Mbox 2 — Macro Studio, Micro Price

Mbox 2™ is a next-generation USB-powered audio/MIDI production system that builds on the performance and simplicity of the original Mbox® — Digidesign's most popular personal studio ever. Combining high-performance hardware and award-winning, industry-standard Digidesign® Pro Tools LE™ software, Mbox 2 gives you essential tools to help you realize your creative vision.

Mbox 2 Basics

Mbox 2, Digidesign's Pro Tools LE™–based portable studio, offers novices and pros alike command of any project and full session compatibility with other Pro Tools® systems, all the way up to Pro Tools|HD® systems. The Pro Tools LE software included with Mbox 2 shares many of the same features as the award-winning software used by professionals worldwide. With its spectrum of features, Mbox 2 — Digidesign's most affordable Pro Tools LE product — works hand in hand with your creativity to bring your ideas to life.

The physical design of the Mbox 2 hardware unit is both distinctive and functional: It can be positioned horizontally or vertically for easy placement. Mbox 2 comes with two faceplates, which are easily swapped using the included hex wrench. One faceplate features a large handle that makes the unit easily portable. The second faceplate, which offers a rubberized grip, allows Mbox 2 to sit flat on a desktop and reduces the space required when the unit is packed for traveling.

The Essentials

Mbox 2 is a full-featured, USB-powered studio-in-a-box that works with your Window XP- or Mac OS X-based computer to give you a compact, portable, professional-quality audio production system. With a distinctive hardware interface that delivers exceptional sound quality, Mbox 2 works in conjunction with your computer and your Pro Tools LE software to provide the creative power you need to achieve professional results. Complementing the hardware interface's analog, digital, and MIDI I/O, Pro Tools LE software offers 32 tracks of simultaneous recording and playback, 128 virtual tracks, 256 MIDI tracks, and a host of additional features. As with all Pro Tools|HD and Pro Tools LE systems, Mbox 2 also ships with the Pro Tools Ignition Pack™ — an impressive array of added composition and production tools to extend the power of your system. From beginning to end, Mbox 2 places you in an ideal position to realize your creative vision.

Enhancers

While Mbox 2 is a fully functional system, many additional products are available that can increase the scope and performance of your Pro Tools LE environment. High-powered RTAS® (real-time) and AudioSuite™ (file-based) plug-ins, designed and built by Digidesign and Digidesign Development Partners™, are available for virtually every signal processing, sound design, and specialized editing purpose. These plug-ins work in conjunction with Pro Tools LE in both real-time and non-real-time formats, frequently improving upon the hardware counterparts that they emulate. The addition of a FireWire drive is also a wise choice, improving the performance of your system by increasing throughput and data transfer speeds. As a registered user, you always have access to software upgrades and free updates as Digidesign continues to develop new ways of improving your Pro Tools experience.

Mbox 2 System Overview

Each Mbox 2™ system includes Pro Tools LE™ software, 37 DigiRack™ plug-ins, the Pro Tools Ignition Pack™, and the recently integrated 7 professional Bomb Factory® plug-ins.

Getting your Mbox 2 system up and running involves a quick, simple, four-step process. First, load your Pro Tools LE software onto your computer. Second, connect your Mbox 2 to your computer with the provided USB cable — this same USB connection powers your Mbox 2 and manages audio data transactions between your Mbox 2 and your computer. Third, connect your signal sources — mics, instrument cables, patch cords, MIDI cables, etc. — to your Mbox 2 interface. Lastly, launch Pro Tools LE software. At that point, you're ready to go. It's that simple.

Hardware Features

As a complement to the comprehensive collection of intuitive software products included with the Mbox 2™ system, the hardware interface is both powerful and easy to use, featuring a distinctive external design, impressive sound quality, and extensive input and output options. Just route your audio or MIDI through the Mbox 2, launch a new Pro Tools® session to build and manage your project, and you're in an ideal position to create — from beginning to end, in a fully self-contained environment. The Mbox 2 system's hardware and software interact seamlessly, offering you all the power and flexibility of a Pro Tools workstation in a results-oriented micro studio.

