Digidesign MBOX vs M-Audio Audiophile USB

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PrInZLoGan

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Im plannin to buy one, please tell me the difference of the two because im not really good at choosing... i run the first underground rap community in my city back here in the philippines, i wonder whats tha best to use for better voice quality.. coz what we use here is tha old SoundBlaster Digital 4.1 thats pretty old.. i hope you could help me and tell me tha differences between the two.. their ups and downs.. tnx...

Digidesign MBOX -> http://www.digidesign.com/products/mbox/
M-Audiophile USB -> http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/AudiophileUSB-main.html

i found this out on tha net too.. is this better than tha ones i mentioned above?
M-Audio The Delta 1010LT -> http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Delta1010LT-main.html
M-Audio Audiophile 2496 -> http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Audiophile2496-main.html

can you also give me the difference between the delta 1010LT and the Audiophile 2496... or between the four tell me whats the better hardware to use.. im really confused on what to buy.. hope you can help me with this.. but if u have other suggestions of other hardwares that will help us in our recordings thats near tha prices of tha ones i gave, kindly let me know... tell me first whats the better hardware for recording from the four i mentioned.. thanks...
 
I'll keep this pretty general:

MBox vs. Audiophile USB: It boils down to price vs. performance, how many I/O you need, and what software you'll ultimately want to be using to make your recordings.

The MBox has better preamps by Focusrite, and you get ProTools with it. It's got multi-connector inputs (1/4" and XLR in one) which is nice and accepts a hi-z instrument (i.e. guitar). From what I gather you may be able to use the interface with other software (i.e. Cubase, Sonar, etc.) as well.

On the other hand, the MBox costs ~$500 US, while the Audiophile USB costs about half that. You won't get ProTools with it, and as far as I can tell it doesn't have a hi-z input, but there are a lot of people that really like the M-Audio converters considering how cheap they are.

If you want to work in ProTools (it is an industry standard, after all -- even though a lot of people around here hate it), I say go for the MBox. If you don't mind not having ProTools, or if you prefer another piece of software, check out the Audiophile. I doubt the converters in the MBox are worth twice the cost by themselves. Another thing to consider is that the MBox only does 24-bit/48kHz, while the M-Audio cards will do 24-bit/96kHz. This isn't a huge deal since they both do 24-bit, and 48kHz should be a high enough sample rate for most any project.

Personally, I own a Delta 1010lt (and I'm about to buy an MBox) ... it has 8 analog inputs and 8 analog outputs (the Audiophile USB, MBox, and Audiophile PCI are only 2 I/O), so if you think you'll be recording more than 2 tracks at one time, this would be more up your alley. The only caveat is that 6 of the inputs and all 8 of the outputs are unbalanced RCA connections, which may introduce noise into your signal path, especially with long cable runs. Something to think about.

The Audiophile 2496 is basically similar to the Audiophile USB as far as I know, except it's a card you install inside your computer (as with the 1010lt). While it won't be too big of a deal, the extra electrical noise from inside your computer may be introduced into your audio. It's advantageous to have an external interface.

Hope all that helps, reply with any more questions you might have.
 
Have you checked out the mackie spike? It costs about the same as an Mbox but also has MIDI ins and outs, a monitor volume control, a HPF on each channel, 3 metering LED's per channel as opposed to the Mbox's one LED per channel, and it records at 24-bit/96k. Apparantly it also has an "Onboard SHARC chip for full channel dynamics & EQ with intuitive computer-based control - all without a drain on the host computer". In My opinion it seems like MUCH better value than the Mbox. Unless, of course, you have some desperate desire to be limited to Pro Tools maximum of 32 tracks.
 
high quality voice and midi for my keyboards...

i dont really use instruments to record, but im planning to get some keyboards.. tha only thing i want to improve is my voice quality, coz i only own a sound blaster digital 4.1 which is pretty old and got a low quality.. and i havent tried using pro tools, im used to adobe audition 1.5, i use it for our recordings.. so its like all i want is less noise and high quality voice when we record our vocals and where i can use my keyboards for midi... i just use beat synthesizers like cakewalk kinetic or flstudio to make some beats.. all i really care about is tha voice quality.. so what do u recommend me to buy? and are there really differences between tha audiophile 2496 pci card than tha audiophile usb? i just want some not-so-expensive hardware but good when it comes to recording our vocals..

any other hardware that could give us high quality voice? maybe cheaper than tha audiophile usb? but if the audiophile usb is already good, maybe i'll take it.. anybody of u knows the ups and downs of audiophile usb?

tnx for the replys.. i really appreciate it...
 
is Audiophile USB already acts as the soundcard?

there's also a thing i want to ask.. example the Audiophile USB, does it function like a sound card already? like what i said, i own the old Creative SoundBlaster 4.1 Digital, even i remove my SB soundcard, will still Audiophile USB Work and will i still hear sounds? is there a way i could connect my speakers to the Audiophile USB to hear sounds even i dont have the SB soundcard? im so noob when it comes to this but i hope i'll learn from you...
 
anybody?

could anybody give me some comments on my posts? i really needed it.. thank you very much...
 
Well it sounds like all you really need is a couple of analog I/O and maybe a MIDI I/O, so in your case the Audiophile USB will suit you just fine. The A/D converters in the card are a step up from the ones in your Sound Blaster, and should keep you set for awhile. Keep saving though -- if you really want great-sounding vocals you'll do yourself a favor by investing in a nicer outboard preamp somewhere down the road.

And yes as far as I can tell the Audiophile will work as your soundcard.
 
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