In 2007 I made the leap from the Zoom digital recorder to a computer DAW system. Up until then, I had been able to do pretty much anything I needed to do with the Zoom MRS-1044, but it had one major drawback - the laborious process of converting a Master mix to CD's. To do so, I had to send final mixes through the 1044's optical cable to a dedicated CD burner that required special CD's. Those CD's could then be copied or burned onto regular CD's. I had long since given up the 'gigging" ghost and no longer had a need for a P.A., monitors, and a rack full of outboard gear for live sound, so I traded all that stuff for a computer based recording system. I settled on a Presonus AudioBox 22VSL, a simple two input/output audio interface with MIDI in/outs and ultra-low latency.
The AudioBox 22VSL came packaged with Presonus' Studio One Artist, PreSonus' DAW software. After this was installed on my Macbook 13" laptop, I downloaded all of the DAW plugins software, and thanks to ggod timing, I was able to take advantage of a Presonus offer to upgrade from the basic "Artist" version to the more advanced "Producer" version which included many more plugins. The downside to the exercise was the amount of time it took to download everything because of slow internet speeds. After several hours and several attempts to download, eventually everything was finally loaded onto the MacBook.
Not long afterwards, I upgraded to Presonus' Firestudio Project for my primary audio interface because, among other reasons, it offered 24-bit/96kHz FireWire interface, zero latency monitorin,g and 8 mic inputs so I could eliminate the need for a snake to mic and record my acoustic drums.
I also replaced the Fostex reference monitors with Yamaha's newer version of the NS-10's, the HS80M's. The newer HS80M model, was designed with the intention of offering a flat and true reference with a realistic degree of bass extension. Cosmetically, they are very similar to the NS10, specifically the black, no-frills hi-fi-style case and white-coned bass driver, but in reality it is a very different product featuring a significantly larger woofer. The stereo imaging is really good and the sound is very revealing of detail, in much the same way as the original NS10s were. The more pronounced bass was a deviation from the NS10s, but something that I thought added to the overall desirability of the speakers.