Hi, my advice is to go with the first setup. You'll save a bunch of money and have something that will do a superb job in a home studio environment. Your mixes will stand up to comparison with pro mixes - if your skills and ears are there. Expensive DACs do not add much if any value, and the Mackies are darned good, too. Others may disagree, of course. Take the 2700 you save and put some of it to room treatment and you'll have a better setup than the second setup, anyway.