Pro Tools and mbox2 and mbox2 mini

Techniques for getting your tone to tape.

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MRX2099
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Pro Tools and mbox2 and mbox2 mini

Post by MRX2099 » Thu Feb 01, 2007 10:04 pm

Anyone have any experience using Pro Tools and the Mbox? I am thinking about getting either the new MBox 2 mini or regular Mbox 2 to record with, which is best and it seems the mbox2 (not the mini) uses firewire, is that how you plug it into your PC? I know the mini uses plain USB 2.0 to go into the PC to use Pro Tools, Would I have to buy a seperate Firewire card to use the Mbox 2, and which unit is better and faster?

anyone using these please chime in and let me know what you think about these 2 before I plunge into somethin I may not need or just dont think is that good or which is better........

Or is the firewire 410 that Rockstar uses better than the mbox which is th ebetter untis that can use the most/best software does the firewire 410 able to use PropellerHeads Reason and protools also
I have around $300 or so to spend I have seen brand new on the 'bay the mbox2 mini for around $300 and the regular mbox 2 for $399 the firewire 410 for less that $200 some places used.

Please help me decide


Jeff
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some days you're the hydrant

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rockstah
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Re: Pro Tools and mbox2 and mbox2 mini

Post by rockstah » Thu Feb 01, 2007 11:58 pm

MRX2099 wrote:Anyone have any experience using Pro Tools and the Mbox? I am thinking about getting either the new MBox 2 mini or regular Mbox 2 to record with, which is best and it seems the mbox2 (not the mini) uses firewire, is that how you plug it into your PC? I know the mini uses plain USB 2.0 to go into the PC to use Pro Tools, Would I have to buy a seperate Firewire card to use the Mbox 2, and which unit is better and faster?

anyone using these please chime in and let me know what you think about these 2 before I plunge into somethin I may not need or just dont think is that good or which is better........

Or is the firewire 410 that Rockstar uses better than the mbox which is th ebetter untis that can use the most/best software does the firewire 410 able to use PropellerHeads Reason and protools also
I have around $300 or so to spend I have seen brand new on the 'bay the mbox2 mini for around $300 and the regular mbox 2 for $399 the firewire 410 for less that $200 some places used.

Please help me decide


Jeff
spend the extra and get the mbox2 - firewire - it comes with protools the 410 does not. ( protools can be purchsed to use with the 410)
i use the digi 002r and protools.
Mark

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Post by MRX2099 » Fri Feb 02, 2007 10:29 am

will I need to get a firewire card also to install in the PC, ( those are pretty cheap the firewire/USB card) is that how it plugs into the PC? then just insall the software, nothing else needed? I can use plugins to get the reverb/delay, etc.?

Jeff
Last edited by MRX2099 on Fri Feb 02, 2007 10:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by rockstah » Fri Feb 02, 2007 10:33 am

yes. it connects via firewire - what is your pc spec at the moment?

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Post by MRX2099 » Fri Feb 02, 2007 10:45 am

self Home built P4 1.8Gig 512 megs RAMBUS RAM, 160G HD dual 17" monitors , Gforce 3 TI 128meg AGP Video card, 5.1 surround sound with SB Audigy with front panel s/pdif etc inputs
will this handle it??

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Post by rockstah » Fri Feb 02, 2007 10:49 am

sure - u may want to double the ram and cpu speed for more tracks/effects and performance. or just go with the mbox mini. ;)

read the system requirements for all the above mentioned. youll figure it out.

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Post by St August » Fri Feb 02, 2007 10:58 am

You would think that that motherboard would have onboard IEEE 1394
I have an older ASUS A7N8X I beleive and it has it.. so you may not have to buy a card... Just a thought.

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Post by rockstah » Fri Feb 02, 2007 11:00 am

my asus p4p800 e deluxe does. it also has 2 gig ram and P4 3.2cpu in it

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Post by MRX2099 » Fri Feb 02, 2007 11:28 am

I don't think it has IEEE 1394 , its a AbIt BE7II board without it I am sure


Jeff
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St August
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Post by St August » Fri Feb 02, 2007 11:43 am

Just went to the Abit site its got it check it out

http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/pro ... &model=165

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Post by MRX2099 » Fri Feb 02, 2007 10:31 pm

Just got around to looking at the board at home, its actually A Abit TH7II , I forgot which board it was its been like 4 yrs since I built this thing.......


so no firewire, but I see them new cheap on the fleabay :D


Jeff
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Post by St August » Fri Feb 02, 2007 10:40 pm

you can get a Belkin Fw for about 30 bucks.. and like mark said double up that ram :wink:

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Post by NY Chief » Sun Feb 04, 2007 4:09 pm

St August wrote:you can get a Belkin Fw for about 30 bucks.. and like mark said double up that ram :wink:
And a fast hard drive (or two actually).
NY Chief 5-0, transplanted in SoCal

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Post by St August » Sun Feb 04, 2007 6:44 pm

NY Chief wrote:
St August wrote:you can get a Belkin Fw for about 30 bucks.. and like mark said double up that ram :wink:
And a fast hard drive (or two actually).
Sata drives are the BOMB +1

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Post by NY Chief » Tue Feb 06, 2007 12:53 pm

I haven't posted my 2C becuase there is a lot of much more experience than I have but....

Depending what your experience level is I might suggest getting something simple such as a Guitar Port or Tone port, etc. I had little experience in the DAW world. I paid my dues on tape decks and mixing consoles. Trying to jump back I was gonna be a big sgot and go straight to Pro Tools. A few advised against it as I am advising now. Pro Tools was a major steep learning curve (for me at least) and I'm still just doing basic tracking. I should have started small then got bigger.
NY Chief 5-0, transplanted in SoCal

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