Quote:
Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm
No version of HD ever "came with" a low end consumer interface like an Mbox.
Why are you even looking at an old past-end of support life Mbox, hopefully not because you think you want to run whatever old Pro Tools LE software that came with it? And hopefully you value your time so that "being free" does not sucker you into wasting time on this old past-EOL stuff. You are almost certainly better off throwing away that junk and getting a modern interface with decent ongoing vendor support. Avid does not play in the consumer market any more. But you can get well supported products starting with things low cost interfaces such as the Focusrite 2i2. And there is a lot of lovely interfaces available from UAD, Apogee, MOTU, RME, ...
I can't fathom why you are talking about Pro Tools HD. HD software used to be included with HD hardware bundles starting in the multiple thousands of dollars range. Or you can purchase Pro Tools Ultimate new today for few $k. MBox has nothing to do with HD hardware.
Why do you think you need Pro Tools HD or as it's now called Pro Tools Ultimate vs. Pro Tools standard? Typically people who need the extra software features of HD/Ultimate or the Digilink interface compatibility understand all this stuff. If you are just getting started/just doing basic audio as a hobbiest the last thing you likely should worry about is HD or Ultimate. You likely need to go purchase yourself a nice well supported (non-Avid) interface and a Pro Tools standard license subscription.
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There is no high end low end products its high end marketing to win the corporate studio clients (TV Radio Film with post production facilities ) who right off the costs of Avid rigs annually on tax returns vs independent music producers, artists, who are willing or left with no choice to share a chunk of their income or move unto another DAW., Many if not all of the digi hardware people I had visited in Menlo park before Avid took over are gone., the only Digidesign-avid clients siding with over pricing hardware rigs today are those who depend on their gear for work and want to make sure competition can't afford it.
Why Pro Tools (first of not much that concerns the indie producers and musicians has changed) indie producers and musicians don care about SMPTE and other features linking AVIDS gear or services to the big corp studios with multiple rooms linked via tie lines etc.
Most who want pro tools outside the big facilities need it to open sessions and work from any location, make or mix music, compose music, music or sounds fx to picture, or are producers or talent like VO actors or singers that need the higher resolution editing, metering and a few other things Pro Tools offers in no other DAW.
Its why many rather buy a UAD Apollo and move on only using Pro Tools if at all for the reasons I mentioned.
The hardware story is well known to the public now, same with all companies that are designing products as proprietory which is seen as planned obsolescence in order to push new products at the market value rate yet they have little to no features besides been compatible with Catalina...btw Pro Tools is not fully compatible with either Catalina or BigSur either., All digital avid hardware can work today, example people reported see their old digi002 show up in other DAWS using Catalina.,.I also met people who still use the giant SESSION 8 hardware programming it to push 16 ins and outs., anyway they want in fact,
So with that said.
I know the mbox3 mini is usb1, Mbox3 is 2.0 and Mbox3 pro is firewire,
I say Mbox usb 2 and Mbox3 FW can do as well as a portable SSL2+
I know USB drivers for Catalina are available even though Avid refuses to update them.
Im guessing when I get the mbox3 it will work in Catalina with Pro Tools 12, but I like to see if I can buy someone's Pro Tools HD or 10.
I don't need the post production options, maybe nice to have some video editing but im only concerned with producing music.