| I can only respond with regard to the Saffire because I have one. I use it with a PC and aside from a firmware upgrade problem I had last week it's been smooth sailing. The mic pres are what they are and won't impress anyone's golden ears.
While I don't have knowledge of the others you mentioned, I've heard it said by more than a few people that mic pres at this price point sound mostly identical so there's no point in choosing an interface based upon the sound of the pres.
To answer your other question, yes you can connect the outs to an in using RCA connectors...I do it with my Focusrite and also use another pair of outs for other monitors. If you wanted, you could do a surround config (the outs on the Saffire are labeled for center, front, rear, and sub to make it easier to configure).
I'm happy with it and if I had to do the purchase over again I'd probably get either an MBox as I'd rather be using Pro Tools (personal thing) or a Saffire pro 10 i/o as I'd really like to record the drums in my attic but don't have the cashola to buy a new interface PLUS the mics. Something to think about for future use even though you only need a couple of ins now. |