hi arthur,
bit late to the party, but here are my thoughts:
if the basic functions and workflow of the old software is not 100% there, i would not be interested.
outside engineers need to be able to work without a learning curve, and expect standard 4k automation.
to me the biggest benefit would be to loose the computer rack / psu, and have something small, reliable & not power hungry.
being able to store auto data on the daw computer would be great, as would not having to stripe / work with smpte. (should still be an option in case tape is involved)
i guess tr graphics could do with an update (i'm kinda nostalgic about them though), but i would like to have the main screen unchanged.
same goes for soft keys.
it shouldn't feel like a master/slave scenario, you need to be able to go between daw and ssl computer flawlessly. konnektor does this really well, but the transport could feel more responsive. also the tach data is still not 100% if you do long winds. jump to the beginning of track / loop should be easy and accurate. again, konnektor already does this but could be better.
writing ssl rides into the daw could be cool, not so much in a daw controller way, but to be able to copy rides into the session in case you have to continue work on the road. this means the fader law of the ssl faders must be matched to the daw (which might differ from tools to logic etc)
are you planning on keeping all the diagnostic functions? definitely needed for ultimation!
now the fun stuff:
i like the pong game on the 9k, should be easy right?
some better motor tests, like on flying faders!
i like the idea of through hole, because that's what i'm comfortable with, but fine with smd if it's remarkably cheaper and reliable.