's great, and I use it for just about everything in one way or another. I had some bad experiences with the pre-modified Traveler, such that I'd have a hard time recommending it (preamps sounded edgy and would go bad). The fact that I got it modified means I'm on my own with regard to MOTU support, but I like to think I could reach out to Black Lion if needed. But after a couple of years, there's been no need.
I have
an Echo Audiofire 12 (firewire) - it has no preamps, but it's got 12 nice sounding line-ins (and converters) - I can't really tell the difference between a direct in on the Echo and a direct in on the *modified* Traveler, but I'm pretty sure the Echo would have beat the unmodified traveler (but it's been a while). Both the Traveler and the Audiofire will run on an external clock, which means that, with Mac's "Aggregate Device" thing, I can run them both at the same time and have 20 analog inputs (and I think 10 more digital inputs through the Traveler), 16 of which go straight to the converters, at once - sweet!
I think it's worth looking at the Echo products on a cost/value basis.
I have a bottom of the line Presonus (Inspire 1394 - also firewire), but its preamps are too noisy for me - even with cleaner preamps, the Inspire is too limited in terms of features to do very much with (no real line ins, for instance, and only two preamps). I hear good tracks that others have made on here with their other products, like the Firebox, and it seems like a pretty good company - not dissn' it by any means.
I also have a Lexicon Omega (the only USB one I've got) that I set my son up with on Windows - haven't really used it enough to comment yet.