Roland Studio Package Pro....Thoughts!??!?

[halcyo]

Hey, I just posted this in the other recording thread, but I realize this may be up your guys' alley....Sorry to bother if you already saw this!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is my first post. Ive been over at harmony central for a long while, and I stumbled upon this fine forum, and decided that it seemed very very informative....I must warn everyone, I am no pro, and I have questions, so here goes....

Does anyone have any experience with the new Roland Studio Package Pro? My band and I are about to jump into the diy recording world. We have done some work at a few professional studios in the past, but were hoping to enhance our product by allowing ourselves the ability to work comfortably from our home, without the time and constant budget constraints of a pro studio. I own a Mac G4 Quicksilver, which I almost sold, but have decided to keep in lieu of our recent desicion to record at home...With this in mind, I was hoping to find a good audio interface/control surface/software that would give me the best quality recording on our relatively meager budget. I like the Roland Package, as it has 8 xlr ins (I need AT LEAST 8), and a real, tactile mixing and editing surface, so I dont have to mess around with a mouse so much.

I am wary of a few things though, as it seems like a package that SOUNDS to good to be true. Does this thing have onboard mic preamps? Are they decent? We will probably aquire a few decent outboard preamps, but I want to make sure that we could theoretically plug in 8 mics and go...I don't want dynamic mics to be to quiet to track because the preamps suck. I cant seem to get a real opinion on this package from anyone who actually uses one...Is this a bad sign?

Another peice that caught my eye is the MOTU 896 interface...I like the idea of firewire I think, and every review I've read says lots of great things about this machine. BUT....From here, I am gonna have to buy software, and a control surface, which is gonna run up the bill by ALOT.....Again, keeping in mind I need at least 8 XLR ins w/ good pre's, do any of you guys suggest any other quality setup for me to consider?

So anyhow, how about that Roland Studio Package Pro? Thoughts?

Thanks in advance
halcyo