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looking to start a little studio.

B

BeyondMountains

macrumors 6502
Original poster
I ordered the macpro 2.8(8core)

anyway i was wondering if anyone out there could help me on software/hardware.

So far I'm thinking about:

mbox2 factory
mbox2 pro factory

Now, I believe that the mbox2 is USB1.0?
and that the mbox2pro is firewire (6pin connection not sure what this means. i never used firewire)

This makes me think these products are outdated. no usb2.0? yikes.



anyway if I purchsed one of those I'd be using protools LE
and LogicStudio.

Looking to mainly record guitars,bass,vocals,keyboard. and figure out a way to get drums in there one day.

Yes, I know leopard does not support protools yet.


Any suggestions/comments on hardware/software I should use?
Thanks for reading.
 
Firewire is almost as fast (and under circumstances) faster than USB 2.0. The 6pin is simply the type of plug - 4 pins are smaller and don't carry power, 6 pins are larger and the extra 2 get used for power.
 
exspes said:
Firewire is almost as fast (and under circumstances) faster than USB 2.0. The 6pin is simply the type of plug - 4 pins are smaller and don't carry power, 6 pins are larger and the extra 2 get used for power.
Click to expand...

very cool, thank you.

I was leaning towards the mbox2 because it was cheaper but now I will probably go with the pro.
 
if you're going to get logic, i personally wouldn't get an m-box or any of the other over priced digidesign stuff. there's lots of other great options out there that are a much better value.

usb 2 is good enough for 2-4 inputs, but if you want more than that then firewire (or pcie, which is way faster than even firewire) is the way to go.

how many tracks are you looking to do at once?
 
jhcodafa said:
Any suggestions/comments on hardware/software I should use?
Thanks for reading.
Click to expand...
I'm a musician too... waiting for Pro Tools to catch up to Leopard. I have a Digi002 and some great class A outboard gear.

There are a ton of inexpensive digital recording options these days. MBox 2 Pro is solid if you can swing the dough. Firewire is the way to go but for demo stuff, USB 1.1 will work okay, even though it is indeed dated.

The Mbox2 Pro lists for $699 but you should be able to get it for around $590 plus tax at guitar center. Just ask them (deadpan) if they can beat Sam Ash prices and when they ask what Sam Ash is selling it for, say "I think $590 or six..." -- even if that's not true, they'll lower the price. 15-20% off the online price is usually the lowest they'll go (before tax). They may try to claim there is a "hard min" or manufacturer-set lowest price -- but that is only true only for certain companies and Digidesign is not one of them.

Pro Tools is (generally) the industry standard -- but you must use their hardware. If you're going to use Logic, you can use whatever interface you want. Just search for firewire interfaces at guitarcenter's site... this PreSonus
http://www.guitarcenter.com/PreSonus-FIRESTUDIO-Project-241723-i1371793.gc
 
If you dislike the Digi hardware, you can get M-Powered Pro Tools, which will allow you to use various M-Audio interfaces, such as the Firewire 410.

And regardless of what you chose to do, a firewire interface should be your only option outside of a internal/pcie card, as USB 1.0 is, really just too slow and both USB 1 and 2 are prone to slow down when the CPU is under heavy load, while firewire is more steady in terms of speed. Nothing like doing a recording to find out that your USB had a hiccup (or 12) during the take.
 
faintember said:
USB 1.0 is, really just too slow and both USB 1 and 2 are prone to slow down when the CPU is under heavy load [...]. Nothing like doing a recording to find out that your USB had a hiccup (or 12) during the take.
Click to expand...
has that actually happened to you, or have you ever personally witnessed it?
 
Thank you so much for all the responses!


rockinrocker said:
if you're going to get logic, i personally wouldn't get an m-box or any of the other over priced digidesign stuff. there's lots of other great options out there that are a much better value.

usb 2 is good enough for 2-4 inputs, but if you want more than that then firewire (or pcie, which is way faster than even firewire) is the way to go.

how many tracks are you looking to do at once?
Click to expand...


I guess I'm looking at 2-3 tracks at once. I don't know if there is any hardware out there for 700 or less that will allow me to do drums.(i guess thats a whole different thread)

but if anyone here knows how I would go about recording drums with the same quality I could do guitars then thatd be great.



The reason I have been looking at the mbox series is learn protools, which seems to be an important program to learn if you are intrested in recording.



also, I have some time to decide. My mac wont be here for 4+weeks and I currently have no firewire input.
 
zimv20 said:
has that actually happened to you, or have you ever personally witnessed it?
Click to expand...
I have actually had 7 total performance recordings suffer from this ailment, this across different systems and in different venues. The only similar thread among the incidents was that a USB 1.0/2.0 interface was used, six being USB 1.0 and the other being a Mbox2 (which I remember clearly since it pretty much ruined the only recording of my most recent composition).

Maybe I am unlucky, but my experience combined with other professionals that I trust leads me to believe that this is not that uncommon of an event.
 
faintember said:
I have actually had 7 total performance recordings suffer from this ailment, this across different systems and in different venues. The only similar thread among the incidents was that a USB 1.0/2.0 interface was used, six being USB 1.0 and the other being a Mbox2 Pro (which I remember clearly since it pretty much ruined the only recording of my most recent composition).

Maybe I am unlucky, but my experience combined with other professionals that I trust leads me to believe that this is not that uncommon of an event.
Click to expand...


the mbox2 pro uses firewire.
 
faintember said:
I always figured it was 2.0 based on the shape of the USB port on the back. Eh, just another reason not to use consumer level Digi gear imo.
Click to expand...

yeah im starting to think i should check something out. that can use m-powered just incase i want protools but put my main focus on logic.

i have been loooking at this http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/NRV10-main.html

any opinions of anything else worth buying other then the mbox2 pro
 
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