Mbox 2 Pro Upgrade

[Gilliganism]

I own the original Mbox - 2 inputs, usb - and I'm looking to upgrade to the Mbox 2 Pro - 6 inputs, firewire. I run off of an Dell Inspiron 8600.

I have a few concerns about the specs of my computer.
1) My firewire connection is IEEE 1394. Specs for the Mbox 2 Pro call for a IEEE 1394a. Are these compatible? If not, will an adaptor bridge the gap?
2) The Mbox 2 Pro requires 1G of RAM. Can I get away 3/4s of that? Or, should I upgrade to be safe?
3) How can I tell if my PC can meet the sample rate requirements? 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96 kHz.
4) Any other issues that I'm not seeing here?

I know my questions are pretty basic, so I appreciate the patience and time of anyone who responds to this post.

Best Regards,
Shaun Gilligan

 

[Gilliganism]

Did some more research and it looks like the 1394 IS the 1394a. Please correct me if I'm wrong here.

After reading some of your posts, I've found that some background on the type of music I'm trying record might come in handy... I mostly do singer/songwriter (not the lame kind) with a drum machine, some keyboards, guitar (acoustic and electric), random percussion, some sampling, etc.

I'd like to upgrade to Mbox 2 Pro for the additional channels mostly. I'd to record my friends band - they're are pretty hardcore, treble heavy, punk and metal type band. The drums are why I need the additional inputs. I have all the mics, amps, just need MORE inputs without spending too much (i.e. the 002-3)

I know I'm a little light on the computer spec knowledge, but I'm very well versed in Protools and the "mixing" arts.

Thanks.

 

[MISTERQCUE]

I own the original Mbox - 2 inputs, usb - and I'm looking to upgrade to the Mbox 2 Pro - 6 inputs, firewire. I run off of an Dell Inspiron 8600.

I have a few concerns about the specs of my computer.
1) My firewire connection is IEEE 1394. Specs for the Mbox 2 Pro call for a IEEE 1394a. Are these compatible?

They're the same thing.

2)

The Mbox 2 Pro requires 1G of RAM. Can I get away 3/4s of that? Or, should I upgrade to be safe?​

UPGRADE just to be on the safe side even though the MBox2 can work with 512MB of RAM for simple recording ops & perf.

3) How can I tell if my PC can meet the sample rate requirements? 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96 kHz.
4) Any other issues that I'm not seeing here? Regards, Shaun Gilligan

Overall, the Mbox (w. P-Tools LE software) requires 1 or more disk drives for recording audio such as SCSI and 1394 disk drives. Optimal performance can be had with a drive having a speed of at least 7200rpm.

In order to, for example, utilize a sample rate of say, 96khz for 48 tracks (though U prob'ly don't/won't need or require that many but just 2 use as a example for total maximum usage ), ...average system requirements for this operation are a processor 2G hz or hi'er;
1GB RAM;
2+ hard drives for recording & audio play-bk such as;
1 internal IDE/ATA and 1 SATA drive;
2 SATA drives
2 SCS drives
or
2 or more FireWire Drives



Hope this some how helps! Feel free to inquire more on the subject.

 

[Armistice]

Check your PM G...