M box 2; From PC to Mac
 

Hey
I thinking about buying an iMac, and I have a couple of questions.
I have an M box 2 with pro tools 7 running on win xp sp2.
1. Can I use my M box 2 USB audio interface bought for a PC, with an iMac?
2. Do I need too buy a new pro tools 7 edition to run on mac, or is it free to download once you have already bought this version for a PC
3. And finally, do I have to upgrade my pro tools 7 to pro tools 8, to run it on the new mac OS?

Hope someone can help me with this, thx.

Johan

Re: M box 2; From PC to Mac
 

1. Can I use my M box 2 USB audio interface bought for a PC, with an iMac?
yes, the Mbox doesn't care which computer you use
2. Do I need too buy a new pro tools 7 edition to run on mac, or is it free to download once you have already bought this version for a PC only the same version you have, see next QQ
3. And finally, do I have to upgrade my pro tools 7 to pro tools 8, to run it on the new mac OS? Any new Mac will come with Snow Leopard and you will need to buy Pro Tools 8 and then the 8.0.3 update will be a free download

Re: M box 2; From PC to Mac
 

thnx again for the help :)

Re: M box 2; From PC to Mac
 

Make SURE you get an external firewire drive for your audio. Recording on the internal drive is NOT supported!! As least you're fortunate in that the interface is USB and the drive will be FW, keeping them on separate busses.

Re: M box 2; From PC to Mac
 

@Eric
thnx for responding, but i'm not sure i understand what you mean.
I know its a good idea to have the Mbox connected directly to the mac and not via hub, but what do i need a firewire for? as i'm informed there is no firewire connection on either iMac or my mbox...

thnx again.
Johan

Re: M box 2; From PC to Mac
 

There is a FW800 connection in the iMac. You must use an external drive to record your audio and USB drives aren't supported. I'd recommend looking at something like this: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other.../MEQM7320GB16/

Re: M box 2; From PC to Mac
 

okay, I get what you mean now :) but it seems kind of wierd that you can't record on the internal harddisc doesn't writing live audio to an external harddisc make pro tools lack?
Also I've been told that the four USB ports run on the same bus... this could be a problem if i whant to hook up for example my KORG R3 synth on the same USB bus that M Box is running on.

once again thnx :)
Johan

Re: M box 2; From PC to Mac
 

Writing to the internal system drive is bad because the program is ALWAYS going back to it for bits of code. Audio needs to be written uninterrupted.

Look at Digi's recommended specs for the iMac and see what they say.

The USB interface isn't an issue because you're only passing two channels of audio at a time, yes? USB on the Korg is nothing more than MIDI data, right? Not a problem compared to uninterrupted, contiguous audio files.

Re: M box 2; From PC to Mac
 

okay i will do that. many thanks for the help and being so quick :)

Johan