My old alesis multimix firewire 8 is starting to fade. I've had it for about 6 or 7 years and it's on constantly as I use it for my sound card. I want to move to a USB connection and I see 3 that seem to be comparable (to my old alesis) choices: 

Alesis MultiMix 8 USB FX

Allen & Heath ZED-10FX

Behringer Xenyx X1204USB Yes the alesis was a pain to set up, but once I got it it's been just fine.  I know I will get responses outside of this but this is the criteria for my needs 

I want all 3 in the same unit,  Soundcard/mixer/interface. I do not want to deal with multiple devices. My needs are simple

$100-300 range

I do not need more than 8 channels

The easiest integration with Sonar XI Producer If anyone has any other suggestions for a unit that I missed, please respond. If anyone has had any experience (good or bad) in using one  of these units with sonar, please respond.  Thanks 

the Behringer Xenyx 1204USB is not ONE UNIT.  the USB/soundcard is a separate piece from the mixer.  it's a "pod" or whatever you want to call it.  you attach the MAINs to the usb pod and plug the USB cable on the other end into the computer.

the Alesis MM8 USB does not have its own drivers.  you have to use the USB CODEC for drivers and they are very slow - in other words "high latency"

out of the 3 you listed, the A&H is MILES ABOVE either of the other two - it's not even in the same league.  get the ZED.  you won't regret that one.  the other 2 you will.

thanks beagle, but just to confirm;
 it will function as a mixer/soundcard/interface?
and it does easily integrate with sonar producer?


on the , Allen & Heath ZED-10FX I couldn't find whether it USB 2 or 1.1. It seems like they all ought to be USB 2 now (closer to firewire speeds)  but I can find very little reference about this

Any of these will integrate with sonar.  

All of them function as a separate or integrated mixer.

I don't know for certain, but I would believe the A&H would be USB 2.  I can't confirm that, tho.

http://www.allen-heath.co...&ProductId=ZED10FX

Alesis MultiMix 8 USB FX may not have 8+2 discrete audio channels into the host the way the FW does, just the stereo mix. Also, it may not even be USB 2.0. The Allen & Heath ZED-10FX also seems not to have 8+2 input channels to the host. In other words, you cannot capture the 8 separate input channels at once from either of these. I mention this only because the Alesis MM 8 FW you have does support recording all 8 channels at once, in case you have been depending on this.

bvideo
Alesis MultiMix 8 USB FX may not have 8+2 discrete audio channels into the host the way the FW does, just the stereo mix. Also, it may not even be USB 2.0. The Allen & Heath ZED-10FX also seems not to have 8+2 input channels to the host. In other words, you cannot capture the 8 separate input channels at once from either of these. I mention this only because the Alesis MM 8 FW you have does support recording all 8 channels at once, in case you have been depending on this.

That has been a good feature. Doesn't seem to be an option around the 2 input limitation in that price range anymore and windows 7 and firewire don't seem to like to cooperate. Was hoping to go to something in USB2 but for some reason, that's not an option anymore either. May have to live with the 2 inputs and go with the  Allen & Heath

As mentioned, with mixer 'boards', you need to read the fine-print to see if it has multi-channel usb capabilities. Often times, though they have multiple channels on the mixer itself, they may only have a stereo mains input to the PC. I just the other day was looking for an audio interface and was considering a 'board' as a solution (I need mixer and FX capabilities), but dropped it once I realized that it could be an issue.

I went to the used market eBay; managed to find a new-unused (opened box) Motu Ultralite MK3 just at the very outer limit of your budget, but others, maybe not quite so new, have gone for even less. They have two pre's plus six more balanced ins, 8 balanced outs, all inputs and outputs are available at the DAW (USB or FW) , and it functions as a mixer (good for tracking) as well.

Getting one of these for a reasonable price on eBay is doable if your willing to sit on an auction in its last few minutes. It's a pain to do, though in my case, available fundage necessitated it...
 

Depending on the user's motherboard, PCI may not be a good option.   On most newer motherboards, PCI is only a bridged port from the PCIe bus, not true PCI.  Thus on newer motherboards that are configured this way its best to go with a PCIe type card.
 
I looked at the USB connected mixers and every one I checked that had USB was only two channels and wouldn't work as the PC's "sound card".  There are those that have more than two channels but they were out of my price range.   

If you can save a little longer and increase the budget to $499, I'd look at the Presonus 1818VSL.
8 analog channels of I/O (with preamps)
Basically a full digital mixer sans the hardware controls (controlled via sofware)
 

SuperG

I went to the used market eBay; managed to find a new-unused (opened box) Motu Ultralite MK3 just at the very outer limit of your budget, but others, maybe not quite so new, have gone for even less. They have two pre's plus six more balanced ins, 8 balanced outs, all inputs and outputs are available at the DAW (USB or FW) , and it functions as a mixer (good for tracking) as well.

Getting one of these for a reasonable price on eBay is doable if your willing to sit on an auction in its last few minutes. It's a pain to do, though in my case, available fundage necessitated it...
 

Super G, now that you've had this for a while, any updates on how it's working for you. Is Sonar easily compatible with it? I like the manual sliders on my alesis and would find the need to add a 2nd monitor to my desk to have the controls accessible on a software based control interface which I really don't want to do if I can help it.