Composer seeking advice for home studio audio interface

Hi guys! I would like to upgrade my home studio. I know enough about mics and speakers to be comfortable picking those out, and I've already got keyboards and the software that work for me. I believe that if I invest in an audio interface it will make my work easier and higher quality, although I confess I still don't fully understand to what extent. A lot of my work is just score editing, but I also find myself quite often in need of the ability to record and listen at quality levels that my pitiful headphone-jack input/output cannot meet. It looks like the MOTU UltraLite-mk3 would be a good start. It's got plenty of ins and outs, which is necessary because I would like to be able to create 8-channel pieces occasionally. It's also got MIDI in/out, pre-amps, and on-board effects. My needs are not as demanding as someone setting up a studio for heavy recording use. I do need to be able to record from time to time, and it does need to be high quality. I will mostly use it at various points in my creative process - some recording and sampling (using Cubase now, but have been known to migrate DAWs), some synthesis and audio sculpting, and some mastering. Since it appears to be portable, I might also find the occasion to use it in live performances. Bottom line: has anyone had experience with this interface or its predecessors? Considering my needs, do you think this would be a wise investment, or are there better options, either at this price range or lower?