Mbox Gain Issues and Protools Issues (Bounce to Disk and Knob/Pot adjustments)

[Lucky Bastard]

Good evening. I recently purchased Protools 11 and Mbox Pro and have spent the past few weeks exploring/learning/recording/generally having a great time. I am having persistent issues with the Mbox that are making me think it might be defective. I am also having issues with Protools but I know that these are user related.

Mbox Issues
When plugging in guitar or bass directly into Mbox I am not able to boost the signal enough to send to protools. I've tried all four inputs/different cables/different instruments and the problem persists.

There is a spot on the upper end of gain pot 3 that doesn't transition signal smoothly. When trying to inch the volume up slightly to get the optimum level it jumps drastically. Haven't tried other gain pots to see if they are doing it too.

I bought both Protools and Mbox through B&H Photo. They referred me to Avid which doesn't have a free customer support number that I can contact with these concerns.

Protools Issues
I have a two track (3 minute) song I want to bounce to disk. When doing the bounce to disk it says it is going to take 14 hours. I suspect this is because it doesn't "know" (I haven't told it) where the end of the song is. The click seems to go on forever and I fear that this is why the bounce to disk is taking so long.

I can't for the life of me figure out how to adjust any of the pots/knobs (pan pot, volume knobs in Eleven) with my mouse. I can get them to move sporadically but can't fine tune them. Searched the literature for knobs/pot adjustments.

I thank you in advance for any help you may send my way.

Namaste,
Brian

• Dell Precision M4700 with Intel Core i5-3340M CPU @ 2.70GHz
• Windows 7 Professional
• Mbox Pro
• Pro Tools 11.0.2
• 8.00 GB of RAM Installed

[albee1952]

Mbox issue-not an Mbox user so I can't offer much, other than, if it sounds good, it IS good(IOW, don't worry about where the knob points, as long as you have the required/desired signal, which ideally would be just into the yellow on the track meter). BTW, keep the metering in Pre-fade mode for tracking

ProTools issues-to bounce the desired amount of time, there are several ways to highlight the amount of time you want in the bounce. Mine is to pick any audio track that runs the full length(if this track is a bunch of chopped up clips, I will consolidate it first). I just highlight any audio track that covers the desired time and run the bounce. Another option is to zoom out so the entire project fits on the EDIT screen, drag across any track to select the time you want included in the bounce(quick and easy if you don't mind trimming the head and tail afterwards).

After clicking on a knob or fader, hold the Ctrl key to enter "fine adjust" mode

[Lucky Bastard]

Thanks for the response. Shouldn't my Mbox give me enough pre-amplification with a guitar plugged directly into it? I have to turn it all the way to 10 to have 2 or 3 lights illuminate. I want 4-8 lights illuminated with headroom available. It leads me to believe that with the other problem I am experiencing that my Mbox might be defective. A defective $800 piece of equipment should be replaced.

I am hoping someone on here can give me confirmation because Avid support isn't the easiest to locate without a paid subscription.

[albee1952]

You have tried the Mic/DI button in both positions?

[mesaone]

Originally Posted by Lucky Bastard

Mbox Issues
When plugging in guitar or bass directly into Mbox I am not able to boost the signal enough to send to protools. I've tried all four inputs/different cables/different instruments and the problem persists.

1. Make sure you are using the hi-z input on the front of the MBOX, and that the "front/rear" switch is out.
2. Have you checked the gain knobs to see if they have been pulled out? That engages a -20 dB pad. Turn the gain all the way down, push the knobs in, then try again.
3. If you still can't get enough gain, then you might look into getting a DI box to use in conjunction with your MBOX.

Originally Posted by Lucky Bastard

There is a spot on the upper end of gain pot 3 that doesn't transition signal smoothly. When trying to inch the volume up slightly to get the optimum level it jumps drastically. Haven't tried other gain pots to see if they are doing it too.

Unfortunately this is the case for the MBOX preamps. They jump at the end. The only solution is better gain staging (and turning off the pad!)

Originally Posted by Lucky Bastard

Protools Issues
I have a two track (3 minute) song I want to bounce to disk. When doing the bounce to disk it says it is going to take 14 hours. I suspect this is because it doesn't "know" (I haven't told it) where the end of the song is. The click seems to go on forever and I fear that this is why the bounce to disk is taking so long.

Make a timeline selection, then bounce. Don't forget about offline bounce (radio box on the lower left of the Bounce dialog).

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Lucky Bastard

Thanks for the response. Shouldn't my Mbox give me enough pre-amplification with a guitar plugged directly into it? I have to turn it all the way to 10 to have 2 or 3 lights illuminate. I want 4-8 lights illuminated with headroom available. It leads me to believe that with the other problem I am experiencing that my Mbox might be defective. A defective $800 piece of equipment should be replaced.

I am hoping someone on here can give me confirmation because Avid support isn't the easiest to locate without a paid subscription.

1. You should have a free support ASC obtained when you registered your products that allow you to call Avid.

2. I'm not sure what you are expecting from an electrical guitar. The signal is *very* low level. Stop fixating on "the lights" and set it to what sounds good (both dry and when amped/wet). In the real world you boost that with a guitar amplifier, the pre-amp/DI is not the same. You do know that you need to put an amp-simulator plugin (sasamp, Eleven Free, Eleven, or many other third party ones) on that dry guitar track to get it to "normal levels" right?

[Pinball Wizard]

The clue here is that you are having problems with the 3rd. fader. You need to use inputs 1 and/or 2 with instruments. On the mbox 3 Pro, the jack is in the middle of the XL connectors on the front of the unit....NOT the jacks on the rear. They are indeed designed for higher levels.

Although the mbox gains are rather strange, I have had no problems using either an mbox 3 or an mbox 3 pro with guitars.

Yes, the taper is incorrect on the gain controls and the last few degrees of rotation is really hard to use.