Advice About The Mbox, would anybody recommend this Options

[gollumis]

i am a new commer to digital recording, i have a strong mac with plenty of power. i was thinking about purchasing the mbox, is anybody familiar with this device? i am looking for quality vocal recording at a low price. can anybody throw down some 2 cents......

thanks

[arvidtp]

No, the fact that the mbox is computer powered is largely very cool. But the problems with USB come because of the way data is sent gobbles up CPU power I think. So with a firewire interface, even one for PT, like the Digi 002, you can use more of your computer's power for actually doing audio.

The mbox can work with logic or cubase or Garageband for that matter, however only one of them at once, unless you dive into Jack Tools for OS X which is really cool, but an added pain. And on some machines (like mine) the mbox causes some otherwise stable and respected software to crash sporadically (Like Reason).

You can do MIDI in Pro TOols, its just not as full featured and doesn't do notation or easy-as-cake moving/ duplicating of stuff during composition.

Logic looks like the best option right now for mac users but it is a tad on the expensive side. If you could afford it, my dream studio would be Logic Pro and a multichannel firewire interface such as the new Edirol FA-101 or the MOTU 828. But Logic Express and a more reliable cheap USB interface (like one from tascam or Edirol, m-audio too, but they don't have a great reputation because of their drivers i guess) could be comparable to the Mbox in price. I dont know how deep logic express is in regards to audio editing, but I am going to get it as a composition tool to augment pro tools and interface in realtime with things I create in MaxMSP, so we'll soon see. It seems as if logic will be more flexible as far as not being picky with what I do. It is supposed to be very CPU efficient (unlike pro tools LE) and also has the great freeze function that will let u use virtually unlimited processing/soft-synths. Logic express actually lets you have 48 audio channels, 16 more than Pro TOols LE. Both do rewire which is fun. There are also more free plugins for Logic (AU) or Cubase (VST) than there are for Pro Tools (RTAS). Its your choice. Pro Tools can edit audio wickid quick and accurate once you learn it, but doesn't score so high in the composition ease, CPU efficiency, or flexibility/expandability areas (in my humble oppinion). feel free to disagree, anyone.