Hi folks,
I have been reading and reading and asking a lot as well and this is what I have found:
-There are probably two major brands of firewire intefaces which have proven their quality: RME and Motu.
From these two, RME has slightly better sound quality (clear, crisp/clinical accuracy, anyway: German quality
), while Motu (Canada) has some extra options and sounds a little warmer. For example, the Motu 828mkIII has eq and compressor/limiter per input and per submix.
-Check your firewire interface. If you are on a p.c. see to it that you have a firewire interface with a texas instruments chipset as these have proven to work. pci firewire cards with ti chipset are availabe for 25 euro' s or so.
-The firewire audiomarket has opened up lately. A lot of different brands are now selling fw interfaces as well, for example lexicon. whether these products are good or perhaps better, remains to be seen; At least rme and motu have survived the test of time but that does not mean the others sell rubbish. I am only saying the gamble is a little higher.
- I own a motu 828mkIII and I am very happy with it. The eq and compressor do a very good job and the sound without these features is already very good. I decided for that one as I came from an m-audio pci interface. Whatever I would have bought, it was already a big step up and I considered the features handy and welcome. This audio interface is now abused as my virtual mixer and mastering suite and can be used standalone/without a computer as well.
M.