Mbox - still worth getting?

[pk_hat]

Here's my dilemma.

My G4 tower is about to be sold. My 001 is now sold. The goal is to go all laptop. I originally was keen on getting the 002R, but now I'm getting off that cloud and realizing that an Mbox may be adequate for the time being.

I never record bands, it's usually just me and 80% samples, occasional live bass and guitar, one track at a time, and I have a TDM system at work which I can access and use to my heart's content after work hours. The one thing that's sellling me on the MBox right now is that it's buss powered and extremely portable.

However, with the advent of the 002R, I'm feeling that perhaps there may be a new Mbox on the horizon? Something between the 001 and 002R? Perhaps firewire instead of USB with the same I/O? It would seem quite possible that it may be Digi's next hardware revelation, and a lovely one at that.

Those who've had an Mbox for a while, what do you find are the biggest limitations besides the obvious limited I/O? Thanks for any advice.

[Flux 1.21]

I wouldn't count on a new mbox, it's still fairly new. If it is just you and samples the mbox would be perfect. It would save you money for mics and Waves gold.

If you plan on ever recording bands get the 002R. You won't be upset with the mbox's quality, it runs the same software as all other LE interfaces.

[damonmenne]

The only thing I'd hope for is a firewire Mbox that has the same audio I/O but with 24/96 instead of 24/48 and one midi pair.

However, the Mbox as it sits is a great piece of kit. I love how everything is laid out, the controls on the front are just right, the size isn't so bad, and the sound quality is superb.

If they want to be *really* nice, they could give us an Mbox Ultra with the aformentioned 24/96 + one midi pair + ADAT. Now *that* would be awesome for portability and all-in-one-ness. I'd pay $799 for that.

[Dale-c]

I would definately go with the Mbox. There is a huge benifit to having that portability and the quality is very good.

[pk_hat]

Ok, so I dug up some info from other relevant threads, and it seems a big caveat with the Mbox is how to deal with it's latency. Can someone fill me in on why this is more of an issue on the Mbox than with the other interfaces, and how do you deal with it? Thanks a bunch.

[donharriss]

Ok, so I dug up some info from other relevant threads, and it seems a big caveat with the Mbox is how to deal with it's latency.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">This has/is never an issue for me. I'll move anything around until it sounds good and I record one track at a time (rarely) and monitor from the mixer so.... [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Dale-c]

Ok, the latency is really no big deal. It is USB that causes it (I wish it was firewire but oh well) I belive it is 162 samples that you need to slide back each time to align it with the last track. Somewhere there is a complete explanation on the Digi site but I can't remember where.
IT is a minor problem but easy to work around. I still day go for it.

[J. Guerrero]

Get it. Latency won't be that much of an issue. At least it's not for me. Good and nice sounding converters and preamps. You won't regret buying one if you really use only two inputs.

[Sam Amato]

The latency on the Mbox is 164 samples. As Dalecoz said, it is very easy to work around. When you are recording you just mute the track in Pro Tools and monitor the source before it gets to the computer. After recording you just shift the region 164 samples earlier.

[Drive d]

Go with the MBox if it's just you and some samples. I have both the MBox and the Digi002 and I really dig the MBox. It's great when you travel and want to work some beats or even do a few mixes on that 5 hour east coast flight! Get an extra batt for your laptop though! Have fun with it and let us knwo how it goes.
D- [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]