Question For Dave Lebolt

[mixermon]

I read your piece on the quality of Digidesign's products and in specific the A/D converters.

For us pros with HD systems who want to be able to track vocals in hotel rooms with artists while they are on tour which is a common thing I find these days, is the quality of what Digidesign is providing going to give us professional results.

In specific, I want to use my Titanium with the Mbox and then import the files into my HD System. It seems like a great way to do this. What is the quality like going into the line inputs of Mbox? Will it compare to what I would get with my older 888 system if i record at 24bit/48kHz? Will it truly allow me to be portable and retain professional results?

You are talking about higher quality Components in the HD System but what about the Mbox system? Are they higher quality A/D's than previous LE systems like the Digi001?

[ProdInfo]

Hi Mixermon,

Thanks for the inquiry. We definitely understand that more and more people are interested in having on-the-go recording capabilities and portability for those occasional clandestine tracking sessions.

That's exactly why we came out with Mbox.

The questions you pose are very subjective in nature. I believe Mbox is capable of professional results, and we worked very hard along with Focusrite to give customers the best value we possibly could at a remarkably affordable price, under $500.

From a technical standpoint, Mbox's A/D converters have a 3 dB advantage in dynamic range versus Digi001 (101 dB vs. 98 dB respectively), and a comparable THD spec when testing the line input. In comparison, the dynamic range of the 888|24 is 110 dB. This 7 dB difference translates into greater than twice the dynamic range as opposed to Mbox.

Obviously, there's more to consider besides dynamic range and THD. I would recommend visiting the following links for full specifications on Mbox, Digi001, and the 888|24:
http://www.digidesign.com/products/p...roduct_id=2620
http://www.digidesign.com/products/p...roduct_id=1018
http://www.digidesign.com/products/p...roduct_id=1013

Ultimately, however, it is up to you, your clients, and your ears to decide whether or not Mbox is capable of making a recording that meets your standards. Plenty of great records have been made using scratch vocals or guitar parts from 4-track cassette and other mediums. I think you'll find Mbox to be miles ahead of the alternatives.

By the way... Dave LeBolt is the VP of Product Strategy at Digidesign, and a rather busy guy figuring out what cool new stuff we will work on for years to come. Digidesign has Product Information departments worldwide. If you have a presales question about a product, please just ask us. That's our job. We can't always respond as quickly as you might like on the DUC, but you are always welcome to call. In North America, we can be reached at 800-333-2137 or 650-731-6100 from 8:30-5:30 PST Monday-Thursday, and from 8:30-3:00 on Fridays. For other locations, customers can find contact information for their particular region at the following link:
http://www.digidesign.com/aboutus/contact/

As Dave L. might say- Thanks for listening!