As a new owner of a patch bay to solve my issues of too many synths not enough inputs I highly recommend it over a mixer. Mixers are more useful if you want to mix out of the box but I do all mine in the box and just had an inputs problem.
Bonus of a patch bay is all the routing you can do on top of the standard into and out of the audio interface stuff.
I have an 8 input sound card and patch bay solves my issues.
Ahh that’s right, I was thinking 1202 series but the mute/alt out functionality started with the VLZ versions, which had much better preamp specs and not so good at overdriving.
The OG 1604 has a lot more going for it, but might be overkill for some.
Personally, I would buy a good interface with plenty of I/O over a USB mixer.
A 1402 can be had for cheap.
Routing helps with “multitracking”.
Decent EQ
6 mono IN
4 stereo IN
2 AUX sends
AltOut 3/4
I would go the audio interface or even patchbay as well but 4 or 5 mono plus 3 to 4 stereo channels makes it a complicated choice in terms of interface. That’s a minimum of 10 INs based on minimum specs.
For less than 500€.
You simply cannot (yet) get the best of both worlds: good ADDA converters and multiple I/Os.
OP could go the mixer/sound interface route also (MTK12, Model 12 Tascam…) but sacrifices will be made.
I’m a happy owner/user of Zoom Livetrak L-12. It’s a bit costlier than your budget but I acquired mine second hand (a trade for a guitar pedal +100€). It’s doing everything I need from a mixer/interface and more. A lot of times I’m just toying around with my gear when I stumble upon something worthwhile, a good riff or a great beat, I can instantly record it on the Zoom without even booting the computer or my DAW. If it still sounds good later, I can move it to my computer for further processing.
It’s been a great way to work for me. At some point I wished I had more channels on it but then I bought a patchbay and that kinda solved the problem. The only thing missing from the Zoom is an AUX-send and return but that can be achieved with the five headphone outputs and sacrificing one channel.
Try an Allen & Heath or the Tascam Model 12. I’ve been looking at the Tascam Model series just for the ability to record to SD and overdub capability.
How about the Korg MW 2408 or 1608 jobs? They seem reasonably spec’d at least in photos and on paper. No direct outs, there are 8 sub-groups though.
For what it’s worth, I used to have a Soundcraft Signature mixer, then a Zoom L12, then a Zoom L20, and now I have none of them. They are all fine. The Soundcraft and Zoom routes are probably the best for affordability and balancing the concerns of multitracking + having a mixer (even though, in both cases—to the best of my recollection—they send over USB each separate channel pre-EQ).
I switched from the Soundcraft to the Zooms because I needed more aux sends than the the Soundcraft offers. Then I ditched the Zooms because I wanted to expand my setup and include a DC-coupled audio interface, and messing around with MacOS aggregate audio interfaces (without using word clock, ADAT-based, or SPDIF-based sync) is an unfruitful path if any of your audio paths are used for sample-accurate MIDI clock or CV signals.
In the end, I went with an RME Digiface (ADAT-USB interface) hosting a couple of Behringer ADA8200s (great value and actually totally fine Midas converters, if you can get past supporting Behringer marginally in that purchase) and a MOTU Ultralite Mk4. Ditching a physical mixer at your tracking stage can be an adjustment but it can be practical. ADAT is a fantastic foundation for audio I/O: it’s extremely extensible, as you can always add on more interfaces if you need more input channels, up to 32, at no cost to latency or signal quality.
Even if you just got a single ADA8200 plus a Digiface, it would be competitive in total price with the Soundcraft or Zoom path. You could then add another ADA8200 if you outgrow the 8x8 structure. Just depends on what your priorities are.
But, in retrospect, given the OP’s stated needs, the Zoom L-8 is probably what I’d recommend 
I can only second that. It’s the cheapest extensible route for massive I/Os. Scales great.
And the latency and performance are pretty much as good as it gets for USB. I’m simultaneously recording 24 individual channels, sending 4 tracks of audio out for outboard processing in addition to my monitored mix, and sending 8 tracks of analogue clock and CV, with no hiccups and the lowest latency I’ve ever experienced with any audio interface (something like 10ms roundtrip at a 256 buffer size).
what’s your approach for volume handling of your audio volumes - ableton ?
Bitwig, and the TotalMix app that comes with the RME drivers. I have eight faders on a Faderfox UC4 mapped to Bitwig track levels for more immediate control than mousing
thx for sharing, very interesting… i forgot about ADAT
i like totalmix i have RME as well.
so you use totalmix for initial setup, but during recordings only software BITWOF levels that can be automated / changed later on ?
it’s probably a bit of “approval” for CPU / HDD to handle recordings…
so you use a lot of softsynths / VST audio in parallel or just recordinf external gear ?
I pretty much only use Totalmix for routing stuff to outputs (e.g. effect sends), since the latency is really minimal there.
Otherwise, yeah, I just record into Bitwig with all levels up and adjust levels throughout the project later (via recorded manual changes, automations, or modulation). I also have mutes on the Rytm and volume knobs and VCA knobs closer to my actual synths (i.e., on them).
I prioritize multitracking over capturing a live mix because I’m just not there yet, at least not anywhere near where I’d like my live one-takes to be. Maybe in another 6 years.
Monitoring through software or direct?
Usually through bitwig because my rig is set up to expect a clock from USAMO.
did pretty much the same thing, went from a soundcraft mtk22 to rme digiface + ferrofish pulse16 + rme acr controller
the only thing I miss is being able to jam through the mixer and monitors without turning the computer on
oh and also I miss doing the final mix on those big faders.
sound quality wise I can hear an improvement now but in my opinion the soundcraft was pretty good