Pre-amp/mbox/Gear selection!

[everyonehas]

So i got a few questions to ask.
I have a lovely maton cw-80 i wanna record.
I brought two rode nt5's
And i am about to purchase the mbox 3rd gen.

What i want to know is. If the preamp built into the mbox will keep the quaility of the lovely guitar and rode nt5s or will i need a better pre-amp. And if there is a better options then the mbox for roughly the same price!

Thanks a trillion!

[Dags]

[0.02c hitting the floor]

My experience with USB-powered audio interfaces - specifically the MBox2 - is that yes, the preamp can handle powering the condenser mics but the signal quality is compromised by electrical noise added during the transfer via the same USB cable carrying power to the unit.
(this is also true for recording line-level signals such as keyboards which do not need phantom power)

The 3rd gen MBox series may have resolved this problem. I know there are HRs out there who record with other USB-powered devices and don't seem to have the same low level high frequency noise problems as the MBox does.

Dags

[edit: I should clarify that the electrical noise is low in level and would most likely be hidden when buried under other instruments, but if you have a solo instrument song or several tracks recorded using the same device all adding small amounts of the same electrical noise, it really does become noticeable.]

[Steenamaroo]

I had an mbox 2. It was always fine with sm81s.

Got a bit noisy with the gain up for dynamic mics, but other than that it was fine.

[mjbphotos]

The M Box 3 has actually been out for a while, and like already mentioned is USB-powered - do you need that portability?

Only because I've had great experience with the Tascam US-800, I'd recommend the Tascam US200 or US600. The Focusrite Saffire 2i2 is also in that price range.