I am in need of a 4 channel input audio interface.

I am going to record my 4 piece acoustic band. I am using Sonar X1; have a 4 gb ram on my 3 year dual core old PC. We want to record the 4 instruments live, but currently I use a 2 channel  M-Audio Fast Track Pro. I need a 4 channel input. I was going to get an Akai Professional audio interface, but read in a review it is not compatible with Sonar X1. 
I would love some ideas and help in recommending what will work for under $250. 
Thanks.
Tom in Tulsa

As a second thought, will Sonar X1 recognize 2 M-Audio Fast track Pro devices?
 Can a Roland Audio device( UA 25EX)  be used  along with an M Audio device to total 4 channels? This would be great if X1 will recognize 2 input devices.

I'm gonna say a Focusrite 8i6. When I was looking for interfaces they had the best reviews for the best price. I got the model up from the 8i6 (the 18i6) and it's been nothing but rock solid. The pres sound great as is and it was extremely easy to install and it's easy to configure the settings. I think the 8i6 is around $250 (the 18i6 is $300). I don't know if the 8i6 has an optical in for daisychaining units but the 18i6 does (gives an extra 8 inputs at 44.1 and 4 channels at higher samplerates up to 96 I believe).
 
Basically anything I found in that price range had FAR less channels and didn't necessarily have better reviews (sometimes they were a lot worse). The support guys are awesome (email them before buying with your system specs and any questions and they'll reply very quickly). I also got a bunch of Focusrite plugins, Ableton Live Lite and Novation Bass Station software for free but I don't know what comes with the package now (it has changed). I haven't tried any of those freebies yet but the plugins look cool and I'm interested in playing around with Ableton just for fun.
 
The only other company that seems to come close in price, features and reliability are the Pre Sonus units. I personally didn't like the looks of them and there wasn't as much fanfare online about them but quite a few people here have said their boxes are quite good and do the job.
 
Anything else and you are either going to either pay more, get less or experience problems. I personally would love to get a MOTU but they are pricey. I'd be more interested in the Roland stuff but they seem to have problems keeping their hardware drivers up to date as people upgrade their computers. They may have gotten better though.
 
Cheers.

If they have optical in/outs then in theory you can use two devices chained together. One unit will act as the interface and the other as an expansion box. You can also try switching from ASIO driver mode to one of the others and have two hooked up at the same time but ASIO is better and less problematic. If you are gonna try that do your research to make sure everything is compatible.
 
Take a look at Focusrite and Pre Sonus boxes though. Seriously they are in your price range and will do what you want in ASIO mode.

Mando Hoss
Thanks, Tomixornot. By saying that I cannot mix interfaces, do you mean that I can't use  Roland and M Audio devices at the same time in X1? Has anyone successfully used 2 M Audio input devices?
 
I will look at the the Alexis and all suggestions. Remember, we do not use or need midi, just raw recording, as i will farm out the effects, mixing  and mastering.  

This article explains using multiple interfaces (M-Audio Delta range was mentioned).
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/feb06/articles/pcmusician.htm
 
Mixing different brands of interfaces is not possible in Windows - unless it's via ADAT (which is hardware support anyway).
 
The Alesis latest FX multimix (marked 'new' at the website) seems to offered only 2 channels support, which seems backward, and will not be suitable for your use. The older none-FX series (Multimix 16, 8 or 4) is the correct choice.
 

At the low end of the scale, Presonus is pretty good.  I basically gave away my firepod, since my cousin never paid me the $100.  You should be able to find on of those cheap, or the upgrade to it - the Firestudio.  If you are doing bands you'll want to have 8 or more inputs at some point and that is the cheapest wasy
 
You can chain together certain makes of interfaces but they have be designed to work together.  I know the firepod was supposed to do - my cousin had one and he wanted to gang them together.  Whether that worked or not I don't know and it would cost my cousin a c-note to tell me. ;-)
 
Something to file away now, rather than get frustrated later.  ASIO - the prefered music driver, can only have one driver at a time in que.  You have to uncheck everything else ASIO or you'll never get a drop of sound out of any ASIO unit.
 
Good hunting.