Mbox integrates audio and MIDI recording?

[1b9]

This came up on a general recording BB...

A user was looking for an outboard Audio/MIDI interface. Someone suggested the Mbox. The first guy said "That's what I wanted at first, but I need MIDI." The other guy said "Mbox has MIDI."

Since I'd briefly considered the Mbox before I bought my MOTU 828mkII, but rejected it because it didn't have MIDI ports, I said, "Whoa," and shot over to the Mbox page on the main Digi site where I read:

Mbox — Powerful Micro Studio Music Production System
Mbox is a 2-channel USB audio peripheral specifically engineered to offer you precision sound in a very small, very portable package. Powered by Pro Tools LE software, Mbox integrates audio and MIDI recording, editing, real-time mixing and Internet collaboration with acclaimed Digidesign and Focusrite performance. Now you can experience the power of Pro Tools for under $500 USD.

And I thought to myself, ah, they must have added MIDI i/o. Great idea! Long overdue.

Next thing I knew, another user said: "Mbox doesn't have MIDI. I know, I ------- have one."

And that sent me back to the Digi site, where I looked at the front and back pictures and then read all the pertinent Mbox pages. Sure enough. No MIDI.

So, what gives with that seemingly misleading paragraph?

Granted, PT LE supports MIDI, but that hardly qualifies as "integrating audio and MIDI recording" -- since, well, it doesn't.


Anyone care to illuminate Digi's possible thinking here?

[bwag]

Of course, Mbox doesn't have MIDI in's or out's, but LE allows you to record MIDI data if you can it into the cpu some other way. I have to use a USB keyboard for that.

So if they're using "integrate" in the sense that it allows you to use two devices to achieve your goal, then it makes sense. It might be a lot clearer to reverse the sentence: "Packaged with the MBox, PT LE integrates audio and MIDI recording ..." Cause it's the software that's handling the MIDI, god knows the mbox ain't.

[Gunnar Hellquist]

Hi,
just saying the same thing.

No Midi in/out on the MBox as such. PT LE can handle Midi. Both external synts and soft-synts.

I use an Oxygen USB keyboard at times. Other times I use a Midiman 1x1 USB to midi converter (not very expensive). Both works with my portable computer (Compaq Presario 2500).

And yes I am looking at my MBox right now.

Gunnar

[TheLP]

It does integreate midi recording. Just buy a cheap midi interface and your set. Mbox=great quality.

[1b9]

Hi,
just saying the same thing.

No Midi in/out on the MBox as such. PT LE can handle Midi. Both external synts and soft-synts.

I use an Oxygen USB keyboard at times. Other times I use a Midiman 1x1 USB to midi converter (not very expensive). Both works with my portable computer (Compaq Presario 2500).

And yes I am looking at my MBox right now.

Gunnar

Yuh. That's about what I figured. I just wanted to know if I was missing something, somehow.

How do you like that Oxygen? Do you notice any latency at all? It's pretty tempting... Looks like there's no aftertouch. How do you like its velocity sensing? Any gotchyas? My main 'boards got Alzheimers and my emergency board's wall wart is lost someplace in 2000 cubic feet of very crowded garage storage... not that that's really justification for spending 140 clams...

[Gunnar Hellquist]

Hi 1b9.

To be truthful I don´t like the Oxygen very much in some respects and much in others. I did play the normal piano as a kid (real lousy) and probably compares everything with that. So a decent keyboard for me is a Yamaha Clavinova. In that that respect the Oxygen is, well, something else. I have it mostly because it is super portable.

I mainly use it for composing or entering notes into Sibelius as quick keyboard. Most often one note at a time, not in real time. As such it does its job.

>>Do you notice any latency at all? ::: Not noticeable from the Oxygen. The MBox at 1024 buffer though is annoying. At lowest buffer setting I guess it is OK.

>>How do you like its velocity sensing? ::: I guess I do not expect much from unweighted keys, so to me t is on par with the rest.

>> Any gotchyas? :: Programming the midi controllers is possible according to the manual. Very dense stuff, could not be bothered after first try. Check out the manual, it is available for download. And as always, be sure to have the latest drivers.

Gunnar

[1b9]

Gunnar

Thanks for the info! It looks like a decent buy for the money, then, and viable for what it's designed for. I, too, long for a controller that fights back a little more (like the 105 year old piano I'm forced to keep in my garage (along with that missing wall wart -- it was one of those Couch-or-Piano decisions... and since I'd already made the Bed-or-Recording-Rig decision, putting me on the couch -- and I was afraid my new landlord would toss me out on my tin ear if I suddenly started pounding on something without a volume control, well... it may be tiny but the beach is a two minute walk and I don't share any walls, floors, or ceilings with anyone).

When I was shopping for interfaces, I looked briefly at the Ozone, which is like the Oxy, of course, but with a converter, too. It was really tempting, but there were more than a couple less-than-happy-campers in some of the user reviews, so it scared me off a bit. But it's a tempting set of features for laptoppers, for sure.

Thanks a million for the info!!