...I use dedicated hardware recorders.
I too am hardware only. Use Logic 8 or Bias Peak for audio edits only. I like Reason too, but use Reason 4. You talk about Rack Extensions, well I am pre Audio tracking. 
I have a couple of Tascam ones, a Zoom H2 and a KorgD888.
Fostex D108 and a Traxdata CD recorder.
Traxdata seeās most use with its remote control and quick record.
Boss BR600 and Micro BR here.
Any of these recorders have MIDI?
Fostex D108 sends out MTC and Midi Clock ,but only recieveās Midi clock.Most equipment canāt trigger it to start (only use clock)but OP-1 seems to (and I did test it).Iāve maxed out my iCM4 and have a lot to play with,so havenāt been persuing that-but it works great with an Atari St running CuBase.
I was thinking about getting a Behringer UFX1204 to use with my OP-1, couple of Volcas, Nanoloopā¦
Mostly for the built-in USB recording, and built in FX.
Any thoughts?
(Looks like 465CHF in my local shop)
Incase you havenāt seen thisā¦
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/low-end-theory/907790-alesis-io2-vs-behringer-xenyx-ufx1204.html
The older Behringer gear Iāve bought had inferior effects quality and build, but they may well be improving.
Someone on Korg Forum said their Xenyx had very good sound.
Anyone have any other mixer/recorder tips?
Anyone have any other mixer/recorder tips?
Iāve had a long out-of-production Korg D3200 harddisc recorder/workstation for like 10 years which these days gets most of its live-time as the rehearsal space-mixer and recorder. This is a great piece recording equipment if you need to record up to (but not more than) 12 channels simultaneously. I never used it for editing, mixing and mastering though, because that tiny screen makes all this impossible (there are/were some DIY VGA-converter kits available online, with one of those you can plug in an external monitor, which you normally canāt do on the D3200ā¦).
As for the Behringer Xenyx mixer, Iāve had the 1202 FX model and it does sound good, the fx are decebĆ³nt.sounding, too. I use for live performances. I doesnāt have a mains switch which is a big con, but otherwise, for the money (EUR 100 cca) you canāt really go wrong with that. Whether itās durable or notā¦ask me 10 years later and Iāll tell you. 
Find someone with a Live Lite license and go free. It comes with many new controllers/midi devices and soundcards so they can be scrounged up quite easily from a friend or bandmate.
Reaktor exclusively for Twisted Tools.
Iām using Ableton Live Lite 9 as my first DAW. Will definitely upload to Standard or Suite eventually, but even the lite version has tons of good features.
Ableton Live, Logic, Reason, FL Studio, Triumph
I have an X32 and Protools 12.8 for tracking if i need it fun to just do it all in the Box tho with the OP-1
Iām another one of those āno computerā peeps, except for audacity. Iām trying out recording to a Tascam, but Iām not sure how much I like it. What I really want is basically a digital mulitirack with the usual stuff, but OP-1 tape style.
Also: outboard fx. So many multitracks out there and so few of them have sends to external gear.
But if I wanted more from software Iād probably try to use Ardour until I broke down and got Live. Not a big fan of these though, I cut my teeth on trackers and donāt have much patience for anything that expects you to have a mouse. (I wish I still used trackers, I want a reason to pay for a Renoise license.)
Live 9 with push 2. I was using FL Studio for many years before that, but Iāve totally stopped using it since push.
My āday jobā (writer for Computer Music magazine) requires that I use pretty much everything. However, when itās time to record my own music, I fire up Cubase - primarily because I have a lot of outboard gear and it still gets on well with most of the old MIDI stuff. It has some decent included synths and effects, though I tend to use outboard gear more in my music simply as a change from my day-to-day work.
If I were just starting out (and on a Mac as the thread starter is), Iād do my best to see if I was truly going to need more than GarageBand offers - it is surprisingly full-featured and one could make full productions without ever looking elsewhere. Plus, when it was time to move to a more feature-packed DAW, any projects made in GarageBand could be opened in Logic Pro. Logic Pro is ridiculously well-outfitted with any effect and instrument one could need. It can be a bit of a head-scratcher, but it has gotten better in that regard over the past couple of years. Because oft he high-quality of the included effects and instruments, Logic is a great choice if you want to use a lot of virtual synths and processors without buying any 3rd-party plugins.
If money is tight - or if you simply want a pro-quality DAW for next-to-nothing, Ardour is well worth a look. I have been using it on a Linux box (and lately on a Mac) for well over a decade and have watched it grow into a mature and sophisticated DAW that can compete with anything out there, regardless of price - and you can get it for as little as a $1 donation (or free if you want to build it from source). Ardour isnāt bursting with synth plugins, so youāll have to source your own.
Ableton Live and Bitwig are excellent choices, particularly if you plan to work with loops (and even if you donāt). Abelton Live has become something of a standard these days and comes packed with excellent instruments and effects. The interface is easy to get on with and there are bundle options available depending on what youād like to do. Max For Live is an awesome way to build your own devices and adds a huge amount of power to an already great DAW.
Bitwigās pricing structure is a bit of a head-scratcher, but itās a great environment and its modular routing provides a lot of power. If you are using (or plan to use) analog synths or modular synths, Bitwig offers built-in CV features to control/interact with that stuff (the CV stuff works best with certain audio interfaces, though).
Studio One is also a good option, as it is extremely easy to use. An excellent interface that takes no time at all to learn, but offering loads of sophisticated features, too. It has a cool built-in modular-style plugin routing system.
Reaper is hard to beat if youāre on a budget. You can use the demo version for as long as you like with the only limitation being a nag screen at the start. When youāre ready to pay, the hobbyist license is quite a good deal. It has some built in instruments and effects, but youāll want to look to 3rd parties for high-end synth plugins.
Reason isā¦ Reason. I personally love it and have been using it since it was a closed rack with only a few instruments and effects. It gets some unfair criticism for what some perceive as its āsoundā but as a DAW it holds up to anything else out there. Plus now you can use VSTs with it. Not that youād have to! There are enough awesome synths, samplers and effects to last a lifetime in the thing.
Ah, I forgot Tracktion! Tracktion 6 is now free from https://www.tracktion.com/products/t6-daw. Tracktion is a strange duck,a s it ditches the familiar tropes of most other DAWs for an 'all-on-one-page" approach. That doesnāt meant it canāt compete with the best of 'em though. Itās quite easy to use and comes with a few instruments and loads of effects to get you started. And again, itās absolutely free - no strings attached.