Help a newbie out??

[Maximusology]

Hey guys,

Sorry if this is a bit of a newbie question but this is something which has been bugging me for a while now.

At the moment I am using a basic Digidesign Mbox 2 straight into Pro Tools 8 but have been planning an upgrade for some time.
I am aware of Digidesigns other options Digi 003 etc...

My question refers to the option of using non Digidesign/M audio hardware with pro tools.
For example...would it be possible to use say an Avalon AD2202 mic pre or an Apogee Ensemble with pro tools? If so how do you go about setting it up?

Does the chain go,
Mic pre
Digital/analog audio converter
Computer?

Or do you need something else in order to run pro tools?

Sorry if this is an obvious question, just have to get my head around this stuff!!

Thanks in advance,

M

 

[RecordingMaster]

Hi there, you're close to having the right idea. I'm not familiar with those M Boxes as I use a Tascam US1800 in Pro Tools 9 (which now allows 3rd party interfaces). But in any case, your Mbox should at least have 1-2 pre's on it. Or at least 1 mic pre and one pre for DI guitars. Some interfaces will have at least 1 or multiple line inputs, which bypass the onboard pre-amps built into your interface. So that's where you plug your outboard mic pre's output into on your interface. From there it basically just passes through your interface in order to convert the analog signal to digital and get it intop Pro Tools. So this expands the amount of tracks you're capable of recording at once, when you'd normally only have your limit be the max amount of built in pre's on your interface. Now you can add the one(s) plugged into the line inputs.

If your interface has a SPDIF jack on the back and you want to expand either your line inputs or add another mic pre with say mutliple channels on it, if that pre also has a SPDIF jack, then you can connect them togteher and expand your stuff even more.

The basics steps of setting up the track in pro tools with out board pre's are:
1) plug your mic into your outboard preamp channel of choice
2) take the output from that channel and plug it into one of your interface's line inputs and remember what input it is (it should be numbered on your pre-amp)
3) In pro tools when you select the input on the track you'd like to record, select input>interface>then the select input number you plugged your pre channel into.

Good luck and have fun!