Features

• Superior sound quality
• Four simultaneous inputs and outputs with analog and digital I/O*
• Two analog inputs (XLR and 1/4" jacks) and two analog outputs (1/4" jacks)
• Two channels of S/PDIF digital I/O (RCA)
• 48V phantom power for condenser microphones
• 24-bit/48 kHz audio
• MIDI in/out
• Zero-latency monitoring
• 100% USB powered
• * Four simultaneous inputs require two channels of digital input plus two analog channels.

Specifications

Analog Inputs

• Separate source selection and gain control per channel
• Mic: XLR with 48V phantom power
• Mic preamp: >120 db EIN @ > 40 dB gain
• Line: 1/4"
• DI: 1/4"
• Maximum Input: 8.7 V RMS (balanced), or +21 dBu

Analog Line Outputs

• Maximum Output: +4 dBV into 1 kohm
• Unbalanced output connectors

Headphone Output

• Separate volume control—1/4" output
• > 6 mW into 50 ohm

Digital I/O

• S/PDIF I/O (24-bit)
• RCA jacks

Misc.

• 24-bit clean to/from the computer
• USB type B socket (v. 1.1); cable included (does not support passive USB hubs)

Dimensions — measured with Mbox 2 in horizontal (handle-down) configuration

• Height, box: 14.9cm; with handle: 17.7cm; with handle cover: 15.6cm
• Width: 22.4cm
• Depth: 18.4cm (includes knobs)
• Weight: 1.23 kg.

A/D

• Sample Rate: 44.1, 48 kHz
• Dynamic Range: 106 dB (A-weighted), 103 dB (unweighted)
• THD+N (line input): 0.003% (-90.4 dB) @ 1 kHz
• THD+N @ 40 dB gain (mic input): 0.006% (-84 dB) @ 1 kHz1
• Mic EIN (unweighted): -120 dB @ 40 dB gain, 150 ohm source
• Frequency Response: +0/-0.5 dB, 20 Hz – 20 kHz3
• Maximum Input: +21 dBu
• Input Impedance (pad off): Mic=3.5 kOhm; Line=10 kOhm; DI= >1 MOhm

D/A

• Sample Rate: 44.1, 48 kHz
• Dynamic Range: 106 dB (A-weighted), 103 dB (unweighted)
• THD+N: 0.003% (-90.4 dB); -1 dBFS @ 1 kHz
• Frequency Response: +/-0.5 dB, 20 Hz – 20 kHz

System Requirements

• PC requirements: Intel Pentium 4, Centrino, Core Duo, or AMD Athlon XP and 64-class processors and chips; Windows XP Home or Professional, Service Pack 2 (Vista not supported); 768MB RAM; Open FireWire port (FireWire hubs not supported); DVD-ROM drive
• Mac requirements: G4 processor (933MHz or higher), G5 processor, or Intel-based Macs; Mac OS X version 10.4; 768MB RAM; Open FireWire port (FireWire hubs not supported); DVD-ROM drive

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Customer feedback

Product rating Product rating Voting Select your rating... Excellent! Very good Good Fair Poor Rate It! Reviews Author: Jim Morgan Good things, Pro Tools LE included, since it is the industry standard it is a great way to get used to the software. The portability is also a great plus though the little handle is kind of weird but it can be removed. The Phantom power is also nice to have. The bundled software is also nice to have. Things I don't like - bass response is pretty weak, no firewire input, BFD drums was really a problem to try and get to work, and Pro Tools LE was also more difficult than it should have been to set up, too many adjustments to the hardware to make it work. But all in all it's a great portable little recording studio for the road. Add your review here Your name: * Your message: * Type the characters you see in the picture: Get a different code Add review Ratings and/or reviews are submitted by customers to our site based on their own personal experiences. The Midi Store LLC regularly checks these reviews for inappropriate language and may chose to delete or edit your review as required. However The Midi Store LLC does not screen reviews for accuracy and we do not endorse their content. Any abuse of the review system may result in The Midi Store LLC not allowing you to post. We believe this service is important to help you hear from others who have experience using the products that are of interest to you. When you submit a review you acknowledge that you, not The Midi Store LLC are responsible for it's content.