M Box

[track pusha]

Hey ya'll I been considering getting a pro tools setup, but wanted to see if it's worth it. I'm getting a new crib built and my parents are giving me a room just for recording with a booth and everthing. Five minutes away from the building site is a guitar center so you know i had to go there, and when i went to the pro audio section i thought i was gonna F***in flip, that S**t was dope! Anyway though, i was talking to the guys there and they both record rap like me, And gave me some suggestions, but even though they seemed cool i couldn't fully belive them, ya know. When i first was making my list for recording i wanted pro tools, but later on i kind of start looking at cubase, but from what the guy told me and the clips of music he played that was recorded with pro tools my minds kind of changing. Cubase sx 3.0 is 570.00 and the M box with the pro tools software is only 500 so that's very very tempting. Basicly make a long ass story short should i get the m box.

 

[manning1]

pusha. get smart !
before buying anything try demoes. see which software you like best.
sales guys are know nothings imho. they just want to sell the highest prices they can so they collect commisions. the ones at my local music store
know better than to put one over on me. they only try it with those
who are new to this game.
you have a lot to learn with respect .
i wouuld suggest the software i use. powertracks. 49 bucks for 48 tracks. you can spend hundreds more and you wont beat it with respect. just try the demo at pgmusic.com. run it on a good amd athlon pc with 512 ram.
put a delta sound card in the pc. use a yamaha mg mixer and some mics and get making music !!
if you got any Q's fire away.
and remember its no point spending thousands on gear when you havent learnt the fundamentals of making records.
you have a lot to learn with greatest respect.

 

[Echelon]

Gotta be honest Pusha... if you're going to go for pro tools, plan on spending well over 4 grand for a decent system. Pro Tools is certainly all right, but it would not be my first choice. I would suggest following Manning's suggestion... demo stuff. I love Cubase, I will probably always use Cubase... but it's certainly not for everyone, and as you've seen, it can be very expensive.

If you want to go Pro Tools, I would suggest getting the Digi 002R... The m box is not all that great. The preamps may be Focusrite, but you have to remember that they are run via USB "phantom power". Because of that, they will not have the quality of a PCI or Firewire interface.

Here are some suggestions for you to check out...

Aardvark Q10
M Audio Delta 44
M Audio Delta 66
M Audio Delta 1010
Echo Digital Audio Layla
Presonus Firepod
Presonus Firestation

I personally use a couple Q10's, but I've heard nothing but great things about M Audio and the above. Keep in mind that some of these have built in Mic preamps, and some don't.

Hope this helps somewhat, and don't hesitate to asks questions.

 

[manning1]

echelon. i see this all the time. young newbies thinking all they need to do is spend lots of money on gear without learning recording 101.
it takes years to master the art of recording and engineering.
pusha. you got to accept one basic thing starting out.
if you dont - your just fooling yourself.
you could spend 250k on a recording system, and a guy who is a good engineer with experience using what i detailed above will beat you every time. its not the equipment. its how good you are at using it.
i detailed a solution that will last you years.
but if your unwilling to listen. just throw a bunch of money away.

 

[warble]

I'll voice my opinion too.....

Your not really getting the "ProTools" you think you are. That combo, the M Box and Protools software, is a USB audio interface (which I would advise against) and Protools LE software - a WAY stripped down version of the normal Protools software. You're gonna need to drop some bills to get a good Protools rig. The M Box and Protools LE IS NOT a Protools rig.

You can certainly do better for the money for both software and hardware. Seems as though your mindset is locked on the name of something - Protools, etc. You'll get lots of valuable advise around here - make sure you listen (or read).

Cubase SX is a great program (I'm using SX 3 myself) but are you sure you need all that? It's all just tools - you can spend $20K if you want, but you better plan on spending a good deal of time learning the basics. You're not gonna just buy everything, hook it up, and be an instant pro engineer. This stuff takes times - hell - I've got a long way to go myself. I didnt' start out with the best shit, I worked my way up and aquired better stuff as I could. I won't rant on - you get what I'm saying hopefully. Looking back at your posts though, I have my doubts that you're taking to heart what anyone is saying - so best wishes to you man.

 

[RD423]

Let me start off by saying these guys are right about a good engineer it will take u at least a couple of years to be good at that. But I love working with pro tools at the studio but for my home setup I use Nuendo my signal chain is this right here AKG C3000 mic -preamp (its a cheap one I don't even remember the name)-Joemeek vc6q compressor(has phantom power but not that good sound wise so I bypass it)-Tascam 428-into pc via usb. One thing I don't understand i hear a lot of negative about usb for control surface/interface but i have not had any problems or complaints plus using the 428 you get to control the faders and everything that setup or something similiar would be my advice to you because with nuendo you get unlimited tracks but with pro tools u only get 32. So you need to consider everything because the other equipment you are going to have will also need to dictate how many tracks you will need to have it sounding good. and also just starting out recording you will use more tracks. Oh and I forgot to add if u decide to go with nuendo get a dual vga card have one screen on edit view and one on the mixer view. After that you wouldn't be able to go back to using just one screen.

 

[Echelon]

Manning makes a very good point. Compared to most of these people that are responding, i'm relatively new at this (few years experience). One thing I learned very quickly was to be patient. I thought I was going to have great results right out of the box, but I didn't... Trust me, if you keep at it, you will do well. You could spend a lot of money right away, and get pissed because it doesn't sound good, or you could pace yourself... get what you need, then keep expanding. It's just human nature to want to buy more stuff, when in reality it's better to understand what you already have.

It's great to see someone as enthused as you are about doing this, but please be careful... don't buy anything on a snap decision, demo stuff, don't buy stuff because you heard it sounds good... Most of the people on this board will give you an honest review of a product if you want, but keep in mind that we all have different styles and we all have different goals in mind.

So here's a list to follow... (more or less)

1. Don't buy stuff on impulse
2. Don't buy stuff unless you know that you need it (to start out)
3. Don't buy stuff because it's expensive
4. Don't buy stuff because it looks pretty (i'm so guilty of this...)
5. Demo everything before you buy, or at least make sure you can return it
6. Make sure you understand what you have before you expand
7. Don't expect professional results right away
8. Be patient, everyone screws up
9. Have fun!
10. Buy a lava lamp.

Oh yeah, and don't trust sales reps... you'll go in for some guitar strings and come out with a brand new Gibson Historic if you do...