Audio interface for MacBook Pro with OSX Lion using FireWire

Hey everyone. I'm new to the Mac world, but did some limited audio recording with Pro Tools LE and Mbox on a PC platform. I found that combination unstable with XP service packs. Still have Mbox unit, but it's not compatible with newer Macs

We recently invested in a MacBook Pro with OSX Lion 10.7.2. I'm searching for a firewire interface with reasonable flexibility and MIDI capable. The Mackie Onyx Blackbird looks like a good unit with plenty of inputs, but there seems to be questions about Lion compatability. Any updates on this issue? Does it talk to garage band alright?

The first Apogee Duet is Firewire and has great reviews on sound quality, but is limited on inputs, and a fairly steep price tag.

M-audio ProFire 610 seems like a really versatile unit, but Avid hardware now has me gunshy.

Looking for something that is STABLE and user friendly. $500 max cost.

Thanks for any advice.

PreSonus | FireStudio Project

Check out the FireStudio Project by Presonus!

It has 8 mic pres/line inputs and it has 10 outputs. Musicians friend has it listed at $399.00 so it's under your $500.00 budget. It is firewire with the option of jumping more than one via firewire which presonus has with almost all of their products.

PreSonus FireStudio Project Recording Interface | Musician's Friend

Each channel has their own separate gain control with +48v phantom power grouped in 2's (1,2 3,4 5,6 7,8)

The mic pres on this are the ones used in a lot of presonus products, and from what I've heard from their studio live series of mixers they are amazing!

Hope this helps!
Good luck on future recordings!

Great reply post michaelszoke. Been reading up on the Presonus unit you suggested and it does look like a winner in almost every review I can find. Thanks for putting me on to this. I am going to give it a REAL serious look.

Glad I could help!

I'd suggest a MOTU or Avid product, I still run Lion on my old 2006 Mac Pro. It's a great machine! Out-dated by a long-shot but still does what I need to do. I'm using a MOTU 424 express card and a 24i for converting. I also have a new 24 I/O but the 24i still works great and it's been running since I got it in 1999. For software I'm using DP5 but I believe there is a program that comes stock with all MOTU rig's that is much better than Garageband. It's a bit of a learning curve but MOTU has really good support so you will be good after a short while.
Being as your using a lap=top you may want to look into a Fire-wire based unit, there is the MOTU Traveler and the Ultra-light unit's, all worth looking into but I don't know about compatibility with Lion with those unit‘s.

Hope this helps.

RaysMac,
I appreciate you providing all of those details. Veryhelpful

Welcome fiddlefork