Wanna upgrade my studio ....help me boyz

there's a load of options out there. i myself prefer the stand-alone digital multitracks (i've got a dps12i). these seem to be the most user friendly of the lot. the computer route seems like a huge hassle to me. depending on your budget, there's a lot of models to choose from. do some research, and i'd suggest looking through some reviews at http://www.sonicstate.com/digital (or some other review sites, this one seems a little out of date) for some insight as to how people feel about these recorders. these are my thoughts on it, but look into any option that seems like it might work, you'll know what's right for you.[/color]

I would disagree that Pro Tools is hard as flowers.  Since you have a mixing console and an adat, you already understand the basic concepts of multitrack recording, and that's all ProTools is, just in software form.  It's pretty straight forward and easy to learn.  
Plus the editing capabilities of computer-based workstations blows away anything that uses tape or even the hard-disk stand-alone recorders.  It opens whole new doors with your creativity.  Your multitracker becomes one big sampler.

I think most people who get overwhelmed by ProTools are learning multitracking for the first time and it's harder when  you don't have actual knobs and cords to deal with.[/color]

stick with what you've got and get ANY protools set up.
track it all in and mix there. you won't regret it. you get the best of both, hardware writing and fully automated mixing thats PROPERLY editable to what you want and you can instantly recall any of your mixes. It can be done with hardware alone but it takes longer and you can't get it back in a months time exactly how you had it.

best of luck

lex[/color]

PROTOOLS!!!! He will never look back and it's not hard to learn. In a few days you cats will have new tracks. get a 001 for $6-700 or if you want the fancy sh*t get 002 its hot. I personally use the Mbox cuz I rock a laptop to record with and I haven't upgraded to the 002 yet but even the MBOX is hot and $400. Oh yeah PT is at every studio these days so you can take your jointz anywhere and work on them. hot sh*t![/color]

Well just to give a completely contrary opinion to the majority: have you considered a DAW based around a PC and Cubase SX? It's likely to be cheaper. I have never used ProTools, but my understanding is SX has most of the audio editing flexibility of ProTools, is not hardware dependent, plus has excellent MIDI editing (i believe protools is rudimentary in this area at best). Plus you get the benefits of soft synths and plug ins (some of which are on a par with TDM/DUY or whatever Protools uses).

If you're schlepping your tracks around to studios I guess it's a bit different, because most pro studios (although not all) seem to use protools.

Just my 2 cents.[/color]