Mbox 3 Pro...how does it hold up against today's competition

[Filmusic]

After a few years, I am just moving back into the desire to record a few tunes, sold off my HD gear awhile ago, bid farewell to my Mbox 2 Pro round the same time.

They both had a place.

Looking at one sales outlet, today I can see that the Mbox Pro 3 is going for $299. I'm thinking that this is inspiring, but after a quick search I'm seeing 8 pre focusrite products with adat in for about $150 more....hum

Mostly intend on single signal recording, but the lure of capturing a full kit (yup, I kept my mics) pulls me towards the multiple I/O boxes

I can get by easily within the I/O constraints of the Mbox Pro 3 and would do so willingly provided that it is a superior sonic choice over say a focusrite Pro 40 or a 26.

But if the sound award goes to the Focusrite then - I would bypass the Mbox Pro 3 altogether.

Another beast caught my eye - the presonus 192 mobile - now how's that one play with PT11

Thanks in advance for your thoughts...getting back into the game...one dollar at a time

Cheers
S

[albee1952]

My 2 cents, go with the Mbox 3, and here are my reasons:
1-first and foremost, Avid hardware has an edge in how smoothly it integrates with Pro Tools(Third party boxes almost always have a routing/monitoring utility that gets in the way of simple/intuitive operation).
2-drivers. third party hardware drivers can be hit or miss(RME seems to handle this bit better than others)
3-I seriously doubt the hardware will make or break your recordings. Its really down to your engineering skills, and the talent in front of the mic
4-Just read a review on the Presonus 192 and it had more latency than most any USB2 interface(this is likely due to the driver quality I already mentioned).
5-one interface lineup that I think IS worth a serious look is the UA Apollo line. That is the only way to use UA plugins while tracking(using a quad UA card here with my HD/Native rig and every UA plugin reports over 1000 samples of latency, so I must have them inactive while tracking).

[YYR123]

Dave for the win, you couldn't find better advice Filmusic if you had to pay for it.... Honestly!!!

[Filmusic]

Thanks guys, I do value your thoughts and direction.

I've had the original Mbox, and as mentioned, the Mbox 2 Pro, so I'm certainly not adverse to snagging an MBox 3 Pro (haha it may just be my destiny),

but,

aside from potentially cumbersome utilities and latency issues (which agreed are very important considerations) when using a non Avid product, I'm curious to learn just how does the Saffire 26 or pro 40 stack up against the Mbox 3 Pro solely on sonic grounds?

[YYR123]

Not much difference if there is, I would say it's of lesser quality (the focusrite)

Sorry about that I edited the original post

Of course if you're looking for higher-quality (but even less io) I would probably say the apogee quartet is the better interface of them all

[Filmusic]

After a tad bit of research I can see the Focusrite 26 is on for the same $299.

Both the MBox3 Pro and the Focusrite 26 have 4 pres, but the 26 is way more expandable with it's adat in (I've had a few 8 channel adat format pres over the years, they can come in very handy)

on the other side:

I used to have the original mbox, then the mbox 2 pro - I dragged those across the planet, returning to my larger system when back at home.

So perhaps I should consider the mbox 3 pro a portable, well integrated travel system (which is really what I require, as I'm currently 1 year in on a 2 year contract in a remote Arctic community....yup, feeling the need to record)

The Mbox Pro 3 will win out...at $300 I'm thinking it's a great price (at $75 per-pre and with integration for free I guess it's a no-brainer!)

so...off to B&H to buy my 3rd Mbox...wish me luck!

Thanks again to both of you for thoughts and guidance.

Cheers
S

[Filmusic]

Purchased!

I'll let ya know how it goes.

Cheers
S

[Seafoam_Green]

I have an MBox 3 , it works fine ...,

but honestly , I will never buy another AVID interface again (nor would I ever recommend one) ..., due to the AVID Core Audio driver that AVID still have not updated in 2 years already.

I regret ever buying my MBox 3 ..., be warned!

[Filmusic]

I wonder if the lack of driver development has any implications for Windows 10. If anyone is using an MBox 3 Pro on Win 10...I'd love to hear from you.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Seafoam_Green

I have an MBox 3 , it works fine ...,

but honestly , I will never buy another AVID interface again (nor would I ever recommend one) ..., due to the AVIDs Core Audio driver that AVID still have not updated in 2 years already.

I regret ever buying my MBox 3 ..., be warned!

Yep. I'd run far away from any Avid consumer interfaces, including the Apogee rebadged ones that replaced the Mbox 3 Pro. Just don't want to have to ever rely on Avid for drivers of firmware.