My new recumbent is away being powder coated and I will start buyilding it up next week ... but I am not sure what sort of crankset to put on it ...

It will have a 26" rear wheel with a 26"x1.5" high pressure tyre with a standard 32-12 9sp rear cassette and it will be mainly used on the road. Where I live and ride has a few hills but nothing horrific, and it is largely quite flattish/rolling.

So I am currently looking at a Deore/LX crank [44/32/22] or a Tiagra/105 triple crank [52/42/30] ...
which would be better and why?

What sort of crankset do you have on your recumbent? road or mtb?

If your flatish, run a 53/39/28. The 44 won't give you enough gear for tailwind conditions.

Road cranks for sure, especially since it's largely level thereabouts - otherwise you'll be spinning out in a 44. You'll really want a 52-53 tooth or larger ring to experience the thrill of high speed a recumbent is capable of with its reduced aero-profile. My own rides are typically level with some rolling hills - I seldom drop down into the 30-tooth ring, only doing so on the steepest climbs I have ridden elsewhere.

Unless you prefer spinning madly like a crazed hamster, go for the road set-up.

I have a road setup but i would like a smaller inner chainring so I can get rid of the 11-34 on back. too big of gams and it is hard to find the right cruising gear.

Most people seem to gear for hills. That is ok if you have hills as part of your normal riding area. Gearing for the exception is silly. If you are riding flatland with some rollers use a cassette for that use. I use a 11/23 on my bike with a 53/39/28. I can ride anythin' here with it. I can slap on a 11/32 and ride hills. There is much adoo about nothing concerning chainwrap and deraileur capability. I never use the lil' chainring around here so too much chain is not and issue. I canuse the lowest 3 on the 11/23 if I want, actually I can use the whole thing. When I want to use a 11/32 or even the 34 I simply add a short piece of chain with too SRAM QuickLinks. With cassette and chain managment you can have you cake and eat it too. With the 11/23 I rarely lack the right flatland crusing gear to fit the conditions.