It sounds like you just need a two channel card to putput your mix? If you are looking for a 24 channel card, the RME is certainly (in my opinion) the best card out there, but it sounds like you are going to track to the Alesis, transfer via fireport, and then mix internally in the DAW? If this is the case, than all you need is a good two channel card fro outputting from your DAW to your console and/or monitors for monitoring. The RME in this cae would be overkill. Personally, I use that RME card with an HD recorder. instead of recording to the recorder, I use it as a converter and record straight into my DAW. In this scenario the RME certainly rocks. It has the most reliable and stable drivers I have found for PC applications.