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  #1  
Old 02-16-2016, 06:19 AM
digifactory digifactory is offline
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Default Upgrade from dig002 rack to UNKNOWN?

Hello everyone,

I am using the digi002r with PT 12 in El Capitan and it is a little pain as you may know. I am constantly getting a CPU Overload error with the advise to increase the H/W buffer size (from 128 to 256 or higher), although I have the i7 4 GHz model running in a small session (4-6 tracks and 4-6 plugins).

I think this is a problem of the "untested" digi 003 driver on my machine. The i7 should be able to handle such sessions without any troubles.

Please could you give me any hint to which usb-interface I should upgrade. The replacement should have more or less the same audio quality, budget max. USD 250. I am doing home music recording with max 10 -15 tracks in a session using a masterkeyboard (midi), sometimes a mic and a guitar. Thats all, I do not want to spend too much money in this hobby anylonger.

Thank you for your help.

Mike
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Old 02-16-2016, 10:23 AM
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albee1952 albee1952 is online now
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Default Re: Upgrade from dig002 rack to UNKNOWN?

On that tight a budget, a used Focusrite Pro40 is about the only thing I can think of
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Old 02-16-2016, 12:44 PM
digifactory digifactory is offline
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Default Re: Upgrade from dig002 rack to UNKNOWN?

Thank you for answer. I was thinking about a smaller one.

Is it worth to go with one of the officially supported (PT 12) following interfaces:
  • M-Audio M-Track Plus II
  • M-Audio Fast Track C400/C600
  • MBox (3rd)

Which one do you recommend as a suitable replacement for the 002r?

Mike
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Old 02-17-2016, 08:23 AM
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albee1952 albee1952 is online now
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Default Re: Upgrade from dig002 rack to UNKNOWN?

My 2 cents only, but I don't recommend M-Audio products
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  #5  
Old 02-17-2016, 09:45 PM
madselhoff madselhoff is offline
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Default Re: Upgrade from dig002 rack to UNKNOWN?

I would actually say that the 3. gen. mbox is really great sounding! I have owned one, and am seriously thinking of getting one again for my portable setup. We recently recorded an entire metal album using only the mbox 3.. If you want to give it a listen just search Scamp - The Deadcalm .. In my rack I have a Scarlett 18i20 (with my iMac) but if they made a rack version of the 3. gen. mbox, I would def. buy :) .. Great drivers, great sound, very good build quality! Hope you get back with your choice, and how it's working for you

.. Mads
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  #6  
Old 03-12-2016, 04:34 AM
VRW VRW is offline
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Default Re: Upgrade from dig002 rack to UNKNOWN?

Quote:
Originally Posted by digifactory View Post
  • M-Audio M-Track Plus II
  • M-Audio Fast Track C400/C600
  • MBox (3rd)
Which one do you recommend as a suitable replacement for the 002r?
To be honest, none of it.

The Fast Track interfaces and the 3rd gen. MBox are simply old stuff, were made for former generations of Mac OS X, Pro Tools and computers.
Even if there are still drivers available for it, they are definitely on the way to be legacy. Soon you will face the same problems you experience
with your 002 now. I seriously would not recommend to invest any money in those if you want to stay current and, even more important, trouble
free with your system in the future.

The M-Track Plus 2 is a nice little device yet doesnīt suit your other gear (current 5k iMac 4GHz etc.) at all as for quality, latency etc. and will not
be very future proof as well in the long run.

Btw hopefully you donīt have a Fusion drive in your iMac because this will cause serious troubles as well. In the case you have one, you really should
split it into itīs 2 parts (1x 128GB SSD, 1x 7200rpm HDD) via terminal commands. Itīs no big deal yet will improve the performance of Pro Tools a lot.
http://www.macworld.com/article/2015...ion-drive.html
http://macs.about.com/od/diyguidespr...rive-Apart.htm

Back to the interface.
Get your 002 on Ebay as soon as possible to gain a few bucks from it as long as there are still people with older systems who may buy interested in buying it.
Soon you wonīt get any reasonable amount of money for it anymore for sure.

If you can afford it I highly would recommend you to get this one finally.
https://www.friendlyhouse.at/de/stud...ett-4-pre.html

This is one of the most current, fastest interfaces on the market, offers high end mic preamp quality (confirmed by pros who definitely know what they are
talking about) and studio grade converters. These boxes are operating on a much higher level as for quality than their price would tell .
The Focusrite Clarett series and the UA Apollo Twin series are the best quality, current interfaces you can get for less than 1k nowadays.

