Purchase Dilemma

[meblumen]

After a hiatus from recording, I have decided to put together a small personal demo studio. Seeing as I have the most experience and familiarity with Pro Tools, I wanted to purchase an Mbox. The dilemma I?m facing is while I don?t need all the inputs offered in the regular or pro versions, I do need MIDI which isn?t offered on the mini. Does anybody happen to know if I can purchase a cheap midi interface and run it concurrently with an Mbox mini or am I stuck picking up the regular one?

In case it matters, I will be using a 2008 Macbook Pro so I have firewire and usb ports along with an express card slot.

[wesley.wittich]

Is there a reason you want to do an Mbox? If you are going for PT9 (which I assume you are), it works with any interface. I'm sure you can find an interface (used?) from another manufacturer that is more tailored to your needs... What exactly are your needs besides MIDI?

[meblumen]

Thanks for the reply. I settled on the Mbox mostly out of convenience and cost. i have gone down the used route before and for other types of gear sometimes I prefer it but I got burned once on a used interface when I had an issue so I would prefer new.

I looked around at some other interfaces and didn't see anything that was comparable in quality and significantly cheaper so I figured an Mbox would be the easiest, most hassle free to get going again.

All I need is a few audio inputs/outputs (min 2) and 1 midi in/out. If I can run something concurrently with the mini that would be great otherwise I'm fine with buying the regular Mbox.

[Nick Sevilla]

Thanks for the reply. I settled on the Mbox mostly out of convenience and cost. i have gone down the used route before and for other types of gear sometimes I prefer it but I got burned once on a used interface when I had an issue so I would prefer new.

I looked around at some other interfaces and didn't see anything that was comparable in quality and significantly cheaper so I figured an Mbox would be the easiest, most hassle free to get going again.

All I need is a few audio inputs/outputs (min 2) and 1 midi in/out. If I can run something concurrently with the mini that would be great otherwise I'm fine with buying the regular Mbox.

I would try to buy something of better audio quality.

And your Budget is ???