Hello all -

Sorry to revive an old thread, but my questions are simple and it's probably not worth starting a new thread over them.

My current setup:
iMac
Echo AudioFire8 interface
FMR RNP preamp
Cubase

My recording is all acoustic instruments and vocals, tracked 2 channels per take, through the RNP preamp into the line in of the AudioFire8.

I'm thinking about hunting down a used Steinberg MR816x or MR816csx. My reasons for the switch are:
- better integration with Cubase (although hardly any problems right now with AudioFire8)
- improved A/D conversion
- high-quality mic preamps on the MR816

My questions:

I like the RNP preamps. Are the built-in pres on the 816 better/worse/roughly equal ??

For someone who does acoustic only recording, are there any advantages to the built-in (hardware) channel strips on the "csx" version, vis-a-vis the "x" ??

Thanks,
- John