Features         5/5
Ease of use    1-5/5 (depending on the user)
Sound:           4/5
Quality:         4/5
Support:        2/5 (Avid/Digidesign has a horrid support service)
Overall:          4/5

I have been a Digidesign fan since I purchased my first M-Box in 2004. So when Digidesign upgraded their product I was excited to see what new features the new M-Box had in store. For starters, we will start with the upgrades they made since the first release of the M-box.

One of the first and most important (IMO) upgrades that caught my attention, was the addition of MIDI ports. MIDI is a versatile component to anyone composing, or producing music. It is great for opening up your studio to add more hardware to the mix.

They also have added dedicated Monitor Output  jacks now with a volume adjustment knob on the front. For years I spent my time using my "headphone" outputs on the original M-Box because it didn't have jacks dedicated specifically for monitors and on top of that it didn't have a volume knob for anything but headphones (and mics).

When the M-box 2 first came out, I heard bad things about the mic preamps that came onboard. For months I had friends telling me that the new preamp sucks. After getting one for myself, I realized that the preamps are pretty decent. I am not to educated on mic preamps so I can't go into great detail about them.

Just like the original, it comes equipped with two mic/line/DI inputs, which means you can have a mic inserted into Input 1 and a guitar inserted into Input 2 and record both simultaneously. It also has a S/PDIF input and output.

Before I upgraded, I would use my M-Box with Pro Tools and would have all types of problems recording. I would constantly get screens popping up in the middle of my recordings, so much to the point where I ALMOST gave up. After upgrading I have not had this problem. It runs smoother than a baby's bottom   .

Overall this is an audio interface that one must consider to buy. It is expensive ($449 withOUT the Factory Bundle), but it does come in several different flavors with different features. If you were looking into upgrading your studio and using Pro Tools, this is one of the best ways to go, as the hardware comes bundled with Pro Tools LE software (and Pro Tools can NOT work without the hardware).

(P.S. for those who don't know the original M-Box is no longer supported by Digidesign/Avid. With the release of Pro Tools 8.0.3  all support for it is gone, which means it won't work.)

ya im luvin my pro tools to tthe only complaint i got is that they dont have a simpler step sequencer
but fl and pro tools together awesome
make drumloop in fl and tack out to pt and use there rtas and fx
im still trien to find a better way to link the two

Have you tried 2 rewire FL to PT?

ya but sumtimes it feels like im doin to much tomake a beat that way ill find a better workflow using it soon enough

you think you could post a mini tut of how to do it...ive tried it but i just dont get it

o ya for sure im a try to just the vids i had found that showed me they were str8 to the point

I think im gonna buy this,
My emu tracker pre is dead.

when i first was gon get it im like its a waste of money but ur getting a really good interface with the industry standard software

Pro tools sucks... if I try to record something, after about 15 bars it stops saying my hard disk is too slow and it can't get audio from it fast enough. I never had this problem with Nuendo, Cubase, ACID, FL or any other DAW I tried.
Plus PT has a wack ass interface and it's very difficult to use.
As for the M-Box 2, it works fine with Nuendo, for example. It sounds good, and I can use it with the ASIO 4 ALL driver, which is the best ASIO driver I ever used

I am deffinetly buying M-audio Pro version.It works with FL doesnt it ?

What is the diffrent in mic quality between mbox 2 mini and the normal mbox2 ?

^ Nothin' so far I would know about... The normal one only has more Ins and outs as far I know..

Aight so imma buy the mbox mini since i only need it for the mic and sound.

^ That's my plan also..

The mbox 2 has two XLR inputs instead of one, two midi inputs, a different way of working, and a sepperate headphone knob.

Edit: I just realized both yall motherfunkers live in holland, and i got an mbox mini laying around i been meaning to sell. good shape, with the box and everything that comes with it. interested?

Sorry already bought mine ... Why you wanna lose it anyways.. going for a bigger box with more I/O's ?

I love my M-box 2 but im having a problem getting the SPDIF out working with my JLB-LSR4300 monitors and sub. SPDIF works fine with my maudio solo, but when i connect via SPDIF to my Mbox 2 I dont get any sound. I have all the settings right as far as I know. I might just have to suck it up and go back to analog sound.

Also there is no stand alone driver for the Mbox 2 and Vista that I know of. I hate it cause I cant play any sound outside of my DAW through my monitors.

try dlin new drivers...mbox 3 is out so they might have some updated ones for the MBox 2

Posted By TrackHouseBeats on 29 Sep 2010 09:17 AM
Also there is no stand alone driver for the Mbox 2 and Vista that I know of. I hate it cause I cant play any sound outside of my DAW through my monitors.

get the last ProTools LE update, it comes with drivers for it too, then you can select it as the default audio playback device for windows