There are models with 2 preamps, 4 preamps and 8 preamps available, all connected via Thunderbolt which means super low latency (about 1ms) and perfect
connectivity with your iMac.

https://www.friendlyhouse.at/de/stud...ett-2-pre.html
https://www.friendlyhouse.at/de/stud...ett-8-pre.html
https://www.friendlyhouse.at/de/stud...tt-8-prex.html

The 8 preamp models are available from the music store Klangfarbe in Vienna as well but I think those are too expensive for you at the moment, right?
Thatīs why I suggested the 4 preamp model as this one will offer similar (similar not the same as for quantity I know) stuff like the 002 yet on another level
of quality in every detail.
https://www.klangfarbe.com/artikelli...tt&search-btn=


If however you may not need 4 preamps all the time, the 2 preamp model would be great as well. You can get this one for €499.- from there as well.
https://www.friendlyhouse.at/de/stud...ett-2-pre.html

It additionally offers 8 ADAT inputs which means you could add external preamps later if needed once. Any of these Focusrite interfaces are latest tech,
really current stuff and therefor not only would suit your iMac perfectly as well as being future proof as well. So it would be worth the money for sure.

There you find all the info from the Focusrite website.
https://focusrite.de/clarett-range?reload=1#

If even the Clarett 2pre will not be affordable for you and you are looking for a super low budget yet good quality solution, check out the small Focusrite
Scarlett 2i2. I own this unit, use it for mobile applications (besides my UA Apollo desktop studio) and can confirm that it works flawlessly with the latest
versions of Mac OS X El Capitan and Pro Tools 12 (12.4) on a 2014 i7 Quad Core 2,5GHz 16GB Ram MacBook Pro.
Additionally it offers astonishing quality as for itīs preamps and converters. I have owned a lot of studio stuff from the 002, 003, Apogee Quartet, Duet,
Ensemble, UA Apollos etc. and I still use this little interface as well from time to time for a good reason...itīs really cool for this price (and portable).

I guarantee you you wonīt get anything better out there for this price (€139.- at the moment)! And it will offer you better quality than any of the 3 interfaces
you considered above, believe it or not, even better than the 3rd gen. MBox.
https://www.friendlyhouse.at/de/stud...rlett-2i2.html
https://www.klangfarbe.com/artikel.p...ett-2i2-s35599
Whatīs also great with the Scarlett 2i2 is that it is class compliant which means plug n play, no driver ever needed yet real zero latency recording available.

Anyway.
To match your really cool, powerful iMac, OS X El Capitan and Pro Tools 12 let me recommend you to get one of those Focusrite Clarett Thunderbolt models.
They are all cool stuff offering the same great quality, from the 2Pre to the 8XPre. I am pretty sure you wonīt get disappointed by one of it.

If however you really do not want to invest more than $250.- under all circumstances, just get the Scarlett 2i2. Thatīs a real bang for the buck and a better
quality, more reliable and less trouble (no software, no driver needed) than any of your list.

Finally check it out about the Fusion drive and donīt forget to set up all the optimization stuff for Pro Tools.
http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/t...Optimize-10-11
Further additionally try out the trouble shooting stuff like this one.
http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/t...nd_Preferences

It may not solve the issues regarding the 002 but help to optimize your system for further usage.

The best of success to you,


VRW
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  #7  
Old 03-21-2016, 02:50 PM
chrismeraz chrismeraz is offline
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Default Re: Upgrade from dig002 rack to UNKNOWN?

Get an 003R if that is what your budget allows. I am using one with PT 12 and it works very well. I'm recording some great stuff! Yeah not the best on the planet but whatever, they are good enough and they are dirt cheap nowadays. Everything else is too expensive. I totally feel your pain bro.
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  #8  
Old 03-22-2016, 12:31 AM
VRW VRW is offline
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Default Re: Upgrade from dig002 rack to UNKNOWN?

Quote:
Originally Posted by digifactory View Post
I am doing home music recording with max 10 -15 tracks in a session using a masterkeyboard (midi), sometimes a mic and a guitar.
If that's really all you wanna do, you seriously can't spend more than 250, however you intend to upgrade to/use future versions of Mac OSX and Pro Tools, this definitely still will be your best option as for money, as for quality and functionalty.
https://www.klangfarbe.com/artikel.p...ett-2i2-s35599
You probably may need an extra midi interface for your masterkeyboard. I have used this one myself for years successfully.
https://www.klangfarbe.com/artikel.p...terface-s29005
This will be about €180.- all together for an unused, brand new, good quality still future proof solution. That ain't that bad.

I at first thought it would make sense for you to get a small, current Thunderbolt interface which would perfectly suit your current and powerful iMac and which would be trouble free and future proof with future versions of Mac OSX and Pro Tools. If however this will be too expensive anyway, the Scarlett 2i2 will meet all your requirements finally.

It's up to you of course but if you ever might consider using future versions of Mac OSX and Pro Tools, you better do not spend any money in those old Digidesign/Avid interfaces anymore. No matter if it's an Mbox 3 or an 003.
You won't get happy with one of these in the near future for sure.

So, again, the best of success to you whichever route you decide to go finally.


VRW
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  #9  
Old 12-06-2017, 04:53 AM
digifactory digifactory is offline
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Default Re: Upgrade from dig002 rack to UNKNOWN?

Long time no see. Sorry for my absence.

Thank you for your help and answers, especially thank you to VRW for your extensive research.

Finally, I decided to go with 003R.

Regards
Mike
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