Downgrade from my Avid Omni to Mbox Studio?

[chrisdee]

Hi,

Wonder if anybody has tested Omni against the new Mbox Studio interface?
I wonder how the preamps, headphone outs, line inputs and conversion is on the Mbox Studio vs Avid Omni?

Is it a noticable downgrade or are they similiar in sound quality?
Or is maby Mbox Studio a little step up from my old Omni?

Will I be able to use my Pro Tools Ultimate softare with Mbox Studio?

[albee1952]

Not exactly the proper comparison, but I went to Mbox Studio from HDN with HD IO and it sounds fine to me(but not a direct comparison of mic pre's). As for Ultimate, it works just fine with Mbox Studio(what I am running).

[Darryl Ramm]

Why look at the Studio and not any number of other third party interfaces? One thing that got people upset with it was the limit of 8 usable outputs/DAW returns (coming from an Omni you will be used to more connections than being usable from the DAW, but something to be aware of).

I find it hard to look past RME, esp. for driver quality, technical support and long term product support. How many times have Avid updated the drivers or firmware on the Studio? Given feedback on user feature requests? Implemented any of them?

[chrisdee]

Most important to me is best as posssible sound quality as I only record vocals one track at a time. I sometimes use two mics just to compare.

But monitoring i need atleast 2 high quality headphone outputs.

I have been looking at MTRX studio but I think it has way more functions than I need. I will never do surround. So I feel I pay for a lot of things I just don't want or need.

It's also got to be a noisless interface as I will track right beside it in my tiny home studio.

Dimentions of my room is 110cm wide, 220 cm long and 214 cm height so tiny.

[Darryl Ramm]

Yep the MTRX Studio is way more than you need, I'm just fascinated because but Avid and DAD did such a nice job there, and to me seems a better product for many users than the DAD Thundercore, yes Thundercore is more configurable, but too many expensive slot options, just having 16x16 line I/O is just a nice config. And regardless of what happens in future it has driver support from DAD.

The two headphone outs might limit you. If you want headphone outs in the box... I use outboard headphone amps/monitor controllers so not much of an issue. RME UFC II or UFX II are very nice boxes, and their preamps and headphone outputs will keep up with the best, but priced more than an MBox Studio. In this space I have lots of time for interfaces from UAD (Apollo) and Apogee (who both have gone in hard for DSP preamp modelling/effects in the interface, with UAD also doing mic modelling if any of that floats your boat).

Mbox Studio might be a fine interface, but I don't understand Avid focusing on that low-mid part of the market where there are numerous great choices from other vendors already. But what do I know and hopefully the team that did the Mbox are heroes inside Avid for their large margin contribution.

[chrisdee]

Yes but I havent found any other high end interface solution with superior sound quality than the MTRX Studio unless any of you know of something else?

[Sardi]

Originally Posted by chrisdee

Yes but I havent found any other high end interface solution with superior sound quality than the MTRX Studio unless any of you know of something else?

Neumann MT48.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by chrisdee

Yes but I havent found any other high end interface solution with superior sound quality than the MTRX Studio unless any of you know of something else?

But you are looking at an Mbox Studio not MTRX Studio?

I would go with any modern RME interface with no quarms about audio performance.

DAD make great stuff, and they claim the convertors in MTRX Studio are almost as good as MTRX/MTRX II. But many ADC and DAC nowadays are indistinguishable. Folks can get into fancy audiophile territory with stacked convertors and ultra pure clocks etc but for practical uses that is not likely to make a difference. Pick any one of a number of higher end interfaces and you are unlikely to spot the difference in a blind test. I cannot tell the DACs built into current RME interfaces for example from money no object audiophile convertors running into Mark Levinson or Bryston power amps driving (older model) B&W 802 speakers in a well treated listening room. Audio performance is more likely to be dominated by microphone, monitors and room treatments. Many higher end interfaces have similar performing preamps, or if onboard preamps are the weak point then go external preamps or boosters.

Can you borrow an interface or several from a dealer to try out? Actually getting your hands on stuff and seeing how you like it can be so great.

[The Weed]

I agree with Darryl about RME. Their products and converts are great, the drivers they code themselves are superb, no manufacturer supports their products longer and the fact TotalMix comes included is the icing and cherry on top.

[chrisdee]

Originally Posted by Sardi

Neumann MT48.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

MT 48 sounds interesting. From what I read on Gearspace it has superior mastering grade clean, detailed and clear sound quality compared to Uad and Rme interfaces.

Anybody successfully running MT 48 on Pro Tools Ultimate on Windows 10?