003 With UA 710 Twin-Finity OR Mbox 2 Pro with With UA 710 Twin-Finity

[samcharles]

Hi guys

I am a newbie looking for an answer to the following question.

1.Which one will be good to go with the superb/ excellent sound quality?
Digi 003 With Universal Audio 710 Twin-Finity OR
Mbox 2 Pro with With UA 710 Twin-Finity

I already own a Mbox 2 Pro and looking for Digi 003 to upgrade. Mostly i would be recording one input per time, at the maximim only 2 inputs.
I have heard people saying that Mbox 2 pro does not has a good preamp so people suggested 710 twinfinity.

2. Is there any performance/sound quality difference between Mbox 2 Pro and Digi 003?

3. I am looking to buy Digi 003? Is there any reason do i need to upgrade from Mbox 2 Pro to Digi 003 speaking in terms of quality. By any means i would be using the 710 twinfinity.

Can you please help me?

[nst7]

The 003 is discontinued and will not be supported past Protools 10. There are some being sold on clearance, but you might find one used even cheaper.

It's also not that big enough of an upgrade from the mbox 2 pro.

If you don't need all the extra inputs/outputs of the 003, I suggest you sell your mbox 2 pro, and get the new mbox 3 pro.

The sound quality is way better than either of the other two, and it will be supported and current for quite a while.

You might want to get the one bundled with Protools 9, which will get you a free upgrade to PT10.

[samcharles]

Without buying the Mbox 3, what about adding a good preamp such as Universal Audio 710 Twin-Finity to the MBOX 2 PRO to get more sound quality than MBOX 3?

[Aaron ANV]

Adding that preamp to either the 003 or Mbox2 Pro should give you the same results. I can't speak for the Mbox 3, but I've been very happy with adding the Universal Audio 710 Twin-Finity to my 003.

[samcharles]

Sorry I use only Mbox 2 and NOT Mbox 2 PRO. Sorry i have mentioned it wrong. What would be the difference between the two.

[nst7]

Samcharles,

I agree that a dedicated outboard preamp will sound way better than any built in preamps of any of these interfaces, but the new Mboxes are a big enough leap in converter quality that it will sound that much better regardless of what you are plugging into it.

[samcharles]

Thanks everyone for your valuable advises.

1. I decided to buy Apogee duet 2 since i will be using only a max of 2 inputs per time. will this be a good descision?
2. I am using the AKG C414 XL II mic for recording all the instruments(sax, flute, trumpet, violin etc) and vocals(male and female). I think its a very good mic. Your thoughts?
3. If i get a Apogee Duet2 do i need to get a seperate preamp like 710 twin-finity? Or the Duet2 preamp and the converter will be good?

Thanks in advance!

[nst7]

I recently got to test the Duet 2 and Mbox 3. I didn't get to test the preamps, but for converter quality, the Mbox sounded better, plus it's more flexible with I/O, etc.

You could see how you like the preamps, and down the road get a separate preamp like the Twinfinity.