Mbox 1 still good?

[WinterMute]

Mic wise you should also check out the Sontronics range, we have them at the uni now to supplement the more expensive DPA's Neumanns etc. and to be honest they stand up to the comparison.

I particularly like the Orpheus and the valve Helios, but the smaller condensors are good too.

http://www.sontronics.com/helios.htm

All the guitars and vocals on my last project were done with the Helios, and I had a few on the drums too, check a couple of the tracks out here at the bands homepage:

http://www.limeshark.com/home.htm

 

[quigleybc]

I've said it once and i'll say it again..


I hated my original Mbox...

now I use a Firepod and Logic and couldn't be happier.

 

[mandoman]

If you want to track into Garageband and dump pro-tools,
this is what I'd do. Sell the mbox! With that money
and your $300, you might be able to afford the new
Apogee Duet. That has seamless integration with Garageband
and will have much better A/D and will have better
pre's than any of the other cheap two channel boxes out
there. Those pres will stack up against even some good
standalone pres I'm sure.

The mic is very important too, but there are SO many choices
in affordable mics nowadays (thank you China!), you can
pick up a great sounding condenser for cheap nowadays
as a good starter mic and upgrade down the road. I'm not an
expert on mic'ing classical guitar, so do some research.

Personally, I think Pro Tools LE is great, but being stuck
with their crappy selection of m-audio and digi hardware
(ie one big dongle) just plain sucks. Free yourself and
fly baby, FLY!

 

[Tarkovsky]

It's a shame about the hardware. If Black Lion Audio can do it wtf can't digi...

 

[synth3tik]

Is the original Mbox with focusrite preamps still considered a good device in that pricerange?

Was it ever considered a good product?


I myself have lost all interest in DigiDesign and focusrite.

 

[Tarkovsky]

Yes it was, but things have really moved on. I think the small scale digital era began with wonderful software and poorer quality hardware and the hardware is now up to scratch with the software.
In this sense it's probably not fair to judge the mbox on hardware alone (ironic I know) especially with more modern interfaces.

...Perhaps digi suffer the same problem as the vast majority of powered monitor manufacturers - they know nothing about the analogue stage. It seems odd then that they could produce acclaimed products at one end of the market and slated at the other...

 

[zimv20]

i don't think much of their hardware, but for those who want to use PT, the only real barrier is the additional cost of pre's and conversion. my 002r is basically a dongle (though i still use the d/a's when mixing), but i deal with it because i like PT.

i do not agree that the lameness which is the consumer line of digi hardware is reason enough, on its own, to switch platforms. if someone wants to work in a different DAW, great, but i would hate to see someone switch and have a bad experience, only to switch back after having wasted money on replacement h/w and s/w.

the lame hardware can be worked around, thankfully, because personally i'm way more productive in PT than i am in Logic or DP.

 

[zimv20]

Was it ever considered a good product?

good sounding? i don't think so. but feature-wise, it is a nice little package.

 

[thechidz]

About the software how come you're not using PTLE? You might consider using ardour (it's free) instead but I think that garage band reduces the quality of the audio you give it.

I was using LE but its chained to my mbox. Unless you know of a way around that?

 

[thechidz]

This is all very educational guys, thankjs...


So Ive found sontronics stc-1 matched pairs for 400 USD and ADK vienna matched pair for 500 USD. Which are better?

Thanks again

 

[thechidz]

If you want to track into Garageband and dump pro-tools,
this is what I'd do. Sell the mbox! With that money
and your $300, you might be able to afford the new
Apogee Duet. !

Hmm... looks promising...


Anyone else want to chime in on the apogee duet?

 

[thechidz]

Hmm... looks promising...


Anyone else want to chime in on the apogee duet?

Ummm, this thing has me salivating now.... you dont know what youve done...

 

[zimv20]

Anyone else want to chime in on the apogee duet?

check out this thread.

 

[thechidz]

check out this thread.

Thanks for this... cool


So I could go with the apogee duet or the fostex for around he same price...

