Don't bother with firewire its a dead technology.
USB and Thunderbolt can both easily handle 24 channels. Motu says they can get 64 channels IN/OUT on USB2. I believe they get 128+ using Thunderbolt.
I'm inclined to believe the Thunderbolt drivers are more reliable from a utility standpoint, meaning when you turn on the system it will remember the connections more consistently/reliably than USB which has the ability to get stomped on if there are other USB devices plugged in.
Keep in mind this is an educated guess not based on direct experience with USB or Thunderbolt interfaces.
I'm currently updating my system as well but I'm still using ADAT as my method of I/O to the computer via an RME RayDAT card.
I have replaced my Behringer ADA8200 with Motu 8Ms. I haven't tried the USB or Thunderbolt options on those interfaces yet but plan on running some tests, as I should actually be able to drop the latency from the current 6+ms to under 4ms (maybe even under 3ms).
I'm also currently working on a new motherboard configuration running Win10 LTSB.
I'll post updates about this process once I get everything fully tested.
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