Best Audio I/o For Mac G5 Options

[cyanbaby101]

I am building a new studio funded by my company so money is no obeject.

1) What is the best, top of the line, AD/DA converter and Audio I/O that is compatible with MAC G5 Panther.

2) If I am suping up my MAC with 8GB of RAM is it still necessary to buy additional DSP Cards for my VST processing? Ifo so, what is the difference between the two?

Thanks in advance.

[Quindo]

It all depends on what software you are using, and what you want to do with the studio. If money really is no object, and you want to use Protools, look at a Protools HD system. The DSP cards start at £6000 or so, A/D convertors to match will set you back the good part of £10000, and Digidesign is currently designing a control surface that will cost around £40000. Luckily after speding all that the software is included.
Another alternative would be to fill the PCI slots of your G5 will Firewire cards and fill a 19" rack with MOTU 828 (about £700) or MOTU 896 (about £1100) audio interfaces. You can run (in theory) as many of these at once as you like, and each one offers about 10 analog ins and outs, and 10 digital ins and outs. Unlike the Protools system, while a simple audio sequencer is included, you have to pay extra for something with MIDI and clever features. Luckily the interfaces are compatible with most any OS X audio software. The 896 differs from the 828 in having a higher sample rate and more mic pre-amps. The MOTU interfaces have built in mixers, but no practical control built in, so MIDI fader boxes would probably be required.
As mixing can be handled in either of my suggested solutions, a G5 with 8gb of RAM should handle any plugins you throw at it. The protools DSP cards also handle some plugins.
Enjoy what sounds like a dream studio.