Does Mbox really suck this bad?

[Sardi]

OK. After reading this thread for weeks, and finally get sum free time, I have decided to thro in my .02.

I have the current iBooks that everyone is having problems with. I borrowed an MBox from a mate to do sum testing. MBox had the latest firmware, and I had PT 6.4 runninunder OS 10.3.5. Basically, the machine performed flawlessy. I was gettin same as results and Dave C scores as I was on a DMD G4 Dual 1GHz. I had this baby maxed, and the only gripe was teh screen redraws and sluggishness, which imo is to be expected on a single CPU machine. After all the tests, I noticed taht I was runnin all the audio off the internal Laptop drive! Now I was really happy, as I need a portable PT rig for when i am away from my studio, and having read all the probs peeps have had with Mbox, I was unwilling to just shell out 800 bux without testing.

Then, a friend of a friend rang up, and said she couldnt setup her MBox that she was reccomended to buy with her G4 Quicksilver machine. So I went round, and told Id have it sorted in no time...............was i wrong!

Same probs peeps are encountering here with the ibooks, i was encountering with the G4. So i chucked the MBox on my iBook, and it worked fine..........problem was, in my initial testing, i failed to do a rec test. Sounds absurd, but my main need for the port PT rig is for editing and mixing, not rec, so i didnt even think to try. Anyway, i couldnt rec more than 10 sec on 1 track without encountering THOSE errors. After all the tweaking, nuthin fixed it.

Back to the G4. Something you may find interesting, is that being a dual boot machine, i had the ability to test under OS9. Whatta ya know........no probs at all. Rec fine for like 45 mins. Back to OSX, 3 sec in, buffer underrun probs. WHY? Also interesting, is that I tested it with Logic Express on OSX, and no probs at all.

So my question is, how can it be an MBox or iBook/any apple computer fault, when it will rec under OS9 or Logic, but not PT 6? I think the problem lies somewhere in PT itself. Its the only conclusion I can come up with. Can anyone shed some lite on this? The problem is far past ridiculous now.

Oh, and in terms of waiting for a machine to qualify, are we supposed to wait until the new ibooks are released? Obviously we want to get the fastest machine for the price. yes i play safe with compatability, hence i havent purchased an mbox yet, but really..........

Anyway, its not just an ibook prob, but obviously they are suffering the most. Can anyone from DIGI tell me if they have tested the app itself in terms of problems?

I couldnt get any luck with the G4 or my iBook........but the ibook caned on playback. no probs at all. Ive thought of just gettin one seeing as i only really need it for playback and editing, but for 800 bux, it shoukd be able to record more than 10secs to one track.

BTW, USB blows. They should ditch that interface and go FW. Shouldve NEVER been USB imo.

Thanks in advance.

[Sardi]

Bump........

Digi? Anyone? Anything?

[SimpleNatureSpirit]

In short, Sardi... yes MBox really does suck this bad, and no, Digi doesn't have an apps writer worth beans (for PTLE anyway). As for compatability testing, I think they just cross their fingers while they rake in the doh from sales and tell you later 'pray it works on anything we haven't tested and read the fine print because it is probably obsolete already'. I think they should write that quote on the box!

[the_chopper]

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In short, Sardi... yes MBox really does suck this bad, and no, Digi doesn't have an apps writer worth beans (for PTLE anyway). As for compatability testing, I think they just cross their fingers while they rake in the doh from sales and tell you later 'pray it works on anything we haven't tested and read the fine print because it is probably obsolete already'. I think they should write that quote on the box!
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i've been following this thread for a while now, as an MBox user. the previous post (and most of these) are OPINIONS (including mine). i disagree, i don't think that MBox sucks at all, i love it -in fact PTLE works almost flawlessly, always has. part of that is that i purchased a qualified system, have trolled the forums for others' experiences with incremental upgrades, both PT and OSX (i'm never brave enough to do these on my own) and when i see enough positive experiences, then i jump in. seems like a logical policy, and it has served me quite well. for instance, it's pretty well established that you need an external FW, digi recommends it, and if you post on the DUC complaining that you don't use one yet expect flawless performance, expect to be tarred and feathered. it's the way the system is designed... so do it! doesn't seem that difficult to me to comprehend. if my car needs "aftermarket" gas to move... then i purchase gas for the car. or purchase an external FW drive. and i also make sure that it has the recommended Oxford chipset.

if you put together a system that Digi itself says, in effect, "we haven't qualified it so we can't promise anything" and then griping when it doesn't work, is a bit like purchasing the car with no gas pedal, (metaphor from previous pages of this thread) being told by the car dealer that is doesn't in fact have a gas pedal... but it MAY still move for you, provided that the dealership sits at the top of a hill. maybe i've just been rolling "downhill" all this time, but i think that doing a little research before purchasing thousand$ of equipment and continuing to stay up to date with cs updates, system updates, etc. isn't too much to ask.

ok, i've abused metaphors enough for one sitting. the "such and such Sucks" or "Rules" drives me crazy, because it's all based on personal opinion and (possibly not-that-well-informed) experience. in most of the threads where people are having problems, the same thing seems to happen over and over. complaint, someone tells them to RTFM. then an argument. then someone else suggests that they read the troubleshooting post right at the top of the given forum. then a thank you because the problem has been cleared up. repeat.

