I was thinking on using as a mixer or as a analog to ADAT, but it can be used also as DSP with the onboard Reverb+ Classic Compressor in real time...
001+ 896mk3 is a good setup talking each other via ADAT
Undoubtedly use the 896 as master clock.
Also the SPDIF out from the 001 and the second ADAT from the 896+ its SPDIF can act as a cheap extra "Wordclock" or sync clock.
Lots of ways to use that setup, but I would put a Mac Pro 2.1 on the 896 with Protools 10 HD on Snow Leopard or El Capitan. Find a workflow to do Sample Rate Conversion from 44.1/48 kHz to 88.2 or 96 kHz. Only use 001 to track drums.
Also MIDI cables to use 896 as a modern Kontakt server if you prefer keep working with Protools 5 LE, but nowadays I find LE too small for my needs. I can begin a project on OS9, but never finish on it.
A 002 could be a better partner to the 896 as it can work on 96k