OO3 Rack+ Factory Description from digidesign:

Record the entire band in your home/project studio, garage, or even live! Digidesign® 003® Rack+ Factory is ideal for musicians, recording engineers, and producers looking for a professional Pro Tools® music recording and production solution that’s more affordable and portable. With best-in-class sound quality, eight premium mic preamps, and a wide variety of I/O to connect instruments, MIDI gear, and other analog and digital devices, 003 Rack+ Factory works with your computer, providing the power and capacity to record an entire band, vocal or instrument ensemble, or completely mic’d up drum kit — all at once.003 Rack+ Factory comes with everything you need to compose, record, sequence, edit, mix, master, and promote your music. It includes award-winning ProTools software, the most popular and widely-used professional music production application in the world, along with a huge collection of studio-quality sound processing and effects plug-ins, virtual instruments, compatible applications, and sound libraries to get you started creating right away. Plus, the included Factory collection of professional plug-ins (worth over $3,000 USD just on its own) will help you enhance tracks and achieve impeccable, polished mixes quickly and easily.

Hardware

003® Rack+ Factory is professionally engineered to deliver the stunning clarity of high resolution audio, and durably built to withstand any knocks and bounces it encounters when your creative skills are needed on the road.

Great I/O Flexibility

• 18 simultaneous channels of audio I/O
• 24-bit/96 kHz resolution
• 8 professional mic preamps; 48V phantom power on all channels
• 8 analog DI/line inputs (including 1 on the front panel); 8 analog outputs
• 8 channels of ADAT optical I/O
• 2 channels of S/PDIF digital I/O
• 1 MIDI I/O (16 channels in/16 channels out)
• BNC Word Clock I/O
• Dedicated studio monitor output, plus alternate control room output
• Alternate Source input for external device monitoring
• Dual headphone outputs
• High-speed FireWire connectivity

Streamlined Interface

• 2U rackmountable chassis
• 8 individual input gain controls
• 8 discrete high-pass filter switches
• Individual headphone source and level controls
• Mute switch

Powered by Pro Tools LE

• The most popular audio recording and production software in the world
• Record, sequence, edit, mix, and master with ease
• Compose and play music with virtual instrument plug-ins
• Edit audio with complete precision, and change tempo and time on the fly
• Polish mixes with access to a vast collection of sound processing plug-ins
• Powerful automation capabilities let you add motion to your mixes

The Hub of Your Personal Studio
003 Rack+ Factory offers an extensive array of mic inputs, analog and digital I/O, and MIDI I/O, making it the ultimate hub of any home or project studio, or a powerful complement to an existing setup. Connect just about any instrument found in your studio to 003 Rack+ for direct recording, including guitars, bass, synths, samplers, a drum machine, and MIDI gear. Most importantly, you can connect up to eight microphones to simultaneously record an entire band, group, or drum kit — no worrying about mic hogs or having to take turns recording. 003 Rack+ features premium mic preamps that deliver pristine sound clarity, plus its studio-grade 24-bit/96 kHz audio resolution captures stunning, high-quality sound every time.In addition, 003 Rack+ Factory provides the I/O you need to connect optical devices (such as an ADAT system) and S/PDIF digital equipment, and features BNC Word Clock I/O to sync 003 Rack+ to other external devices in your studio. Plus, its FireWire connectivity ensures high-speed data transfers between the interface and your Windows- or Mac-based computer system — just plug 003 Rack+ in and it’s ready to go.

Listen with Options
003 Rack+ features multiple options for monitoring your sessions as well as other external devices. Dedicated stereo studio monitor outputs allow you to always have reference monitors connected without sacrificing audio outputs, while a stereo pair of alternate control room outputs let you hook up a second set of speakers to allow easy switching between two studio monitor sources. Two headphone outputs, each with its own level control, enable you to run two discrete monitor headphone mixes separately from your main mix. And an alternate source input allows you to monitor signals from a connected external device.

Everything You Need - Plus More
003 Rack+ Factory comes with Digidesign’s biggest, most powerful and comprehensive software bundle yet, providing everything you need to create music, perform a composition, record audio, sequence MIDI, edit sounds, fix problems, mix tracks, enhance audio, master projects, and promote your creations. At the core is award-winning Pro Tools LE® software, which offers the ultimate in recording, editing, and mixing power and flexibility. And to help you get started, the indispensable Pro Tools Method One™ instructional DVD teaches you Pro Tools system essentials, from setting up sessions and recording audio to editing MIDI, working with loops and plug-ins, automating mixes, and more.

In addition, 003 Rack+ Factory comes bundled with over 80 signal-processing and effects plug-ins, amazing virtual instruments, professional sound libraries, creativity-inspiring compatible applications, and special artist promotion services. The software bundle includes seven powerful Bomb Factory® plug-ins, 39 essential DigiRack™ plug-ins, the premium Pro Tools Ignition Pack 2 Pro bundle, and a high-end Factory bundle of professional plug-ins.

