Ended up pulling the trigger on the LSD2 in the YS. It will continue to be mine, and I'm fairly comfortable that in this location it won't get destroyed.
Now the question turns to whether I will even get any pre, or just leave that. Joe's suggestion of the UA-5 seems like a good one; I suppose it being 16bit is not a big deal as I could just use it as a P48 supply and then take an analog line out of it if I wanted to (right?).
Also, am I correct that multiple people could patch from it at once?
Is there any other inexpensive (under $100) analog pre that would allow multiple patchers? I assume nothing in that price range has digi-out except the UA5.
I'm pretty sure the UA5 sends a 24bit signal, but most of us used 16bit buckets with it and let them do the truncation. Newer stuff like the D50 won't work with it, but others will, plus as you noted there is multiple outs. The bummer about the outs is that the analog ones are A>D>A, but in the grand scheme of things I wouldn't worry here, cost is a bigger issue.
Yes, a UA-5 is definitely 24 bit, up to 24/96. Page is correct, back when the UA5 was in it's heyday most of us had 16bit recorders. I think the A>D>A thing is way overblown... It's a theoretical problem, I don't believe anyone can hear it.