Digi Mbox Sound Card
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- Output Mode: Stereo
- Card Interface: USB
- Bit Depth: 24-bit
- Form Factor: External
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Digidesign Mbox - A great travelling home studio
Pros
portable, comes with ProTools, uses great Focusrite preamps
Cons
no midi, only 2 channels, limited compatibility, locked to ProTools
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Starting up a home studio for podcasting or voice work? Look no further than the Mbox for pre-amp needs.
Anyone involving themselves in the spoken arts such as voice-over work or podcasting, are going to want a large diaphragm condenser mic. Such beasts are power hungry and as such require extra power. Enter the Mbox by Digidesign. Not only does it add the necessary power as a pre-amp, but it's also portable, too.
The Mbox is a small blue box that stands on end. Unassuming with only 4 knobs, this little box provides excellent sound and flexibility. Featuring 2 channels (for those with 2 mics who want to record stereo), the Mbox allows 3 pin balanced XLR cables to be powered with the 48v phantom power. Using this kind of connector is the only way to power a device needing it, but for those who use dynamic mics which don't require power, the Mbox also supports a standard 1/4 inch plug. And since the Mbox is USB driven, there's no need to plug it into a soundcard. Simply plug it into your USB port and your recording stays in the digital domain.
Musicians should also delight in the Mbox, though they might find the lack of midi and only 2 channels a bit limiting. If you want more channels to record simultaneously, this is probably not the box for you. If you want midi, then consider the Mbox 2. But those wishing to simply record one instrument at a time will be satisfied with this little powerhouse. The Focusrite pre-amps are quite good. The signal is clear and crisp with no distortion once the input levels are properly set.
Bundled with the Mbox is a copy of Digidesign's legendary ProTools LE. This is the industry standard for music production and professional studios the world over. While it's not my favorite software for recording voice-overs (resource hog), it is good to know the software and be able to send session files to studios if need be. But the problem with the Mbox is that it is locked to ProTools and vice versa. While it is possible to get the Mbox to work with other software through hacks and unsupported drivers, ProTools will not even start if it doesn't detect the Mbox.
One of the positives of the Mbox is that it doesn't require external power. It gets its power through the USB port, so there are no cables to drag around (except for the mic cables). This is great for portability. Plug it into a laptop with ProTools and you have a travelling studio!
The sound going into the computer sounds great. I have detected no noise, except for the microphone picking up the hum of my computer fans. It has enough power to do my mic justice and the peak meter lets me know when I've overextended my settings. Very easy to use and very good sounding.
The other drawback is the compatibility list for PCs. If you have a Mac, you're fine. But those who use PCs will want to check the compatibility list at the Digidesign website.
The Mbox is a small blue box that stands on end. Unassuming with only 4 knobs, this little box provides excellent sound and flexibility. Featuring 2 channels (for those with 2 mics who want to record stereo), the Mbox allows 3 pin balanced XLR cables to be powered with the 48v phantom power. Using this kind of connector is the only way to power a device needing it, but for those who use dynamic mics which don't require power, the Mbox also supports a standard 1/4 inch plug. And since the Mbox is USB driven, there's no need to plug it into a soundcard. Simply plug it into your USB port and your recording stays in the digital domain.
Musicians should also delight in the Mbox, though they might find the lack of midi and only 2 channels a bit limiting. If you want more channels to record simultaneously, this is probably not the box for you. If you want midi, then consider the Mbox 2. But those wishing to simply record one instrument at a time will be satisfied with this little powerhouse. The Focusrite pre-amps are quite good. The signal is clear and crisp with no distortion once the input levels are properly set.
Bundled with the Mbox is a copy of Digidesign's legendary ProTools LE. This is the industry standard for music production and professional studios the world over. While it's not my favorite software for recording voice-overs (resource hog), it is good to know the software and be able to send session files to studios if need be. But the problem with the Mbox is that it is locked to ProTools and vice versa. While it is possible to get the Mbox to work with other software through hacks and unsupported drivers, ProTools will not even start if it doesn't detect the Mbox.
One of the positives of the Mbox is that it doesn't require external power. It gets its power through the USB port, so there are no cables to drag around (except for the mic cables). This is great for portability. Plug it into a laptop with ProTools and you have a travelling studio!
The sound going into the computer sounds great. I have detected no noise, except for the microphone picking up the hum of my computer fans. It has enough power to do my mic justice and the peak meter lets me know when I've overextended my settings. Very easy to use and very good sounding.
The other drawback is the compatibility list for PCs. If you have a Mac, you're fine. But those who use PCs will want to check the compatibility list at the Digidesign website.
