Hi. I do not know if I categorized this correctly. But I am looking for a device that I can record multi-tracks up to 8 or ten at once) and use the faders on that machine for mixing purposes. I have the sonar x1 studio software and i would rather use physical faders and knobs then use the screen. Is there anything out there that is not thousands of dollars that I could use? Thanks for any response.  

A lot depends on your intentions.
 
If it's simply mixing with faders - you can do that with an inexpensive live mixer - there are lot's to choose from behringer, mackie, and others. In this scenario, Sonar becomes nothing more than a stereo recorder, which is overkill. You could use something like Audacity much more economically.
 
If you are looking to mix within Sonar, than you will need both an audio interface and a midi controller with faders. There are several maker's of interfaces - I'm partial to Motu, but interfaces with 8 pre's aren't exactly cheap. The most inexpensive controller with fader's is Behringer's BCF2000, the market goes up from there.
 
There's nothing that I know of that supports both multi-track recording and midi flying fader control that is even remotely inexpensive.

This is great. So I looked up the BCF2000. I am assuming that I can switch faders within the Sonar tracks. Normal price seems to be about $250.00. That's within budget. The question now becomes what should I use in conjunction with this machine in order to do multi track recordings with the sonar X1 program?  Thanks so much for your help. E.C.
 
P.S. I am switching from an old Roland 2400cd machine so you can see this is all new to me. 

The current inexpensive 8 tracks interface seems to be the Tascam US 1800 (currently at sale at MF) :
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/tascam-us-1800-usb-2.0-audio-midi-interface
 
 
At around 500/=, check out the Scarlet 18i20, which enable future expansion for another 8 tracks via ADAT.

Thanks. So this Tascam and the BCF2000 will work flawlessly with Sonar x1 studio? And just in case can the Tascam and the BCF2000 by daisy changed with additional Tascam 1800 and BCF2000? Thanks again for taking the time to help me. EC

You may have 2x BCF2000 (someone can confirm ?).. but not Tascam or most inexpensive interface.
 
Only some models can be expanded. Those that I know are :
- Roland Studio Capture
- some Motu model
- others with ADAT (Scarlet, RME, etc.. )

Thanks Again. I can see not needing more the 8 inputs at a time but it would be great to have at least 16 faders to work with. My biggest worry now is the set up with the Sonar software. For a person who is switching over to software, Is it going to be hard to set up these 2 units with the sonar program? I have been reading some issues. But i am wondering if most issues have been resolved by now.  I know I keep saying this but thanks again for helping me. 

The following applies to audio interface.. as I've no experience with the BCF unit yet.
 
Basically, you install the interface driver and set the driver mode in Sonar correctly. Each interface may require different setup (turn off, install driver, turn on..etc..) Best read the manual first. For audio interface you will most likely use the ASIO mode (rather than WDM, MME, etc..) but it depends on your system. Some system gets better performance by using other modes, but generally ASIO will be the better choice.
 
Sonar works best with Win 7 or 8 and a current PC spec.. (Tascam website mentioned the US 1800 is tested on Win 8 too), go fully with 64 bits if possible. Common problem is the pops and clicks during playback, which can be diagnosed by running a system latency test :
 
http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml
 
And most of the time, it's due to wifi - turning it off solves most of the problem, or turn it off at least during Sonar session.
 
Play around with the audio interface buffer size - most defaults will work, but may not give you the best real time response. Not a problem if you don't have to monitor the audio real time, especially with vst effects. For example, if you're recording a band and everyone has their amp and you're just miking or lining in the audio - leaving the buffer higher should be fine and not having Sonar to echo the output.
 
If you're doing one track at a time, such as listening to Sonar playback while recording the track, echoing it's output with sound effects, then the buffer size needs to be setup just right, so you will get the lowest possible latency before pops and clicks set in. For this, you're probably targeting around 12 msec or lower round trip latency.
 
The other consideration is making sure your hard disk spin at 7200 rpm and not lower (green drive).
 
Those would be most of what I can think off at the moment .. at least some of my own experience when I got first got started.
 

Wow. It looks like I need to take courses  in electronic engineering.
      I thought you would be interested in this review of the Tascam 2000 which is really the 1800 with LED. Keep in mind this reveiw was done in 2010. I hope the issues he brings up are resolved by now.
 
 
 
Let me know what you think because some of it is over my head. You have been most helpful. E.C.