AVID - a new connector standard?

[Ron Obvious]

Hello all,

On the M-Box3 Pro, if you look on the back, there are NO MIDI connectors, just a 9 pin female connector.

Lettering next to it says - Word Clock / MIDI / S/PDIF

So do we now need to buy a $ 95.00 adapter cable or breakout box to get access to this?

Did the box really need to be this small, so that we couldn't have separate connectors. This is the PRO version!

Next they'll put the record button next to the play button. so that you can accidentally erase something on a playback. Oh sorry, that was already done.

From us old Studer / Sony engineers.

[chris harris]

Did you buy one? I would assume that the breakout cable comes with it.

[Scodiddly]

You can tell professional gear at a glance - if it has the word "Pro" on the front, it isn't.

It was probably easier to find circuit board real estate for that connector than for several connectors.

[kslight]

No it's just a derivative of M Audio interface product cheapening/size shrinking techniques...I have the same on my 1814...this isn't new. It's an Mbox, it is NOT any more pro than M Audio (and Avid owns M Audio now).

[Ron Obvious]

Hello to all,

I've now been able to download and check the PDF manual. They DO supply the breakout cable with the unit. (thanks Avid).

I still don't know why on the ? Pro ? version, they couldn't have made the box a bit bigger, so that these cables don't hang out the back all the time. It's like the same mess as the Apogee "duet" break-out.

While I'm at it, why on a lot of their gear (d-003, d-002, etc) is the headphone output jack on the right hand side of the equipment, yet ALL HEADPHONES, have the cable coming from the LEFT headphone. WHO was the guy who didn't put up their hand during the design process.

[farview]

There is nothing pro about the mbox. If you want pro stuff from digidesign, you need to get protools HD and the hardware that comes with that. Anything they make below that is prosumer, bedroom-studio stuff and it will act like it.

[pixeltarian]

you can't be non-organic and professional. have you ever head someone say "I can't wait till I get a pro guiar?" I know I haven't. there is only "what I have" and "better." I have, on the other hand heard "I can't wait till I get a professional guitarist."


and of course it comes with the cable. I can't think of an interface that has a breakout without the a breakout cable of some kind.

[jnTracks]

you can't be non-organic and professional. have you ever head someone say "I can't wait till I get a pro guiar?" I know I haven't. there is only "what I have" and "better." I have, on the other hand heard "I can't wait till I get a professional guitarist."


and of course it comes with the cable. I can't think of an interface that has a breakout without the a breakout cable of some kind.

+1

[Jay Reynolds]

you can't be non-organic and professional. have you ever head someone say "I can't wait till I get a pro guiar?" I know I haven't. there is only "what I have" and "better." I have, on the other hand heard "I can't wait till I get a professional guitarist."

A lot of woodwind and brass brands are divided into "beginner", "intermediate", and "pro" lines. So the Superaction 80 alto that I got my junior year of HS was my first pro horn.

While I'm at it, why on a lot of their gear (d-003, d-002, etc) is the headphone output jack on the right hand side of the equipment, yet ALL HEADPHONES, have the cable coming from the LEFT headphone. WHO was the guy who didn't put up their hand during the design process.

While we're at it, why are the phantom power toggles on the back of the racks?

[chris harris]

A lot of woodwind and brass brands are divided into "beginner", "intermediate", and "pro" lines. So the Superaction 80 alto that I got my junior year of HS was my first pro horn.

I think that you missed the point. The "pro" on your horn is just a word to facilitate marketing. Your horn is not professional. If your horn received compensation simply for BEING a horn, then it would be a professional.

[Spindrift]

There is nothing pro about the mbox. If you want pro stuff from digidesign, you need to get protools HD and the hardware that comes with that. Anything they make below that is prosumer, bedroom-studio stuff and it will act like it.

Digidesign gear, whether HD or LE is just a tool, nothing more. Do HD converters sound better? Sure. Does HD software give you more useful features? Yes it does. But to state that LE hardware is bedroom-studio stuff (and therefor imply that you can't create "pro' albums using it) is elitist and false. Neko Case, Radiohead and The National have all created albums that incorporated Digi002s in the process of tracking or transferring from tape to hard-disk. These albums have also all been praised for how they sound. Does this mean that the 002 is the reason they sound great? No. Was lots of other incredible gear used to record the albums? Of course. But if Craig Schumacher, Darryl Neudorf, Nigel Godrich and Peter Katis have incorporated them into their very "pro" studios, then maybe "prosumer" is a bit of an overstatement.[/i]

[farview]

But to state that LE hardware is bedroom-studio stuff (and therefor imply that you can't create "pro' albums using it) is elitist and false.

