About to do something I swore I wouldn't

[who]

I swore I would never buy a 002r: The power harness issue and poor performance compared to the 001 (prior to 7.x) have kept me away, but now I'm thinking about upgrading. Before I commit, I was hoping to get some feedback:

1. Does the power harness problem exist with new units? If not, is there a serial number that designates the end of the problem?

2. How much luck are people having with the ASIO driver? (I don't think it has been updated in awhile.)

3. Is PT7 worth it? I do alot of sound for picture and composition and PT 6.x was never that good with virtual instruments, etc. Is PT 7.x significantly better?

Thanks for your thoughts

[Obsidian Dragon]

I didn't realize that the 002R performed poorly as compared to the 001. Please explain. I know others that have sworn never to get an 002R because they felt it was just a "side-grade" and that Digidesign was forceing them to get it by discontinuing support for the 001 at Protools LE 6.4. They eventually jumpped onboard when they realized the converters are much better and the new features of 6.7, 6.9. and now 7.x are pretty cool.

1. The power harness issue was supposedly resolved with rev G of the 002/002R. This "G" is the last character in the serial number. If you get an earlier version, there is a free power harness to any registered owner that asks. It includes an improved connector to prevent the infamous power harness issue. Simply call Customer Service.

2. The ASIO driver works as it always has. Is there a specific problem you are referring to. It is written to the ASIO standard and most problems reported are due to the third party software not adhereing to the ASIO standard. ASIO supports input and output and very little else. Features of third party software may exceed the capabilities of the ASIO standard.

3. PT 7.0 (and higher) is well worth it in my opinion. The added features and plug-in improvements as well as dual processor/dual core support are wonderful. I've never looked back. Stability is very good (again in my opinion). The hardware buffer issues still exist for many still.

You mentioned that you do sound for picture. I read here that there is still a known problem with poor video quality with DV Quicktime. Check this link.

[sw rec]

The power supply harness issue was a real annoyance to me until I found out that DIGI would overnight another one...they even sent a new power supply, and it took 15 minutes to fix it. Haven't had an issue since.
Support ran out for your 001 as of, what, version 6.4? I'm running my 002R on exactly the same system as I had my 001 in, and it performs flawlessly. It's worth it to get updates.

[sean shannon]

I have the 002R, bought it new recently as a hardware upgrade for one of my 001s. Here's my take:

1. I'll never sell my 001, it's a great machine for audio editing and more. Mine runs very smooth, tons of plugs, blah blah blah. Problems:
a. No longer supported, no more software goodies.
b. PCI interface is pain if you want to use more than one computer with your 001. So, no laptop, no work/home computer swapping.
c. New, awesome plugins may not run on the older PT systems (at least on mac).
d. Music Production Toolkit (48 stereo tracks, Soundreplacer, etc.) will not work on this.

2. With that said, the 002R is great. First thing I noticed was that the audio outputs are at the professional level of +4, not -10 like the 001. Very easy integration into my setup. Also 2 MIDI outs.

3. Version 7.1 is worth the money. The instrument tracks, extra audio tracks, aux tracks, etc. is awfully handy. With my hardware exchange, I got a whole bunch of stuff like the Music Production Toolkit, synths, plugins, etc. Another cool feature of v7 is the way it handles mac/pc compatibility. I can open, on my PC, any session done anywhaere, on mac or PC. They finally have that sussed out. No more sessions that won't open because mac/PC compatibility isn't checked. Plus, I can have Reason and Acid Pro both running at the same time, in sync with PT via rewire. That alone is very smooth and worth the upgrade to me. Virtually unlimited tracks, loops, synths, drumboxes, etc.

4. Music Production Toolkit. You will love this. More tracks, more toys, sleek user interface (transport docked, menus redone better, grid and nudge available at all times), etc.

[The Weed]

What about the MBox 2 Pro?

Cheers,