MBox 3??? Or???

[richpjr]

I'm looking at picking up a USB interface for my iMac and MBA. I will be using it with Logic 9 and Presonus Studio One 2. I looked at the Duet 2 but it doesn't have the IO I am looking for. I don't really want to go up to something as pricey as the RME babyface, so that left me leaning towards the MBox 3. I have read that the drivers can be touchy outside of ProTools so I'm looking for feedback from those of you who have used it. I had also considered the Focusrite Scarlet 18i6, but have really heard bad things about it's drivers.

Any feedback or other suggestions?

 

[swartzfeger]

I'm looking at picking up a USB interface for my iMac and MBA. I will be using it with Logic 9 and Presonus Studio One 2. I looked at the Duet 2 but it doesn't have the IO I am looking for. I don't really want to go up to something as pricey as the RME babyface, so that left me leaning towards the MBox 3. I have read that the drivers can be touchy outside of ProTools so I'm looking for feedback from those of you who have used it. I had also considered the Focusrite Scarlet 18i6, but have really heard bad things about it's drivers.

Any feedback or other suggestions?

I've only read bad things about the Scarlett's drivers on the windows side. Not sure about their OS X stuff.

Personally haven't used the Mbox 3, that's because I chose the Duet 2 in lieu of it. I read too many reports of hardware problems with it like headphone outputs crapping out. May have been a bad initial batch. If I hadn't read of so many flakey hardware issues with the Mbox 3, I would've really preferred it over the Apogee for the bang for the buck.

That said, the Duet 2 sounds absolutely brilliant, but as you noted the I/O is pretty slim.

 

[quixotic]

Briefly had a focusrite awhile back. Different interface, but it too had issues. I returned it and I don't think they ever did fully iron out the bugs. Just don't trust them anymore.

I also wanted an RME, though I couldn't justify it. I opted for an Echo Audiofire4, the ADAC's are very nice but it's firewire...

 

[richpjr]

I've only read bad things about the Scarlett's drivers on the windows side. Not sure about their OS X stuff.

Personally haven't used the Mbox 3, that's because I chose the Duet 2 in lieu of it. I read too many reports of hardware problems with it like headphone outputs crapping out. May have been a bad initial batch. If I hadn't read of so many flakey hardware issues with the Mbox 3, I would've really preferred it over the Apogee for the bang for the buck.

That said, the Duet 2 sounds absolutely brilliant, but as you noted the I/O is pretty slim.

Have you had any drivers problems with your Duet 2? Seems like while the first generation was very stable, there are a ton of people complaining about the Duet. If only it had S/PDIF and MIDI, I'd probably have already gotten it.

On paper, the MBox 3 looks great - the right I/O, cheaper than a Duet 2, and supposedly sounds very good. But yeah, I saw some of the reports on QC issues as well as a few problems with people using Logic and their drivers, though I can't tell if it was the new 3rd generation or previous generation boxes.

 

[bwhli]

Hi,

I use an MBox Pro (3rd Generation) at work as an audio interface when I edit video. I'm not sure how the regular MBox compares to the Pro version, but I can tell you the Pro version is very well built and it sounds great too. No driver issues on the Mac Pro as well.

 

[richpjr]

Hi,

I use an MBox Pro (3rd Generation) at work as an audio interface when I edit video. I'm not sure how the regular MBox compares to the Pro version, but I can tell you the Pro version is very well built and it sounds great too. No driver issues on the Mac Pro as well.

Thanks, I picked up the regular one and just got done plugging it in and loading the latest drivers - so far, so good. Wife is out tonight so it's play time!

 

[Zach Z]

Mbox with Logic 9

Rich, you've been using the original MBox with Logic 9? I just got both of those, and I can't seem to get the Mbox to communicate with my iMac. I'm running 10.7.3.

I downloaded the Digi CoreAudio Manager but can't figure out what else I need.
THanks!!

 

[ANTONkoolaid]

I'm looking at picking up a USB interface for my iMac and MBA. I will be using it with Logic 9 and Presonus Studio One 2. I looked at the Duet 2 but it doesn't have the IO I am looking for. I don't really want to go up to something as pricey as the RME babyface, so that left me leaning towards the MBox 3. I have read that the drivers can be touchy outside of ProTools so I'm looking for feedback from those of you who have used it. I had also considered the Focusrite Scarlet 18i6, but have really heard bad things about it's drivers.

Any feedback or other suggestions?

Have used MBox (2) and Pro Tools and was always such a hassle and finicky to get it to do what you wanted sometime. Went to Apogee Duet shortly after and never looked back.

Just got a rMBP and upgraded to the Apogee Duet 2, which is even better than the first firewire iteration.

What exact I/O connections are you looking for? I have a friend who has a Focusrite 8i6 and she loves it.

 

[bwhli]

I have a Focusrite Saffire 40, and haven't had any driver issues on OS X.

 

[richpjr]

Rich, you've been using the original MBox with Logic 9? I just got both of those, and I can't seem to get the Mbox to communicate with my iMac. I'm running 10.7.3.

I downloaded the Digi CoreAudio Manager but can't figure out what else I need.
THanks!!

Sorry, to clarify, I picked up an MBox 3, not an original MBox - works great.

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Have used MBox (2) and Pro Tools and was always such a hassle and finicky to get it to do what you wanted sometime. Went to Apogee Duet shortly after and never looked back.

Just got a rMBP and upgraded to the Apogee Duet 2, which is even better than the first firewire iteration.

What exact I/O connections are you looking for? I have a friend who has a Focusrite 8i6 and she loves it.

The MBox 3 has worked flawlessly for me. I looked long and hard at the Duet 2, but the many reports of driver issues with it scared me away from it.