With the fostex, I wouldnt necessarily need to have my mac with me to record correct? which seems to make the fostex more portable.

I know I'm asking a LOT of questions but...

Quality of sound between these 2 devices? Thoughts?




I might be all jacked up on the apogee right now because it seems so mac friendly.... but I am definately leaning towards the duet or the fostex and a decent matched pair of mics

 

[mandoman]

The fostex is geared towards field recording and news gathering.

For your application (recording guitar), the duet is better suited
since it's better to track directly into the daw, for multi-tracking
and doing multi-takes.

 

[thechidz]

The fostex is geared towards field recording and news gathering.

For your application (recording guitar), the duet is better suited
since it's better to track directly into the daw, for multi-tracking
and doing multi-takes.

Thanks!

I think Im good to go

 

[Tarkovsky]

I wouldn't necessarily agree with madoman about it being 'better to track things directly into your DAW', but you're undoubtedly sacrificing some quality for portability with the Fostex.

 

[mandoman]

I wouldn't necessarily agree with madoman about it being 'better to track things directly into your DAW', but you're undoubtedly sacrificing some quality for portability with the Fostex.

If you are recording live, and expect a perfect take, than
yes, the Fostex is ok. I'm not dissing that box, it's
great for field recording and I own something similar
to record my band.

But for what the OP is doing, a DAW is much better. Here's a small
example. You record an 'almost' perfect take, except
for a tiny tag in the guitar line you flubbed. In a daw, it's
easy just to record over the part you want to fix.
What would you do with the fostex? Well, you already
had to go through the extra step of transfering
the original part into your computer. Than you have to record
the new part, transfer it in, than painstakingly time align the new imported
part. What if the new part is not perfect,
and you need to work on that tag multiple times,
transfer it in, time align it, etc... You see where I'm
going with this don't you?

 

[Tarkovsky]

Completely, but this guy's a classically and very highly trained guitarist who has access to great sounding rooms.

 

[thechidz]

you're both making good points actually... Im leaning towards the duet right now... One reason is because Im selling my mbox and since it looks like garageband would hurt my final sound I could use the software bundled with the duet for editing...

And also for recording other people the duet would probably be a little more handy. But say for recording a live recital or something, would the fostex have a better sound?

 

[Tarkovsky]

Having heard neither of the devices, I couldn't say which sounds better. If you're looking for daw software Ardour is a wonderful example of what the open source movement can achieve.

But considering the Duet also gives you high quality outs I'd go for that if you're looking for expandibility.

 

[mandoman]

you're both making good points actually... Im leaning towards the duet right now... One reason is because Im selling my mbox and since it looks like garageband would hurt my final sound I could use the software bundled with the duet for editing...

And also for recording other people the duet would probably be a little more handy. But say for recording a live recital or something, would the fostex have a better sound?

The duet does not include editing software. Garageband is definately
a step down from Pro Tools LE. You will want to look at adding a DAW.
I would recommend starting with Logic 8 Express.

For recording live recitals, that's another matter, and that is when
a field recorder is much easier and simpler to use.

I'd wager the Duet has nicer preamps and A/D than the stock Fostex pres.
However, I believe you can have the Fostex pres easily modded to
sound incredible. Check out taperssection.com recording forums
to find out all you want to know about field recording units.

 

[WinterMute]

Just remember that your recordings will only be as good as the weakest link in your signal chain, hence the Duet will only outperform the M-box if the mics you choose are capable of revealing that level of detail and frequency.

If you have great mics then you meed great pre's/AD's, simply having great converters will not make crap mics sound better, in fact they will sound worse.

 

[thechidz]

well, Ive been a busy consumer lately.

Picked up an Apogee Duet, a used pair of Neumann km184, and Logic 7. My next CD is going to be bad a$$...

 

[mandoman]

well, Ive been a busy consumer lately.

Picked up an Apogee Duet, a used pair of Neumann km184, and Logic 7. My next CD is going to be bad a$$...

SWEET!

Any reason why you went logic 7 instead of logic 8?