Finally

I tried to download this and got a 403...

I'll put in another vote for MOTU. I have an 828mkII, and it rules.

I just use the outputs of my mixer into my 828. I've not really gotten to mess with the Connectiv yet though, so I can't really compare.

I may be going if I can afford it. I'd love to get together with some other netlabel heads.

AnalogX makes a program called SayIt that does text-to-speech. I've used it a number of times; it works pretty well and it's free. Google it.

steevio, what's your rig?

I've never noticed a problem with what you're talking about, and I've been doing a lot of recording directly into Ableton lately. I'm running a MOTU 828mkII at 24/96.

I worked for years with a system simpler than that. I grew up in the tracker scene, and spent years armed with nothing but a Gravis Ultrasound MAX and a copy of Impulse Tracker. It's really all about what you do with what you're given.