I think it is. The AKM converters used in the D824/D1624/D2424 are pretty highly regarded: do a search on "AK5393" and "review", and you'll get some feedback on the converters. They are used in a lot of products, as you'll see, not just the Fostex line.
Don't underestimate the usefulness of 24bit recording. As you improve the front end of your rig over time, you'll already have the recording capability to make use of it. It's a win.
As to how much board you need: that's entirely a matter of personal working style. I know people who could do magnificent work with that machine, an 1u rackmount 8-channel line mixer, and 1 single mic preamp. I'm not one of those people, though: I personally need an input per channel; I seldom mix to a bus on the fly when tracking.
Speaking strictly for myself: I prefer an inline board arrangement to be the most productive. Which is to say, one with separate mic-to-buss (or direct out) and tape-to-monitor paths. I do not like to spend time repatching from take to take: I want to punch go and _work_. However, that's just an artifact of my own working style. It's my opinion that direct outs on each channel are a more valuable feature than having a lot of busses: so yes, a 2- or 4-bus board will do just ducky, IMNSHO. Tracking one mic per track, and then bouncing down later works much better for me than mixing to a bus on the fly, and later realizing that the balance just wasn't right for the tune...
You can make *anything* work. However, you can make a lot of things work _better_ than some of the truly regrettable entry-level hardware out there. Don't know what your budget is, but don't scrimp on the mixer: Mackie, Alesis, the entry level Spirit line, the low end of the Allen and Heath line... lay hands on, listen, and try to envision how you intend to work. I'm probably going to scrap
my Alesis Studio32 for a Soundcraft Ghost sometime in the next 3-6 months, just to have the greater flexibility: I didn't buy enough board to start with, so I get to buy one _twice_....
Hope that helps!
