MBox - a very good system
Written: Mar 26 '04
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Product Rating:
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Pros: clean-sounding pre-amps for XLR
decent version of Pro Tools
compact
Cons: high-z inputs suck
MBox needs to be plugged in to use
Digi 001 is better
The Bottom Line: Save up for the Digi 001, because MBox is good but limited -- spend extra $500 and get something better in the long run.
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| bcrussell's Full Review: Digidesign Mbox Sound Card |
I bought the Pro Tools MBox system about 1 1/2 years ago, and have been learning the ins and outs of it ever since. The benefit of using this is the ability to use Pro Tools, which is with good reason (in my opinion) the industry standard for professional recording. But remember that you can download a lite version of Pro Tools for free from Digidesign, albeit one that limits you to 8 tracks. But I've yet to record a song that needs more than 8 tracks, though I'm sure other people will find this limiting and will want the fuller LE version that comes with MBox. I will warn you, though, that I've experienced a lot of system instability when I get up to 8 tracks anyway with the MBox.
What you're paying for, along with the additional tracks and features, is the MBox preamps themselves. They're very good, at least for the XLR inputs. It's actually a dual input that takes both XLR and The 1/4 inch high-z connections sound pretty bad in my opinion so I don't use it -- there's a lot of buzz, so I had to buy a direct box with a ground lift switch to get rid of it. And there's only two inputs, which can be limiting. So yeah, the preamps sound pretty good but it's limiting. And that's what you're gonna have to use -- because to protect its software, Digidesign made it so that little blue box HAS to be plugged in your computer. That's a pain sometimes when I want to edit a song on my couch after the recording phase is over.
I've been able to make some great recordings with my little MBox, but I can't give a hands-down recommendation. If I had to do it over again, I'd definitely want a Pro Tools based system, because I love Pro Tools and what it's made me able to do with my music. But I probably would have saved up another $500 and gotten the second-to-bottom-line Digi 001 system, which comes with a way better preamp that low-end studios actually use. Maybe later on when I've got cash to burn (which will be never) I'll do that anyway.
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 500
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Epinions.com ID:
bcrussell
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Reviews written: 1
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