In this price range, there were only a couple interfaces to choose from and presonus has a good reputation and from reviews I read the Firebox produced less latency due to the high speed firewire connection as opposed to USB.
I used this interface with a homebuilt 1.3ghz PC with a gig of ram, and Cubase LE which was free with the Firebox, and my wharfedale 8.1 monitors. I was mostly using it (and its phantom power) to record acoustic and electric guitar with a large diaphram condensor mic, I rarely went direct through it except for bass which it handled nicely. Having 2 quality XLR inputs right on the front is nice so I'm not groping around back. It would have been nice to have all the inputs on the front, but.... I only use 1 or 2 anyway.
I have to say, this thing is pretty beefy with its metal case and metal knobs. As small and portable as it is (a huge plus for those of us on the go with our gear) it would have been nice to get a dedicated carrying case instead of a foam lined package it comes in.

The software installed no problem, compatible from the get go which is great because I am NOT a techhead. Cubease LE was a bit of a challenge getting the settings on the Firebox ready to record, but the manual helped.

Once I got it rolling, I never had a problem with the software. I only got noticeable latency when I was using my Drumkit From Hell which hogs up the ram on my computer, and it was bad. I only recorded one track at a time so I guess I've never really put it through its paces, it can record 4 simultaneously.

The M-Audio Oxygen 8 is a 2 octave MIDI controller with a volume lever, pitch and modulation wheels, octave up and down buttons and programmable knobs for control of plug-ins and virtual instruments. It has both MIDI inputs and outputs as well as a USB input which powers it if you don't have the power supply (which I don't).

The feel of the keyboard seems normal to me. The keys are easy to press down and the action is very friendly. Overall set up was pretty easy for the keyboard, but it really depends what software you are running it with. I use it with Reason 3.0 and have had a few problems setting it up with that. On my PC, unless you install the keyboard right when you are installing Reason, you must go back and reinstall Reason so that the keyboard is programed with it correctly. The patch selection is simple enough, as I just toggle on my computer. I had no manual with it because I bought it used, but I can definitely see it coming in handy.

I've been using the Control 24 on and off for about 2 years. Its a great controller for Pro Tools software, but that is about all it is good for. If you are looking to have some real life faders and controls for your DAW, this is a great board. There are endless features on this board, most of which I have not even ventured into and probably never will. But it is easy enough to figure out the basic functions and can be a lot of fun to play with. I'm not a huge fan of the Focusrite built in preamps and would suggest having some outboard pres before you buy this. The price is certainly a big obstacle for most on this, which is probably why you only really see them in bigger studios. If you have a small project studio and want some real faders to work with, I would suggest looking into a smaller digital board. However, for what this really is (a big toy that controls things in Pro Tools without having to use a mouse), it certainly does its job. Its always nice to have some real faders when mixing and editing and I enjoying using many of the shortcut buttons this thing has on it, not to mention it will certainly impress the clients just from the look of it.

I've had my Tascam VL-S21 for about 6 months now and I really like the sound of these. Let me say first that I have a pair pf Yamaha NS-10Ms for mixing and primarily use my Tascams to listen to mixes on a separate pair of speakers and for just general computer and music speakers. It has a real full sound and I love the sleak design it has. Although I would prefer to have another set of studio monitors to listen to mixes on, this does the trick at a price that is unbeatable. I do notice that because of the sub woofer it does have a heavy low end to it that doesn't always show up on other sets of speakers, for this reason I never mix with these. All in all I'm very happy with these speakers for what I use them for, but if you are looking for some studio monitors to do mixing on, I would suggest that you spend a few more dollars and get a set of true studio monitors so you can get a fuller and more realistic response from your monitors as these do color the sound a bit.

The Mbox 2 Micro is great for anyone who has a laptop and likes to do work on the go. It allows you to run Pro Tools without having the burden of carrying around a big interface. I use it all the time to do edits and mixing on the go with my Macbook Pro (2.2 Ghz, 2 GB Ram).

I have had no problems at all with installing or setting up my Mbox 2 micro, although I do sometimes have some issues with the Pro Tools software. It was really easy to set up and get going so I didn't need to use the manual at all. All I really had to do was plug it in and run Pro Tools because I already had Pro Tools installed. However, just running the Pro Tools installation disc will run you through the easy steps of installing Pro Tools.

I've had no latency with the Mbox 2 Micro, but it really depends on what machine you are running it with. There are no inputs, so you must have some sort of other interface, like an Mbox or a Digi 002 or 003 if you wish to track with Pro Tools.

Basically, I bought the 002 rack so that I could run Pro Tools. I use it with Pro Tools 7.4 with a Macbook Pro (2.2 Ghz Processor, 2 Ghz Ram) and use the ADAT feature to send it to a Behringer ADA8000 for more inputs. I used to have a MOTU 896HD and while I liked that more as an interface, I needed to start using Pro Tools.

It's pretty easy to set up depending on what other things you are using it with. I haven't had any compatibility issues with the interface, although I do have occasional issues with the Pro Tools software. The interface layout really couldn't be easier, plenty of monitoring options. I haven't had a need to ever look at the manual as it was easy enough to figure out.

Using the 002, I've had no issues with latency, but it depends what kind of machine you are running it with. I have heard it doesn't work as well with a PC, but I have no experience with that. As the 002 only runs with Pro Tools, I have had no option of trying it with another type of software. I can run 16 tracks at once, using the 4 built in preamps, the 4 1/4'' inserts and my ADAT external 8 channel preamp.

The TASCAM brand US-122 interface quite simply allows you to use two line level inputs and two line level outputs to record professional sounding audio into your personal computer be it a PC or MAC brand. It's simple to use, easy to install (literally about 20-30 minutes) and it is really affordable. We purchased it on sale for about $185.00 at a local music shop shortly after it was released on the market.

Here are the facts: Most any computer has a crappy sound card. I don't care if you bought yours for 200.00 or more dollars. It is still crappy and produces good audio for your playback on the computer but not professional for professional audio recording. Now, I know, I know...you don't want to buy anything else. I get that. You've already spent too much money now to create you home studio. I did too. But, imagine a professional CD you produce that sounds great the first time, no pops, no clicks, no hisses and is CLEAN sound.

Note: This also instantly accepts non-powered microphones and it powers them with built in trinkle power (phantom power) and it also accepts guitar levels instantly. It features headphone and separate volume control and also full MIDI for your audio recording/keyboard and sequencing. It's not cheap plastic but steel. Buy you. You'll be glad you did.