digital recorders?

[El Duderino]

Ok I bought an Aardvark Direct Pro literally a few months before the company went under. :rolleyes:

It constantly crashes, and I have to restart it's process just to get it recording again. It sounds all right, but no matter what I do I get a lound hum from my computer, because my computer is a pretty loud gaming computer. So I was looking into getting a digital 8 track. Do you guys think it would be better to get one of the cheaper $300 ones that don't really have any effects or anything and a cheap compressor/mic pre, or one of the more expensive 8 tracks. These are the 2 I was looking at... Opinions?

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=rec/search/detail/base_pid/241106/

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=rec/search/detail/base_pid/180589/

Also do you guys think I would be better off buying a seperate mic preamp/compressor or do you think the ART would be a better deal with a better comp/mic pre than if I bought a mic preamp for 150 and a compressor that cost 150.

[Peter]

ehhhh...tascam 8-tracks are pretty good. they've got a long history of doing small format recorders and they tend to be fairly good sounding and user-friendly. Look at Akai recorders, they do a good job, too. Though I don't know if they have an 8-track model.

as far as the art goes...don't bother with that. look into PreSonus preamps. they're small, have built in compressors usually and don't cost nearly as much. ART is an OK company, but they're way overpriced.