No instrument? No problem! 003 Rack+ Factory includes a range of versatile audio applications, sounds, and virtual instruments that work with Pro Tools to compose music or to simply play — no real instrument (or musical knowledge) required. It also provides a hefty treasure trove of powerful effects and signal-processing plug-ins to enhance and perfect your mixes with truly professional results. Create optimal balance, correct pitch problems, dial up the perfect guitar tone, fix timing, boost the sonic qualities of an instrument, warm up your mixes, and more.

Premium Factory Bundle Included
The Bomb Factory and Digidesign plug-ins included in the Factory plug-in bundle are considered among the best in the industry, offering intuitive interfaces and delivering outstanding sonic results. This high-end bundle comes with all 003 family “Factory” systems. (Retail value - over $3,000 USD!)

• Digidesign Bomb Factory BF-3A Classic Compressor
• Digidesign Cosmonaut Voice
• Digidesign D-Fi™ bundle (Lo-Fi™, Sci-Fi™, Recti-Fi™, Vari-Fi™)
• Digidesign JOEMEEK® SC2T Photo Optical Compressor
• Digidesign JOEMEEK VC5T Meequalizer®
• Digidesign® Maxim
• Digidesign Moogerfooger® Analog Delay
• Digidesign Moogerfooger Ring Modulator
• Digidesign SansAmp PSA-1™
• Digidesign Tel-Ray® Variable Delay
• Digidesign Voce® Spin™
• Digidesign Voce Chorus/Vibrato
• iLok USB Smart Key

What you'll need:

• Digidesign-qualified Windows Vista/XP- or Mac OS X-based computer*
• Available FireWire (IEEE-1394) port (FireWire hubs not supported)
• Minimum 1 GB of RAM
• DVD-ROM or equivalent optical drive for software installation
• Available USB port for iLok USB Smart Key

For more detailed information and specs on the 003 Rack+ Factory check out digidesign's product page by CLICKING HERE.

DigiMax D8 description from PreSonus:

The DigiMax D8 is an 8 channel preamplifier featuring 8 award-winning class A XMAX mic preamps with 24-bit ADAT digital output. All eight preamps include variable trim control, 48V phantom power, ultra-fast acting LED metering and 20 dB pad. In addition, 2 instrument inputs are located on the front panel for direct Hi-Z instrument input. Balanced TRS direct analog outputs are located on the rear panel for routing and flexibility. The DigiMax D8 also includes word clock sync input for ultra-low jitter and robust synchronization.

The DigiMax D8 is the perfect solution to add eight professional microphone preamplifiers to any digital recording system with ADAT optical lightpipe expansion capability including Digidesign’s HD and 003 systems, RME, YAMAHA, Alesis, Mackie, and many others.

8 XMAX Class A Preamplifiers
The DigiMax D8 includes eight custom-designed high-voltage, discrete, XMAX Class A microphone preamplifiers for all types of microphones. The job of a microphone preamplifier is to boost microphone level signals to line level so that the signal can be converted from analog to digital. This mic to line boost is generally a preamplification of over 400 times the voltage of the original mic level signal. This preamplification stage is one of the most important stages that the signal will go through before converted to digital, and is why a high performance preamplifier is important to achieving great results.All XMAX preamplifiers are built with the same three elements:

High Voltage - The XMAX preamplifier runs on power rails of 30V. Most off the shelf op amp based designs run on power rails of 10V to 18V. Higher voltage power rails deliver more headroom, deeper lows, smoother highs and an overall fuller sound.

Discrete - No op amps. Only transistors, resistors and capacitors. Op amps add noise, coloration and harshness to a signal. Discrete designs deliver ultra low noise and transparency.

Class A - When a circuit is running in Class A mode the circuit is always in an "on" state operating at its optimal voltage requirements. Class A mode has zero crossover distortion and delivers purer, clearer and more musical sonics than class A/B designs which are found in most op-amp circuits.

The net result of the XMAX preamp design is high headroom, low noise, wide dynamic range and wide frequency range, and most importantly, musicality and transparency - smooth highs, solid deep lows, and everything in between.

DigiMax D8 Features:

• 8 XMAX class A microphone preamps w/ trim control
• 24-bit resolution ADAT digital output
• 44.1 and 48K sampling rates
• External sync via BNC word clock input
• Direct outputs on every channel
• LED input metering
• -20dB Pad on every channel

For more detailed information and specs on the DigiMax D8 check out PreSonus' product page by CLICKING HERE.

Bundle Includes:

• digidesign 003 Rack+ Factory 
• PreSonus DigiMax D8 
• 3' Optical ADAT Cable

Included with 003 Rack+ Factory:

• 003 Rack+
• Pro Tools LE installation DVD
• 003 Rack+ Factory plug-in bundle
• Pro Tools Ignition Pack 2 Pro installation DVDs
• Pro Tools Method One instructional DVD (Pro Tools Method One italicised & TM)
• FireWire cable (6-pin to 6-pin)
• Power cable
• iLok USB Smart Key

Included with DigiMax D8:

• DigiMax D8
• Operations Manual
• IEC Power Cord