Academic Digidesign Mbox 2

Academic Digidesign Mbox 2, Digidesign's Pro Tools LE–based portable studio, offers novices and pros alike command of any project and full session compatibility with other Pro Tools systems, all the way up to Pro Tools|HD systems. The Pro Tools LE software included with Mbox 2 shares many of the same features as the award-winning software used by professionals worldwide. With its spectrum of features, Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 — Digidesign's most affordable Pro Tools LE product — works hand in hand with your creativity to bring your ideas to life.

The physical design of the Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 hardware unit is both distinctive and functional: It can be positioned horizontally or vertically for easy placement. Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 comes with two faceplates, which are easily swapped using the included hex wrench. One faceplate features a large handle that makes the unit easily portable. The second faceplate, which offers a rubberized grip, allows Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 to sit flat on a desktop and reduces the space required when the unit is packed for traveling.

Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 - The Essentials
Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 is a full-featured, USB-powered studio-in-a-box that works with your Window XP- or Mac OS X-based computer to give you a compact, portable, professional-quality audio production system. With a distinctive hardware interface that delivers exceptional sound quality, Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 works in conjunction with your computer and your Pro Tools LE software to provide the creative power you need to achieve professional results. Complementing the hardware interface's analog, digital, and MIDI I/O, Pro Tools LE software offers 32 tracks of simultaneous recording and playback, 128 virtual tracks, 256 MIDI tracks, and a host of additional features. As with all Pro Tools|HD and Pro Tools LE systems, Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 also ships with the Pro Tools Ignition Pack — an impressive array of added composition and production tools to extend the power of your system. From beginning to end, Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 places you in an ideal position to realize your creative vision.

Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 - Enhancers
While Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 is a fully functional system, many additional products are available that can increase the scope and performance of your Pro Tools LE environment. High-powered RTAS (real-time) and AudioSuite (file-based) plug-in. These plug-ins work in conjunction with Pro Tools LE in both real-time and non-real-time formats, frequently improving upon the hardware counterparts that they emulate. The addition of a FireWire drive is also a wise choice, improving the performance of your system by increasing throughput and data transfer speeds.

Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 - Pro Tools LE
With its matchless combination of flexibility, power, and simplicity, Pro Tools software has become the industry standard for audio production. Pro Tools software allows you to harness the power of your Digidesign hardware to move your ideas from concept to completion — all with total ease and efficiency. By balancing power and simplicity, Pro Tools software is also perfectly suited to those just getting into digital audio production for the first time. With its accommodating nature and extensive functionality, Pro Tools software is unlike any other application available. It works in tandem with Pro Tools LE hardware to help you achieve professional results affordably.

If you need to, augmenting your Pro Tools LE software is easy. Stream ReWire applications into Pro Tools LE for mixing and further processing, integrate a Digidesign Command|8 control surface for hands-on mixing, or add the DV Toolkit option to sweeten and augment the audio content of film and video projects. You can always choose from a huge selection of additional RTAS or AudioSuite plug-ins and software.

Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 - Hardware Features
As a complement to the comprehensive collection of intuitive software products included with the Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 system, the hardware interface is both powerful and easy to use, featuring a distinctive external design, impressive sound quality, and extensive input and output options. Connect your MIDI module or controller, then plug your guitar or bass directly into the DI jack (without the need for an extra preamp), your keyboard or mixer into the line jack, or your mic into the XLR jack. Launch a new Pro Tools session to build and manage your project, and you're in an ideal position to create — from beginning to end, in a fully self-contained environment. The Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 system's hardware and software interact seamlessly, offering you all the power and flexibility of a Pro Tools workstation in a results-oriented micro studio.

Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 Features

• Superior sound quality
• Four simultaneous inputs and outputs with analog and digital I/O*
• Two analog inputs (XLR, 1/4" line, and 1/4" DI jacks) and two analog outputs (1/4" jacks)
• Two channels of S/PDIF digital I/O (RCA)
• 48V phantom power for condenser microphones
• 24-bit/48 kHz audio
• MIDI in/out
• Zero-latency monitoring
• 100% USB powered

* Four simultaneous inputs require two channels of digital input plus two analog channels.

Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 Specifications

Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 Analog Inputs

Separate source selection and gain control per channel
Mic: XLR with 48V phantom power
Mic preamp: >120 db EIN @ > 40 dB gain
Line: 1/4"
DI: 1/4"
Maximum Input: 8.7 V RMS (balanced), or +21 dBu

Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 Analog Line Outputs

Maximum Output: +4 dBV into 1 kohm
Unbalanced output connectors

Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 Headphone Output

Separate volume control—1/4" output
> 6 mW into 50 ohm

Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 Digital I/O

S/PDIF I/O (24-bit)
RCA jacks

Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 Misc.

24-bit clean to/from the computer
USB type B socket (v. 1.1); cable included (does not support passive USB hubs)

Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 Dimensions — measured with Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 in horizontal (handle-down) configuration

Height, box: 14.9cm; with handle: 17.7cm; with handle cover: 15.6cm
Width: 22.4cm
Depth: 18.4cm (includes knobs)
Weight: 1.23 kg.

Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 A/D

Sample Rate: 44.1, 48 kHz
Dynamic Range: 106 dB (A-weighted), 103 dB (unweighted)
THD+N (line input): 0.003% (-90.4 dB) @ 1 kHz
THD+N @ 40 dB gain (mic input): 0.006% (-84 dB) @ 1 kHz1
Mic EIN (unweighted): -120 dB @ 40 dB gain, 150 ohm source
Frequency Response: +0/-0.5 dB, 20 Hz – 20 kHz3
Maximum Input: +21 dBu
Input Impedance (pad off): Mic=3.5 kOhm; Line=10 kOhm; DI= >1 MOhm

Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 D/A

Sample Rate: 44.1, 48 kHz
Dynamic Range: 106 dB (A-weighted), 103 dB (unweighted)
THD+N: 0.003% (-90.4 dB); -1 dBFS @ 1 kHz
Frequency Response: +/-0.5 dB, 20 Hz – 20 kHz

Academic Digidesign Mbox 2 System Requirements

Mac

Digidesign approved USB compatible computer
System Software: Mac OS v9.1, 9.2, 9.2.1, or 9.2.2, OS X 10.2 or higher*
*Pro Tools LE 6.0 supplied for Mac OS X, Pro Tools LE 5.2.1 for Mac OS 9.x.

PC

Digidesign approved USB compatible computer
System Software: Windows XP