Glad MME worked for you! Sometimes the lowest common denominator is the answer 
 
Disclaimer: Like Cakewalk, TASCAM is a Gibson Brand so if I can recommend their products based on personal evaluation, I will. Although TASCAM's 16x08 isn't available yet, it has 8 line ins and 8 mics ins, internal DSP, and will cost around $300. I cannot vouch for the performance as I have not tried it yet, but I am very happy with TASCAM's US-4x4. I replaced my existing high-quality interface with the 4x4 because the 4x4 sounds better and is more stable - due to the Gibson Brands connection, TASCAM tests their gear thoroughly with SONAR.

thanks for the heads up. When the time comes, when the old XP machine finally kicks the bucket, then I'll do a lot of looking around. For now, I'm good. Mostly. hahah

MME gets a bad rap at times, but I have had the best success helping friends install SONAR on laptops (no audio interface) using MME.

@Craig I will be on the market for a new interface soon, and I am considering the Tascam 16x08, so I hope that you let us know your feedback as soon as you have one available. In the meantime, I have one question: do you know whether the drivers and DSP mixer will be able to support more than one unit?

JoseC.
@Craig I will be on the market for a new interface soon, and I am considering the Tascam 16x08, so I hope that you let us know your feedback as soon as you have one available. In the meantime, I have one question: do you know whether the drivers and DSP mixer will be able to support more than one unit?

I don't know yet, sorry.

Anderton

JoseC.
@Craig I will be on the market for a new interface soon, and I am considering the Tascam 16x08, so I hope that you let us know your feedback as soon as you have one available. In the meantime, I have one question: do you know whether the drivers and DSP mixer will be able to support more than one unit?

I don't know yet, sorry.

OK, let's wait then. :)