towards the 002r possibly today if I can get to the store in time, and just wanted to confirm something. Am I right in saying that I can purchase the 002r, minus the factory plugins saving me 250, and just install the bomb factory stuff off of the M-powered install disc I already have? Thanks in advance.

No. You can install them from the disk if they are there, but if you don't purchase the plugins (the factory bundle at +$250) then you won't get the licenses and the plugins won't work.

I hate to be the bear of discouragement, but, for some reason, I think if I were to buy a 002 today, tommorow the 003 would be announced. Im in that sticky place where I want to upgrade, but the 002 is...almost 4 years old now? best of luck. What are you using now?

Post deleted by Captain_Pants

Ya I hear that since the pre-undisclosed-webbased-online purchase only-release of the 003 has happenend that the 004 is already in the works. I hear it has 32i/o built in with up to 384k/64bit ability for a sample rate. Yep a new technology that will only be released for the 004 LE+ edition. Imagine that... Also each preamp on the board is a separate module that you can change out using vitual pre's like the focusrite liquid channel. Pretty sweet really, just drop in a API 512 and be done. Insane that it will only be priced at a mere 3K too. Upgradeable of course to 64I/O ability with Apogee converters and compressor banks for only 6K. And it has a foot print smaller than the C24. More lights though and the faders are extremely quiet and have a virtual touch feature where you can hover over them and they move. Keeps those long nights of fader fatigue down to a minimum. All and all it will blow apart any system out there for the money, but you will still be limited to buffer issues. Good luck with your 002 purchase. Doc