That's not what I was attempting to imply. I was pointing out that it was a version that was designed down to a price point. His entire complaint was that his mbox was designed with connections that made it small and cheap. I was pointing out that that is the entire reason why that interface exists and that if he wanted a protools interface that has dedicated jacks for everything, he will need to step up to the real deal.

But if Craig Schumacher, Darryl Neudorf, Nigel Godrich and Peter Katis have incorporated them into their very "pro" studios, then maybe "prosumer" is a bit of an overstatement

Trent Reznor ran his vocals through a Boss DS-1 distortion pedal. He is a successful professional producer that was working in a professional studio. Does that qualify that guitar pedal to be considered part of a professional vocal recording chain? No.

I'm working with a Grammy award winning producer that has been producing professionally since the late 60's. All of the music for this album was put together in Sony Music Studio. (the $50 version of Acid) He is obviously a professional, his results are professional. Is Sony Music Studio really considered 'professional' software? No. Hell, the full blown version of Acid barely is.

There really is nothing terribly wrong with the quality of the LE based hardware, other than it is designed to be cheap(er). That is the entire reason for its existence. Which version of Protools hardware and software are you more likely to find in someone's bedroom? How many amateurs have HD rigs?

[Jay Reynolds]

A lot of woodwind and brass brands are divided into "beginner", "intermediate", and "pro" lines. So the Superaction 80 alto that I got my junior year of HS was my first pro horn.

I think that you missed the point. The "pro" on your horn is just a word to facilitate marketing. Your horn is not professional. If your horn received compensation simply for BEING a horn, then it would be a professional.

My high F# key is there to facilitate marketing?

No really, student, intermediate and pro are fairly common nomenclature. The fact that they're generalizations used in lieu of dollar ranges is immaterial. I was pointing out to pixeltarian an instance--or a whole segment of the musical population--wherein you hear people attach "pro" to instruments all the time, independent of the instrument's actual model name.

Every kid in junior high-school band in American calls their horn a student horn. Not many beginning guitar players say they have a "student" guitar.

[pixeltarian]

A lot of woodwind and brass brands are divided into "beginner", "intermediate", and "pro" lines. So the Superaction 80 alto that I got my junior year of HS was my first pro horn.

I think that you missed the point. The "pro" on your horn is just a word to facilitate marketing. Your horn is not professional. If your horn received compensation simply for BEING a horn, then it would be a professional.

My high F# key is there to facilitate marketing?

No really, student, intermediate and pro are fairly common nomenclature. The fact that they're generalizations used in lieu of dollar ranges is immaterial. I was pointing out to pixeltarian an instance--or a whole segment of the musical population--wherein you hear people attach "pro" to instruments all the time, independent of the instrument's actual model name.

Every kid in junior high-school band in American calls their horn a student horn. Not many beginning guitar players say they have a "student" guitar.

look professional up in the dictionary. I'm sure you'll find you're just talking about marketing that is so archaic that no one thinks of it as marketing anymore.

[Jay Reynolds]

look professional up in the dictionary. I'm sure you'll find you're just talking about marketing that is so archaic that no one thinks of it as marketing anymore.

Look at the contents of my previous posts. I'm sure you'll find that you understand my point

"Pro line" is generally how reed/brass players refer to horns above a certain price point. At times, we'll get lazy and contract that into "pro". This is universally accepted nomenclature. The point you were making is that the word "pro" or "professional" isn't used in conjunction with high-end equipment. This is incorrect:


http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation?q=student+sax

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigati ... ediate+sax

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigati ... sional+sax


Also implied in your post is that gear that has the word "pro" associated with it isn't good gear. As far as reeds and brass, this is also incorrect, unless you can tell me how a $7000 Selmer Firebird is a piece of crap.

Why aren't you and subatomic as hung up on the definitions of "student" and "intermediate?" Some kid's horn isn't the student. And I'm not even sure how to look at intermediate axes from a pedant's point of view.

And here's the kicker - the alto I own is from Selmer's pro line, but my tenor is from the intermediate line. And I played a gig last Friday on tenor, AND GOT PAID! Oh noes! Don't tell Meriam Webster!