[linux-audio-user] mackie onyx 1220

Hi all... Looking across my options... doing some reading on some of the pro-audio newgroups I've decided that my first piece of equipment should be a mackie 1220. People seem to like it...and its got BeBob firmware for firewire which the 1394 and FreeBob people are going to be able to support sometime(soon hopefully). Any thoughts about this choice. I am going to want a compressor limiter and some microphones but am quickly coming short on cash... any recomendations on a good and cheap compressor/limiter I can put on my vocal and bass signal paths to clean up my bad microphone technique and my really shitty bass?? Nick