Mixers

Does anyone own an 8 or 16 channel mixer? I've been looking at some but I can't really decide on what's the best. I've heard Mackie is great, but I'm also leaning towards Carvin. And what about an 8-track recorder? Any opinions?

Not sure if you're looking for a big console model or something small and portable. I've got a Behringer Eurorack 802A. It's awesome and small too. Too many features to mention but it's got just about everything you need. I'm pretty sure they make a 16 track version too.
I think what I like best is it's about the size of a phonebook, but has ten times the features and 100 times the quality of what I used to buy 15 years ago that was $5000 and took up the whole room. The 802A was around $700 (i think?). You can probably search out all the details on Google or whatever.

I prefer an unpowered mixer- if you decide you need more power, you can still keep the same mixer, if you need more channels but the same power, you can just get a new mixer. Self powered boards are more likely to clip out as well.