Avid Tech Question Mbox 3 vs Pro

[crandallwarren]

Hey,

I'm hoping that someone from Avid can comment on this. I've heard different reports as to the components in the Mbox 3 and the Pro version.

I've heard some say that they use the exact same preamps and converters and others say that the Pro uses ones that are a step up in quality.

Could someone from Avid shed some light on this? Thanks!

[DigiTechSupt]

Originally Posted by crandallwarren

Hey,

I'm hoping that someone from Avid can comment on this. I've heard different reports as to the components in the Mbox 3 and the Pro version.

I've heard some say that they use the exact same preamps and converters and others say that the Pro uses ones that are a step up in quality.

Could someone from Avid shed some light on this? Thanks!

Hi

The Mbox and Mbox Pro use the exact same preamps and converters. The Mini does not.

[chrisdee]

Originally Posted by DigiTechSupt

Hi

The Mbox and Mbox Pro use the exact same preamps and converters

Does this mean in theory that the Mbox also could record upto 192kHz like the Pro can ?

Im guessing there is a 96kHz limitation because of USB ?

[DigiTechSupt]

The Mbox Pro uses an external power supply so it has a larger power budget which is required for the additional functionality.

[Pinball Wizard]

I have both. They sound identical (excellent). They also have identical gain.

There are some operational considerations that may or may not be important for you..

The mbox 3 pro has switchable high pass filters. The mbox 3 doesn't.

The mbox 3 pro has switchable pads (which you are unlikely to need). The mbox 3 doesn't.

Also......both have rather low gains. The mbox 3 pro has insert points that you can use to add some gain before digitization. This can be very important to you if you like to use ribbon microphones.

[chrisdee]

And if im not wrong the line inputs on the pro completly bypass the preamps.
On the mbox however your signal will always go through the preamps on the way in.
Isnt this correct?

[nst7]

That is correct.

[crandallwarren]

So, just wanted to follow up. I ended up going with the stock Mbox 3, instead of the Pro. So far, I've been very pleased with it. I love the build quality: housing, knobs, plugin jacks all feel very solid.

I've done a couple recordings now using both the onboard pre's and running my Focusrite ISA One into the line input. The onboard pre's were more than adequate for me, way more juice than my previous UA101. Also, they were very clean right up to 10. I was also pleasantly surprised by the character of the onboard soft limiters: you can actually drive into them to get kind of an "all buttons in" kind of clipping.

When using my outboard pre, I did have to engage the pads on the line inputs. Otherwise everything clips way too early. But its not really a big deal and I honestly haven't noticed any substantial noise or loss of fidelity because of it. I may eventually add the digital card to the ISA so I can go straight in through the S/Pdif, but I'm perfectly happy with what I'm getting now.

The converters sound great to me. Best of all, the box and Pro Tools 10 worked together on my Windows 7 PC right out of the box. I didn't have to do any of the optimizations or anything.

I looked at everything on the market and I really don't think you could do better than this for the money.

[nst7]

I agree. I recently tested one against the Duet 2 and thought the mbox sounded better.

[iwalkthruwalls]

Originally Posted by DigiTechSupt

Hi

The Mbox and Mbox Pro use the exact same preamps and converters. The Mini does not.