Advise Please! PT Travel Rig

[Ticker]

I'm still using a 002 Rack w PT LE 8.04. MacBook Pro, 17" i7 running OS 10.6.8. Planning to revamp the studio later this year and upgrade hardware and software but have been intending to wait till I'm done with a current album project before I start that big migration. Got a road trip coming up and was planning to continue mix and edit work on a couple of sessions while traveling, using an Mbox Micro. I haven't used the Micro in over a year, pulled it out today to test the travel rig and discovered that I can't open ANY of my recent sessions because they're all recorded at 88.2 sample rate - the Micro only supports 48

I leave in 3 days and this is a major snag - hoping to resolve ASAP w minimal $$$. From what I can tell, the current Mbox Mini, like the micro, doesn't support higher sample rates. I was also told that the latest gen Mboxes won't work with PT LE 8. Even if I go with another interface I would have to upgrade to at least PT9 for it to work, but PT9 isn't being sold anymore. Based on my past experiences, I'm concerned that an upgrade to PT10 will open the Pandora's box of having to deal with compatibility issues, upgrading current plug-ins, etc - stuff that will take more time than I have before hitting the road. And PT 11 won't work with my present operating system. ARRGGHH!

Thanks for reading my tale of woe! I'm wondering if anyone here might have a suggestion for an option that I'm not seeing...

[musicman691]

Why stay with an Avid interface? There's plenty of other fish in the sea. Personally I'd go for something from MOTU like the Traveler in your situation. Not as small as the Mboxes but a worthy interface that'll do you good when you inevitably upgrade past your current version of PT. There are also smaller MOTU boxes as well - it all depends on how much I/O you need. And MOTU stuff isn't that expensive compared to some other 3rd party stuff.

There shouldn't be compatibility issues with going to PT10 - it still allows RTAS plugins. You're already running OSX 10.6.8. Sure you'll get a combo license for PT10/PT11 but there's nothing that says you have to run PT11 on your rig. You could always upgrade OSX to Mountain Lion to run PT11

[Ticker]

Thanks musicman - the Steinberg UR22 was recommended to me so I'm checking that out today. I've found a couple of PT 10 packages online - "factory resealed activation card" - but $350 still 'not in the current budget" and it would need to be shipped to me, as far as I can figure tell. Digging deeper this afternoon... I appreciate the reply!

[Dan Tinen]

I agree about the MOTU Traveler, I use it with PT 9. Without the rack ear extensions attached, it has a very small profile, is metal and rugged, and the CueMix FX software allows some pretty complex internal routing for headphones, monitor mixing, talkback and listenback. Most of the time, I leave it in a rack with an optical mic preamp so I can use all the inputs, but it's nice to trim it down for hand luggage, etc.