I'm looking to replace my Presonus Firebox. It's old, noisy and limited. What I'm looking for is something with plenty of I/O's, rack mounted and within the $400 to $600 +/- range.
 
So far I'm looking at the Behringer FCA1616 and Focusrite Pro 40. Looking at reviews the 1616 is pretty good, but I am concerned about the overall quality. They've always seemed more of a budget minded company as opposed to higher end pro gear. Thoughts on that?
 
The Pro 40 also gets great reviews, but is said to have compatibility issues with some firewire cards and/or chipsets.
 
Any other suggestions besides Presonus? I don't think I want to go down that road again.
 
 

Nothing wrong with Presonus - almost all the interfaces (esp. on the lower end) sound about the same.  There is only so much you can do component-wise with a preamp that costs $10-15.  And they usually use the same ADDAs.  Basically, the same price range of interfaces will sound about the same. 
 
I'm using the Tascam UH-7000.  Stellar performance sound wise w/ a few flaws - higher latency over USB (11 ms roundtrip), no inserts etc.  But the preamps and conversion are good enough Tascam put the retail price at $700, just like some of the other "premium" units that have come out the last few years - audient, crimson, etc.  But it had none of the extra features so they go for $400 now.  I've got mine spdif'ed into my TC Konnekt (no sonic slouch itself) as the main recording channel, getting around the higher latency.
 
  Tascam is now, of course, in the Gibson family, so you should look at their interfaces.  They have new models out, not quite as good as the 7000, but with multiple ins/outs.  And brand new is their 20X20 w/ ADAT and Spdif as well as 8  preamps with AD but 8 outputs.  Craig Anderton loves the sound and I should be getting the 20X20 in soon for review.  It is not out but lists for $500 I believe.  It could be a winner.
 
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I'm using the sister to the FCA1616 (FCA610) and it works well for me. I just got it though so I can't attest to the long term reliability.

It's going to be a few weeks before I can actually buy anything, so I'd be interested in knowing how it's working out for you then.
 
I'm certainly not opposed to spending less money if I can, But I want to make sure I'm not going to end up with the same issue I have now by doing so, which is track bleeding and excessive noise.
 
I've asked around and got very mixed opinions on Behringer stuff.

Can't see signatures from the cell, but the only issue I know of with Saffires is Win10 drivers on the VIA chipset. They are very responsive to emails, so if you are unsure shoot them an email with your system specs and what you have questions with. I have always heard back from them in short order and they are very upfront about things.

I would certainly aviod "B" if possible. And right now I really like both Tascam and Fcusrite  as companies who seem to be building solid interfaces in the lower price points. Drivers are what count and I just can't beleieve that B would spend the money on that. 
 

I think I'm leaning toward the Focusrite. I was looking at the Tascam, but that one was to not work with Win 7 64.
 
I do like Tascam. I've used their Portastudios for years before the PC DAW's came to town.

Out of what you've mentioned, I'd go for the Focusrite.

Just a thought, but I'd also go for a USB interface rather than firewire. There are all kinds of potential issues with firewire, audio interfaces and Windows and it's a protocol Microsoft have always been a bit indifferent about. Every new version of Windows, and sometimes just Windows updates, seem to bring along some problem with audio over firewire.

It's also a technology that's likely to disappear before too long, because although firewire 400 has a quite adequate bandwidth for DAW usage (unless you want a seriously large number of ins and outs) USB and Thunderbolt have higher bandwidth which lots of things do benefit from. When manufacturers start considering what to miss out in the interests of saving money, or space for the sockets, it's firewire that gets left out first.

Focusrite or RME.

I was thinking of something with both firewire and USB. My laptop only has USB. Not that I use it for recording, but would be nice to be able to should something happen that I need it.
 
The latency is also something I've been curious about with USB vs firewire. The pros and cons there.