Problems opening projects on new iMac

Just an update on this in case anyone has the same issue.
With no solutions to hand, I decided to migrate my old iMac’s back up onto my 1TB external SSD to see
if there were any issues opening from there. Thankfully all migrated ok, albeit with a good bit of tidying up
of old programs which will no longer work on Mojave, and crucially my projects were opening and playing as expected.
I’m guessing there were support files which were needed to enable correct playback.
So, I’m booting from the external for the moment and using it as my main drive, kinda makes me think
why did I pay extra for an internal SSD now…

Would this be a solid solution going forward or should I try to ‘back up’ projects to the internal drive?

Also am still on the hunt for advice on an audio interface to replace my ageing Apogee Duet (FW400).
Recording Bass, guitar and vocals solo so don’t need a lot of I/O but latency is a factor so any help is much appreciated.
I think thunderbolt is the way to go with an eye on the future but am open to all suggestions.

Cheers
J