Mbox 4?

[YYR123]

Originally Posted by Chief Technician

One vendor (name withheld to protect the guilty) has found several customers that look at HD Native as the 004.

HD native is tons more than 004 $$$$

I know everybody says that they're focusing on the pro market. (they're actually focusing on the pro media market film video and letting audio fadeaway as a priority)

But I'm telling you these guys sell millions and millions of Mbox's and FastTrax's it would literally surprise you how much money these guys are making off that lineup

[sunburst79]

I'd also like to add that I think the Artist series is the control serface at this level.

Artist Series plus Omni and HDN is the new middle ground. In my opinion.

But then who knows they may combine S series tech with the guts of a Mox3 Pro and call it the S1. I wouldn't hold my breath but the S1, S2, S4 and S5 names are still out there. In the dark. Waiting.

And there are still some niches left to fill I think.

Replacements for the C|24, the Artist Series and the larger Venue systems. I haven't really looked at the S3L but at first glance it doesn't appear to be a replacement for the biggest Venue desks. And Venues is the only product still running the older Motorola DSP. So somewhere down the road a SxL running HDX DSP makes sense. The C|24 could be replaced by a 24 fader S4.

Avid is trying to narrow the test and support grid. To that end in my mind that means a new flagship DSP live console. Whether they can get existing Venue owners to upgrade from HD powered system HDX remains to be seen.

AAX Everywhere only makes sense moving forward.

[Chief Technician]

Originally Posted by sunburst79

I wouldn't hold my breath but the S1, S2, S4 and S5 names are still out there. In the dark. Waiting.

If the S is for System, then the S5 was the System 5 that Euphonix was selling before they were bought by Avid.

[CME]

Originally Posted by John_Toolbox

There really isn't going to be anything to gain by changing something simple like the mbox to USB3 or thunderbolt. That kind of bandwidth is only necessary when you get into much higher i/o. Better converters, better mic pres, and maybe more onboard DSP would be the most likely upgrades. But I think the current ones will last for a while, they are still pretty good interfaces compared to others in their class.

Exactly. USB 2.0 handles the current Mbox without issue. So anything faster would be a waste. So USB 3.0 and TBolt wouldn't make much sense.

As far as a mid level system. I tend to agree about it being HD|N and an omni. I don't like it. But you can buy both of those used for about $2k. You'll still need a PTHD license though.

And if that isn't what you want there are lots of great 3rd party interfaces out there in between. So while avid could drop something new tomorrow, and be amazing, I'm not holding my breathe.

[sunburst79]

Originally Posted by Chief Technician

If the S is for System, then the S5 was the System 5 that Euphonix was selling before they were bought by Avid.

True. However I don't think that would keep Avid from recycling S5 if it fit their marketing plans. Were they thinking that way they might have named S6 System6. Or not. Its marketing. Logic is optional

Apologies to the OP for the thread hijack but we haven't had a great new product speculation thread in awhile.

Personally I would love to see a Omni v2 with more input options over a 004 or MBox "Ultra".

[ianbee]

With the Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 suggestions in my OP, I was just throwing out suggestions.... But now I understand it's simply just not needed. And lots of these comments have been very insightful, but kind of off topic. So back to the Mbox 4 here guys.... Is there even a reason for making one in the future? Are there any possible features that Avid could expand upon with the Mbox in the future while still making it be in the same price range? To me, the Mbox 3 just seems like a perfect unit for what it is... But maybe I am just not knowledgeable enough to know or understand the possibilities or modifications that Avid could make with the Mbox 4. So what could they do with the Mbox 4 that would make it better than the Mbox 3, while still making it within the same price range?

[sunburst79]

Originally Posted by CME

So while avid could drop something new tomorrow, and be amazing, I'm not holding my breathe.

Speaking for myself but with all the choices currently available I'd actually rather see them concentrate their resources on refining the code base.

[sunburst79]

Originally Posted by ianbee

With the Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 suggestions in my OP, I was just throwing out suggestions.... But now I understand it's simply just not needed. And lots of these comments have been very insightful, but kind of off topic. So back to the Mbox 4 here guys.... Is there even a reason for making one in the future? Are there any possible features that Avid could expand upon with the Mbox in the future while still making it be in the same price range? To me, the Mbox 3 just seems like a perfect unit for what it is... But maybe I am just not knowledgeable enough to know or understand the possibilities or modifications that Avid could make with the Mbox 4. So what could they do with the Mbox 4 that would make it better than the Mbox 3, while still making it within the same price range?

Higher build quality and bulletproof drivers are where I would start. Coupled with better clocking, converters and preamps. In other words a update that leverages current technology.

Given the smaller form factors involved I might drop the Mini since someone buying it for its small foot print might be just as happy with core audio and ASIO4ALL. I might ditch the MBox Pro but move its DSP and features to the standard MBox. And make that USB 3.0 which is pretty universal at this point.

So I would lean towards a killer sounding dual XLR input unit with great sounding pres and some off the nicer features of the current MBox3 Pro. My thinking is that anyone wanting some more flexible or suited for their needs is going to be more interested in something from Focusrite or Presonus. Anyone looking for a affordable way into recording using Pro Tools is likely going to be pretty happy with the MBox I described and not have to spend 699.00 on a retail version of Pro Tools.


The 64,000 question is. Can a unit be engineered and sourced out to manufacturing and sold at a reasonable profit vs rebranding something and letting someone else worry about the sourcing of the unit and warranty etc.

The MBox3 series is relatively recent and I don't think that there's burning need to update them. Still its always fun to speculate a little.

[Chief Technician]

Originally Posted by sunburst79

Speaking for myself but with all the choices currently available I'd actually rather see them concentrate their resources on refining the code base.

If they would just dedicate a cycle to fixing every bug I ever reported, they would make a lot of post users happy. Post users also seem to be their new target demographic. Coincidence?

[CME]

If we're gonna speculate about an mbox4, then I don't see much to speculate about. While I've not used the current mbox series, I have read they're solid sounding boxes. And at a reasonable price point. To make it sound better would make it cost more. So I don't see them trying to upgrade it just yet. They finally got it to sound respectable. That's a lot more than I could say for my original mbox.

IMO the only place for growth is a box with more I/O. But as I mentioned I think avid wants the HD|N omni combo to fill that gap. If they came out with a 16+ channel interface with nice converters and some built in DSP ala the current mboxes who would shell out for the HD|N omni combo then? There would be some that would still need the extra potential I/O that HD|N offers, but a lot of people would do just fine without it. Look at all the studios that ran 002/003 based systems for years.