BobF
That's where I am, except I don't mind front connects. I don't need the number of inputs I have for concurrent recording, it's about having different sources cabled with levels set and ready to go.
I have a collection of stuff to trade myself. I'm thinking about a PreSonus Studio 1824. They're 5 bills every day, but with trade in and trade in discount, I could prolly get one for not much cash outlay.
I've never used one though.
Having all your stuff ready to record is where it's at. I can't count the number of times I've lost the spark of imagination before getting an idea recorded because I had to stop and be the engineer for the recording.
Just to jam around on bass, guitar, or keys I'm already in the DAW to make the routing to my monitors, so if a great musical idea were to happen, hitting record is really all that is necessary.
The bass player with the band I was playing in has the PreSonus 1824 in his studio. He uses it on a Mac with Logic or something. I never got to play with it, but he runs a busy studio using it, and has said he really likes it.