I think you'd regret not spending the extra $100 for the 8pre with the added flexibility that would afford you. I'm a big MOTU fan. I've used the 896HD and an HD192 in my basement studio with Logic Pro and Cubase without any issues. People do swear by the Apogee devices, but they are so expensive for the limited number of inputs. I'd be really aggravated swapping out mics and synth cables and guitar cables all the time. I love just being able to leave all my synth, mics and guitars plugged into my interface and not having to monkey around too much to just sit down and record something.