[linux-audio-user] Building a Multitrack home studio

Hi everyone, I'm currently thinking about setting up a small multitrack recording environment in order to record my band's rehearsals and apply some effects. Since I use linux as my main (and only... beside a little bit of MacOS X) operating system since a few years, I want to do this under linux and found out quite a lot of information about what software can be used. However, I wasn't able to find good and reliable information about which hardware to use. Here are our requirements : - 16 analog inputs (with a phantom power-supply and reasonable preamps) - 8 output channels (5 "feedbacks" to the musicians, 1 stereo main output) This is quite a big setup and I don't think it will fit in our budget, so if we could find a solution to buy it partially and then complete it aftewards, it would be perfect.(2 inputs would be fine as a start, since we can just use two SM57 to record all the instruments and use our existing analog system to amplify the instruments that need it). Also, a physical control surface would be a plus... So, with what kind of hardware would you go in order to fullfill our requirements ? Also, is there a possibility to have some pedals connected to the computer in order to switch effects on and off while playing ? Many thanks for your answers. Best regards, Florian Blaser