niknitrous, i have hd3, 001 and the mbox.
if track count is an issue, obviously you have to go with hd. but if you can deal with 32 tracks, i would say by by-passing the m-box input for another, well depending on what it is, it could be considered in the same ball park.
on the issue of rtas versus tdm, i feel rtas has it's thing happening in a good way, but it is just slightly different then hd. not better in a real obvious manner. it's really not even worth a conversation.
so, here's what we have.
hd= lots of tracks and dsp and as many inputs as you want.
oo1 or 2= more inputs then m-box, but pretty close the same amount of dsp.
m-box= an unconventional monitoring set up and only 2 inputs. but it offers great portability when used with a laptop.
as for plugs, rtas are cheaper to buy, tdm cost at least double, so that will come into play.
i've owned just about every plug, so my plug recommendations would be:
urs fultec for eq. blows BF and UA out of the water. the urs api is cool to, but the fultec beats it.
mcdsp filter and compressor bank and analog channel.
the digirack stuff is vey useful, believe it or not.
dverb. not the best, but very functional. all the reverbs are just ok but some are not worth the price of admission.
get the izotope vinyl plug for free because it is fun.
all the sound toys stuff is good to fx stuff.
also, lofi is very useful to give heavy gtrs and electric bass an analog vibe.
as for the sony eq or the massenberg eq. they are both very clinical and surgical. if you like this sort of thing i would lean toward the massenberg. but it's really hit or miss with these eq's. not because they suck, but because you really have to know what your doing from the get go, from the beginning of tracking to the end. if you are not a precision
guy, i would not get these plugs.
hope that helps.
