I did not go the mixer route. I started to go with a good mixer with good pre amps. But It's sooooo much easier to control it on the daw just using an interface with as many mic pre's as you need and the quality you need. And then you can add high quality external pre amps to the interface for the things you feel like you need that for.
I would spend my money on the high quality pre amps that are external rather than trying to go for a mixer with good pre amps. Rack's are cheap on amazon, if you got that kind of cash you can fill up multiple rack's.
I filled up a 12 space rack in one week building my studio.
Changing to an iMac will you be using the same program? Are you using pro tools? Or will you be trying out logic pro 9? I have experience with both. I prefer logic pro 9.
Logic pro 9 is only a few hundred bucks in the app store. It is no longer as expensive as it used to be. It comes with a suite of plug ins that sound amazing. It comes with a suite of VST instruments and they sound amazing.
I play rock/metal/acoustic music, I didn't think I would need all these midi vst instruments. But it added so much to my music. I invested in
superior drummer 2.0, even though I play drums also and have a pearl set mic'd up. Sometimes when demoing I prefer to do it with superior drummer.
I posted a lot about my studio but you mentioned moving up like I did. My recordings now literally sound like I paid a lot of money to go to a serious studio. Amazon is the best place to just shop around and compare and get everything you need at once. It will deliver of the course of a week. And you will have your studio.
First thing to buy is the rack and rack screws! I got my rack almost last! And had to have an extra computer desk to lay all the stuff on and my cats were jumping on all of it and it was very unorganized. Don't forget your multi outlet surge protector which can be had for cheap for your rack! You don't want to plug all that stuff up just everywhere.
And I'll say it again, look carefully into mixer vs interface before you do it. I did. I almost went with a mixer. If you need more inputs to your interface in the future make sure you get an interface with adat outputs! That way if you have 8 mic pre's you can add 8 more or even more than that in the future!
Go with an interface with good mic pre's, and use the external mic pre's for the stuff where the pre amp makes a huge difference such as vocals. Don't blow all the money on the mic's!
