Mbox 2 pro confused ???

[Jon Jo Wilson]

Hi there I have a Mbox 2 pro with PT LE installed 8.2. at the moment as it was the most stable version last year before Avid got there hands on it. So I have not dared updating anything since, In fact I don't use PT since switching to REAPER.

So here's my question Avid as far as I'm concerned left PT in a right mess and abandoned me as a new PT user that's my opinion but now I'm left with an Mbox 2 pro and if I want to upgrade too PT9 I have to pay throw the nose for there new software ... My main concern is that my Mbox 2 is now not going to be supported by AVID like new ASIO drivers or up to-date flash software....

I have read through some of the sticky's but are still confused as to whether I have to update PT LE to 8.4 to get the latest ASIO drivers or if I can just download the standalone driver as I use Reaper now instead.

Can some please just explain what I should do as I'm a little confused

running XP pro 32bit sp3

[mykhal c]

not sure version you are 'actually' on...there is no 8.2 for Windows. regardless the PT9 stand-alone drivers are W7 only. since you are on XP you should stay with your current drivers IMO. hope that helps..

[TOM@METRO]

If you are only concerned with using Reaper on XP, why do you need to do anything at all?

If you decide to go with W7, you can download a driver that will function well for your Mbox 2..

[Jon Jo Wilson]

I want the best performance from my Mbox using the latest ASIO drivers will do that ..... whether I use PT or not .... wanting to know if I update to Pro Tools LE 8.0.4 as the Asio drivers are installed during installation will give me that wont it ???? or will it not ... I'm also thinking of updating to windows 7 at some piont or should I just leave well alone if everything's working ... Just with having a MBOX2 pro I'm starting to feel like it's not supported any-more and do not want to be left using obsolete gear that's why my first post sound's a bit miffed with AVID as with anyone that bought one with PT 8 must be feeling the same way surely...??

[Dism]

Originally Posted by Jon Jo Wilson

I want the best performance from my Mbox using the latest ASIO drivers will do that ..... whether I use PT or not .... wanting to know if I update to Pro Tools LE 8.0.4 as the Asio drivers are installed during installation will give me that wont it ???? or will it not ... I'm also thinking of updating to windows 7 at some piont or should I just leave well alone if everything's working ... Just with having a MBOX2 pro I'm starting to feel like it's not supported any-more and do not want to be left using obsolete gear that's why my first post sound's a bit miffed with AVID as with anyone that bought one with PT 8 must be feeling the same way surely...??

I'm not sure where you're getting these "feelings" from...

My MBox 2 works just fine with Pro Tools 9, as it has with 8 and 7... on both Mac and Win. You can definitely rest assured that the MBox 2 series will always be compatible with Pro Tools 8, and I can't see them dropping them at all for Pro Tools 9.

Avid has only left the two very oldest LE interfaces in the dust, (circa 1999, and 2002) and that was well over a year ago already. Even the 002 is still compatible, and it's far older than your MBox. I can't see the MBox 2 series getting dusted any time soon, as it represents the largest population of LE users.

Installing any version of PT8 comes with the ASIO drivers for your MBox.

[TOM@METRO]

And the latest public Mbox 2 driver is here.

[Dism]

Originally Posted by TOM@METRO

And the latest Mbox 2 driver is here.

But just to clarify... do not install it if you are still running any version of Pro Tools prior to 9. This is for Pro Tools 9, or standalone use.

[mykhal c]

Originally Posted by Jon Jo Wilson

I want the best performance from my Mbox using the latest ASIO drivers will do that ..... whether I use PT or not .... wanting to know if I update to Pro Tools LE 8.0.4 as the Asio drivers are installed during installation will give me that wont it ???? or will it not ... I'm also thinking of updating to windows 7 at some piont or should I just leave well alone if everything's working ... Just with having a MBOX2 pro I'm starting to feel like it's not supported any-more and do not want to be left using obsolete gear that's why my first post sound's a bit miffed with AVID as with anyone that bought one with PT 8 must be feeling the same way surely...??

IIRC cats were havin' quite the issue with the 8.0.4 ASIO drivers in Reaper...tho i can't remember if that was XP or W7 or both. you might wanna check the Reaper forums too regardin' this.

[remis]

Originally Posted by TOM@METRO

[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]
If you decide to go with W7, you can download a driver that will function well for your Mbox 2..

I wouldn't say the current mbox2 pro driver works "well" with W7 and PT. I have a couple of issues with it. Firstly the issue of playback freezing if you pause a video or song (this is outside of PT, ie using the mbox as my system sound card). this is an issue avid have acknowledged and said there may be a fix at some point...just like the 003 driver eh? But also for some reason the mbox doesn't always seem to register that a session has been opened and I get no sound until I open 1 specific session I've discovered will always click the mbox into life. I think I noticed this issue come in around the W7 beta version of 8.03 but at the time figured my old pc was incompatible (which it mostly was) but the same thing happens with my i7. None of this happens if using my 11r as the main sound card and interface, but the 64buffer of the mbox2 pro is what's keeping me from using just the 11r...

[Shan]

Originally Posted by Jon Jo Wilson

Can some please just explain what I should do as I'm a little confused

running XP pro 32bit sp3

Windows 7 64-bit, REAPERx64, and Pro Tools 9.1 have been a good solid system on my end, and what I would recommend myself to advanced users. You'll be fine with the Mbox 2 Pro. There's been a big improvement with the ASIO drivers in PT 9. They are also multi client finally. I think you'll be happy with the new changes.

Shane