so... again... in my opinion and experience, the MBox is a great performing and reliable product for what i need it to do. the above post is bitter, counterproductive.. backed up with no facts of any kind... and statements like:
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"As for compatability testing, I think they just cross their fingers while they rake in the doh from sales and tell you later 'pray it works on anything we haven't tested and read the fine print because it is probably obsolete already'"
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-just make you look uniformed and ignorant (i didn't say that you ARE... but the appearnce is there.)
btw, i'm not saying that i've never had a crash or problem with PTLE-MBox... but when i did it got me off my butt and onto the forums, support pages, the DUC etc. until i had solved the problem. it humbles you a little bit (or should, at least) when you b*tch and moan about crappy hardware/software, and then see what you did wrong and what to do to fix it right there in print (or pixels) and you know that you should have checked out the proper resources before you flew off the handle and say that it sucks!

i can't believe i spent this much time replying to this.
do your homework, do a little reading, ask some questions and suprise! things work.

[Chris Coleman]

if you put together a system that Digi itself says, in effect, "we haven't qualified it so we can't promise anything" and then griping when it doesn't work, is a bit like purchasing the car with no gas pedal

Not even close. In this instance, it was like buying a "car" where the previous year's model was apporved, but it got a little bump in "horsepower" - no gas pedals missing here...that would be closer to buying a computer without any RAM.

In addition, if one were to try and purchase a new Digi-approved Mbox/iBook setup, they couldn't, because they'd have to search for and buy a used or refurbed iBook with less power than the current Apple stock. Look me straight in the eye and tell me that's good business practice on Digi's part.

You can't.

This is a problem.

[ggunn]

Not even close. In this instance, it was like buying a "car" where the previous year's model was apporved, but it got a little bump in "horsepower" - no gas pedals missing here...that would be closer to buying a computer without any RAM.

Stretching the car metaphor a little further... Just because the sheet metal is the same and it
'got a little bump in 'horsepower'", that does not guarantee that the drive trains are even remotely similar. Caveat emptor.

[augiealexander]

Will someone shed a little more light about the "bad batch of iBooks"...
thanks.

[Sardi]

Will someone shed a little more light about the "bad batch of iBooks"...
thanks.

Basically, the so called "bad batch" that we are reffering to is the current model iBooks in circulation. 14", 1.33GHz...........I believe the problem is inherent in the 12" Model but I may be mistaken.

Also, to those who keep going on about checking the compatabilty specs: I have, hence I am yet to purchase the dreaded MBox. But please re-read my post, as I mentioned the interface working flawlessy with Logic Express, but experiencing unusable problems with PT. How can that be so? Bit poor really. You do expect a LOT more from a company like Digidesign, who in the past have been extremely reliable..........

Again, any and all feedback is much appreciated. This is a thread that should be kept at the front, because this problem needs to be SERIOUSLY rectified.

[Carped]

Chris,
To keep you updated: I can still run my iBook/MBox combination with the results I mentioned in my earlier post (like 30 audio tracks, Reason and Sample Tank on, a few plug-ins ... none of the dreaded interrupts) Scored 20 tracks in the DaveC test. Not bad at all, much more than I actually need for my projects.
However, I am encountering new problems: unexpected program quits. They do not occur very often, usually at the beginning of a session, once PT has been running for 10 minutes or so it is quite stable. But still, this makes the system almost unusable. These quits are not CPU usage related, they may happen during opening or when idling. None of the usual trash/reinstall troubleshooting routine seems to help. Any remedy?
I have the same results using OS 10.3.7 or 10.3.8. The MBox works ok with Garage Band.

BTW: Advice by users of costlier systems à la "you should have done your homework" is besides the point. This is Digidesign's homework, I am a working musician whose homework is to record musical ideas. This product combination was recommended to me by my dealer, the MBox is actively promoted on Apple's website and I found "iBook G4" listed under "Supported CPU models, speeds & requirements" on Digidesign's homepage. It takes one click further to find the euphemistical "not tested at this time". Should have been changed to "not recommended" months ago.

MBox, ProTools LE 6.7
iBook G4 12" 1.2 GHz new
RAM 768 MB Drive: internal
OSX 10.3.8

[Dave Swan]

Hi Chris

Did you ever get a solution to this problem?

I used my Mbox fine on OS9.2 on a blue & white G3 using ProTools V5.?, then when I changed to OSX using V6 I got exactly the same problems you have - all hardware the same just the software update. I now have a G5 and still have the same problems, having tried every PT version to date! Though when using Core Audio the Mbox works fine with Garage Band.

So to me the Mbox does suck bad - or at least the way it works from within ProTools - I'd say it's been a total waste of money as it's unsuable for me.

Over a year ago I contacted DigiDesign and they thought it may be a problem with my Mbox and wanted me to send it to Japan for testing - when I saw so many others were having problems with Mbox I decided not to bother!

I'd love it to work well - I've tried everything for over two years! It just fails!

If there is a solution I'd love to know - but for now it's Garage Band for me - which is a shame as I like and paid for ProTools!

Dave

As you can see from my earlier contribution to this, (in the quote above) these problems are not just laptop based - so let's not go off target here - it's not all about the hardware - As my G5 use shows. I'm thinking its Protools!