Mbox 2 Mini right for me maybe?

[cripmeister]

Hi everyone,

I've been writing and recording music at home for about 10 years. I'm ashamed to say it but I never bought any audio software ever, I used pirated software. Well I'm a bit older now and using pirated stuff is not for me anymore.

It's been a couple of years since I recorded anything but I recently got the itch again. I'm into rock music and my recordings are usually kept pretty simple vocals, guitar, bass and drums. I'll be recording one track at a time like I always have. I mic up my amp for guitars and bass but I have to use an instrument plug-in for drums. Of course I'll be using plug-ins for compression, reverb etc.

I want to keep it simple and the Mbox 2 Mini seems, at least on paper, like something that would work. Low latency when recording vocals, guitars and bass is important, 8 ms of latency is a max. If any of you knowledgeable people can give me your opinions I'd be very happy.

Dell Vostro 430 Desktop

Intel P55 Chipset
Intel Core i5 750 @ 2.67GHz
3 GB RAM
140 GB SATA HDD (7200 rpm)
ATI Radeon HD 4300/4500
Windows 7 Home Premium (32 bit)

[TOM@METRO]

First, congratulations on the reformation.

I think the first thing you should do is post a Sandra report on the computer you are going to use. It's a Dell and they do have issues from time to time.

Start here.

[cripmeister]

Thanks for the tip. Here's a sandra report of the computer.

SiSoftware Sandra

Computer
Model : Dell Vostro 430
Workgroup : x
Host Name : x
User : x

Processor
Model : Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 750 @ 2.67GHz
Speed : 2.8GHz
Cores per Processor : 4 Unit(s)
Threads per Core : 1 Unit(s)
Type : Quad-Core
Integrated Data Cache : 2x 32kB, Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing
L2 On-board Cache : 2x 256kB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 8-way, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing
L3 On-board Cache : 8MB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 16-way, Exclusive, 64 byte line size, 4 threads sharing

Computer
Mainboard : Dell 0D735T
BIOS : Dell 2.0.1 11/30/2009
Bus(es) : ISA X-Bus PCI PCIe IMB USB i2c/SMBus
Multi-Processor (MP) Support : No
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (APIC) : Yes
Total Memory : 3GB DIMM DDR3

Chipset
Model : Dell Clarksfield/Lynnfield DMI
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 2.4GHz (4.79GHz)

Chipset
Model : Intel Core Desktop (Lynnfield) UnCore
Front Side Bus Speed : 2x 2.4GHz (4.79GHz)
Total Memory : 3GB DIMM DDR3
Memory Bus Speed : 2x 665MHz (1.33GHz)

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Elpida EBJ21UE8BDF0-DJ-F 2GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-10700U DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-25 4-34-10-5)
Memory Module : Elpida EBJ10UE8BBF0-DJ-F 1GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-10700U DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-25 4-34-10-5)

Video System
Video Adapter : ATI Radeon HD 4300/4500 Series (40 SM4.1 600MHz, 512MB DDR3 2x400MHz, PCIe 2.00 x16)

Graphics Processor
Adapter : ATI Radeon HD 4300/4500 Series (40SP 2C 600MHz, 512MB 400MHz)

Storage Devices
ST3160318AS (160GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 8MB Cache) : 149GB (C:)
TSSTcorp DVD+/-RW TS-H653G (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache) : N/A (D:)

Logical Storage Devices
RECOVERY : 9GB (NTFS)
OS (C:) : 140GB (NTFS) @ ST3160318AS (160GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, NCQ, 8MB Cache)
Optical Drive (D:) : N/A @ TSSTcorp DVD+/-RW TS-H653G (SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 2MB Cache)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : Dell P55/PM55/3400 LPC Interface Controller
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : Fintek F71882FG/F71883FG
Audio Device : Dell P55/PM55/3400 High Definition Audio
Audio Codec : Realtek Semiconductor Realtek 662 High Definition Audio
Audio Device : Dell RV730XT Audio device [Radeon HD 4670]
Audio Codec : ATI (AMD) AA01h
Serial Port(s) : 1
Disk Controller : Dell P55/PM55/3400 6 port SATA AHCI Controller
USB Controller 1 : Dell P55/PM55/3400 USB2 Enhanced Host Controller
USB Controller 2 : Dell P55/PM55/3400 USB2 Enhanced Host Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel 801xx/63xx SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Broadcom NetLink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet (Ethernet, 100Mbps)

Power Management
Mains (AC) Line Status : On-Line

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 7 Home 6.01.7600
Platform Compliance : x86

Windows Experience Index
Current System : 3.7 (that darn Desktop performance for Windows Aero)

[TOM@METRO]

The drivers for Windows 7 are still in public beta, I would advise reading through this thread on the subject. You will need a separate drive for audio files and a little more RAM won't hurt. Others will chime in and offer more.

[AirborneFO]

I know little about the W7 functions, but Tom is 100% correct. Need that seperate drive. I am in the same situation as you are. I would recommend looking at something like EZDrummer which is fairly reasonable pricewise. It's super simple to take it and "drag and drop" a beat to play around with.

There are quite a bit of folks that can get you going on your computer. They ALL helped me out and I found that just building a stand alone Windows XP system worked for me.

[cripmeister]

Thank you. @AirborneFO: EZDrummer is a great product plus it's Swedish Something like BFD2 would be overkill for me I think, as the button count goes up my productivity goes down.

edit: Since the an Audiophile 2496 card + Protools M-powered is about the same price as the Mbox 2 Mini I'm leaning more towards that solution now. An Audiophile card will give me the option to use whatever recording software I like. Too bad Digidesign doesn't offer a demo of Protools M-powered, or do they? I haven't been able to find it.