[BC] New Age Production Room

[Evan Elrod]

Hey everyone,
Wanted to get some opinions on something.

So we're in the process of trying to building a really nice production room.
Custom furniture, big nice room, a classy place to take clients in to 
record spots, and to run talk shows out of with people outside the station.
Basically a showcase room.  Sales manager even bought a single cup 
coffee maker to put in there.  (production/bistro?)

Now, we're not a large market, and we don't have a huge budget either... 
So what we want, and what we'll end up getting, are two different things.

What we'd like to see is a clean surface.  A very digital/virtual 
workstation.  In fact, the original statement made was, "I just want a 
couple of LCD's, Keyboard/Mouse, Mics, and Monitors on the counter.  
Mixer on the screen, etc"
Now I know there's a million different ways to skin a cat, but what 
would you get if you were in charge of this task?

The setup:
Two RE-20's, one in the operator position, and the other for a stand up 
or sit down guest sidecart, etc.  I've got 2 OC-White stands for them.
3 cheaper mics for the talk show(s) guests.  (I've been thinking the EV 
Ravens because they look pretty cool and are cheap. Maybe on booms too?)
Got some M-Audio speakers ready for use.
We've got a nice PC already... very powerful.
And We've got two LCD's, wireless keyboard/mouse, etc.

Going on from there... that's where we're getting lost and confused!

We've been looking at a lot of these type interfaces (firewire and usb)
Presonus Firestudio line of units (Firestudio, project, and tube)
Motu 896mk3
Lexicon I-ONIX FW810S
Even looked cheaper like the M-Audio FastTrack Ultra 8r
etc. etc....
Couple any of these with Presonus MSR and Fader port for maybe something 
functional 'on the desk'?

These look like the only idea to put a 'mixer on a screen' instead of on 
the desk, etc.
We don't PLAN on recording any bands, etc.  But it wouldn't kill us to 
have that capability.
Really, I'm still looking for that solution for radio production and 
live or recorded talk shows.

And when looking at these, and the different options, offerings and 
pricing... it's getting pretty confusing!
Do we need to spend more on the interface, and only get a couple of dbx 
286's for the main two mics, just using the internal preamps on the unit?
Or could we splurge on a couple of symmetrics, or a vorsis and get 
something different we haven't thought of?
Is latency going to be a big issue while recording?  How can I make this 
function more like a traditional production room, while still keeping it 
cutting edge, and classy?

Just soo many choices, and I thought I'd ask your opinions.
Thanks in advance for the time spend reading (and hopefully responding 
to) the subject.
Evan Elrod