Does Mbox really suck this bad?

[lwilliam]

You know, there are different USB chip sets in various computers - even within the Apple family. I wonder if that is a factor...

That's a real bummer, Chris, when you've gone to the trouble to advise someone what to get and then you don't look so good. I've been there myself...

[Chris Coleman]

There are HORDES of happy Mbox users, myself included

I don't know, right now it seems the "happy Mbox users" are in the minority.

don't be deceived into thinking that the Mbox 'sucks' per se.

How can I be "deceived" when the system's right in front of me, wheezing like a smoker with one lung when I try to record ONE SINGLE TRACK? It is infuriating and I don't understand how a product like this can survive in the market. I really want to make it work, because my client and I were trying to setup a system which gives them PT compatibility for a reasonable price.

$2000+ for a system that can't reliably record one track is NOT reasonable.

[GORILLA]

I don't know. But I would NEVER buy or advise someone to buy a audio system that had to run thru USB. Maybe USB2, maybe. I don't care who makes it.

Good luck on fixing the problems.

[chucknkd]

i doint know guys, ive had the mbox since about 4 months after it came out, and ive run it on a titanium 500 w/ no probs. the only thing was in the beginning and the bad usb driver, but after that, smooth sailing, even off the internal drive (32 tracks). surely someone has a good working ibook/mbox system. have you tried older versions of pt? (6.0, 6.1, osx.2) just curious. hope it all works out.

[RadioMoo]

What's the processor speed on the iBook? Hard drive rpms?

Could it be the external drive?

Could it be a bad USB driver?

Did you trash volume.ddb "for all mounted hard drives", com.digidesign.protools.plist, digiSetup.OSX and go to Digidesign>Digidesign Databases>Volumes, and see if another app did the cutsie little thing where it leaves a cache file there; did you trash QuickTime Preferences and then launch QuickTime?

[Slim Shady]

How can I be "deceived" when the system's right in front of me, wheezing like a smoker with one lung when I try to record ONE SINGLE TRACK?

Dude, there's obviously something wrong with your system. You continue speaking like this is how the Mbox is supposed to perform despite all the posts telling you otherwise. Granted it does seem like you've done everything correctly, but it sounds like you need to dig further. Have you run the apple hardware test to check for bad RAM? Did you try the other USB port (several users have reported that using a different USB port on iBooks helped other issues). Did you format the external drive using Apple's disk utility and avoid any 3rd party drivers, and make sure that journaling is off? I used to have a Titanium Powerbook 1ghz and could easily do 32 track sessions with my Mbox - your iBook (assuming it's a new one) is faster than that so you should be fine, just because you're not doesn't mean the Mbox sucks, it means there's something else messing up your system and you would likely be having the same problem no matter what interface you were using.

[tele_player]

I'm thinking that the USB implementation on some or all Macs might be the problem. I've heard fewer complaints about Mbox misbehavior on the Windows forum.

Of course, the Digidesign software and support guys know if this is true or not, but they ain't talking.

[marty martin]

Have you installed any third party RAM.
If so, try taking it out and checking PTools again.
Apologies if you've already tried this but I've seen it happen loads of times as Macs are very particular about what type of RAM will work.

[Chris Coleman]

Dude, there's obviously something wrong with your system. You continue speaking like this is how the Mbox is supposed to perform despite all the posts telling you otherwise. Granted it does seem like you've done everything correctly, but it sounds like you need to dig further. Have you run the apple hardware test to check for bad RAM? Did you try the other USB port (several users have reported that using a different USB port on iBooks helped other issues). Did you format the external drive using Apple's disk utility and avoid any 3rd party drivers, and make sure that journaling is off? I used to have a Titanium Powerbook 1ghz and could easily do 32 track sessions with my Mbox - your iBook (assuming it's a new one) is faster than that so you should be fine, just because you're not doesn't mean the Mbox sucks, it means there's something else messing up your system and you would likely be having the same problem no matter what interface you were using.

Slim,

I'm not stating that this is how the Mbox is supposed to perform, I'm asking...hence the post's title...and it is honestly great to hear about your past success with the Mbox, it gives hope to the situation.

I am, however, stating that this is the performance of one specific Mbox system, which I have thus far found to be completely unacceptable. After scouring the DUC with various searches and then blatantly posing the question "Does Mbox really suck this bad?" then coming up with responses like "yes, it does",it proves a wee bit disheartening. The most frustrating part is that I am Digi supporter and, despite occasional ribbing, I trust the products and the company - and this product seems so off the mark, in my short experience. Luckily, my experience with it is just that - short. Hopefully it will prove itself in the long run.

None of this frustration is vented toward you or anyone on the DUC, I'm simply on a fact-finding mission to find if anyone is having success with a similarly equipped system.

Digi just called me this morning and suggested a couple other tips (and yes, I've conducted everything you suggested short of the RAM testing, which I'll do next). Hopefully it will result in a rock-solid system.

Anyone else care to cheer or jeer the Mbox?

[Maarsmusic]

I'd appreciate you keeping us informed of your experience in this matter, as I'm going to be going down the same road in the near future as well.

Good Luck,

Markus