MBOX help needed

[cg]

I am fairly new to all of this, so bear with me.

My setup is as follows: POD or Vox Tonelab SE into MBOX via 1/4" cable. Source and Tonelab set to Line Level.

MBOX to PC via USB.

MBOX to Event powered monitor speakers via line output jacks on back.

When I get set to record, I need to crank in the input gain and Tonelab volume to the point where it's not good for late night recording. How do I send enough volume to the MBOX while knocking down the volume to the powered monitor speakers?

 

[straticus]

Your input (pre amp / gain) and output levels are, or should be, completely separate. I'm not familiar with the Mbox but I assume the monitor out puts are on the Mbox, right? And that the Mbox has an out put level controll. Just turn down the out put. Or, if the monitors are self powered don't they have a level / out put control?

Or is there a software mixer? There's gotta be some very simple way to do this because this pretty basic.

BC

 

[mike@switchback]

That's one thing that annoys me about the mbox, no hardware volume control on the main output. To overcome the problem, pull down the Master fader in ProTools. Use that as your overall volume control.

 

[js54]

I just got an MBox and have the same problem....I lowered the Master fader in PT, but that seemed to have no effect on the volume of my guitar input. It seems like the Master Fader will only effect the output of stuff that is already recorded in Pt.

Am I missing something here?

To me the only solution would be to have a mixer inbetween the MBox outs and the powered speakers....

????

 

[js54]

To add.....

I'm referring to the "input" sound, not the input once it's been routed through PT and back with all the latency...

 

[mike@switchback]

Originally posted by js54
I just got an MBox and have the same problem....I lowered the Master fader in PT, but that seemed to have no effect on the volume of my guitar input. It seems like the Master Fader will only effect the output of stuff that is already recorded in Pt.

Am I missing something here?

To me the only solution would be to have a mixer inbetween the MBox outs and the powered speakers....

????

I don't have PT installed at the moment to try it, but if memory serves, the master fader should serve as the overall volume for everything. I'm sure it works somehow, because I had my monitors connected directly to the mbox with no other way to control the monitor volume. The other thing you have to do is balance the input/playback knob on the front.

Assuming you're recording a mic'ed amp or a pod or something and not using a software amp sim on the same computer, when you arm a track for recording, mute it as well. Then turn the input/playback knob to balance the level between your input signal and the level of the playback tracks in PT.

Then when it comes time to bounce a mix, and you want to have your master fader back up to normal levels, use the input/playback knob cranked down towards input to keep the playback from blowing the walls down...

 

[cg]

I am about to give up on the mbox due to the buffer issues I am having. I can find my way around software pretty well but this is driving me nuts. Argh!!!! I just want to record some simple stuff and it feels like a monumentus task.

 

[mike@switchback]

What kind of issues?

 

[cg]

Originally posted by ratter
What kind of issues?

Protools constantly freezes during recording and it tells me adjust the buffer size to 512 I believe. I have looked through their website and tried all of the fixes (not running antivirus, etc) to no avail. I also just upgraded to the latest release of Protools to see if that would help, but it has not.

Any other tips? This shouldn't be this difficult.

 

[mike@switchback]

Originally posted by Chance Garrity
Protools constantly freezes during recording and it tells me adjust the buffer size to 512 I believe. I have looked through their website and tried all of the fixes (not running antivirus, etc) to no avail. I also just upgraded to the latest release of Protools to see if that would help, but it has not.

Any other tips? This shouldn't be this difficult.

And you're running it at 512 and it doesn't help? Yikes. I'm on a mac so I'm afraid I probably can't help much. Are you recording to a separate drive?

 

[cg]

Originally posted by ratter
And you're running it at 512 and it doesn't help? Yikes. I'm on a mac so I'm afraid I probably can't help much. Are you recording to a separate drive?

I am at 512 and that isn't helping. I am not running it on a separate drive. It's a beefy machine - 1 gb RAM ,etc.

 

[juniorspecial]

The second dial up from the bottom on the Mbox adjusts the balance between input level and playback level..i.e. between the signal that's coming into the Mbox from on your line inputs (input), and the signal that's coming back to the Mbox from your computer (playback).

If you mute the playback of the track or tracks you've laid down, or lower it, in Protools, then by turning this knob more or less toward playback, you can lower the output to your monitors. Less input from the Pod will result in less volume to the monitors.

On your other complaint, I was getting error messages similar to what you report until I got myself a Firewire hard drive to record to. When I was recording to my hard disk, Protools would sometimes freeze. Since I got the external drive, those problems have gone away.

I love my Mbox--especially when I use Protools with Reason. It's a very powerful composition and recording tool. I hope you can be as happy!

 

[mike@switchback]

Originally posted by Chance Garrity
I am at 512 and that isn't helping. I am not running it on a separate drive. It's a beefy machine - 1 gb RAM ,etc.

Like juniorspecial said, having an external drive dedicated to audio can be a big boost. It might be the difference maker.

 

[cg]

Originally posted by ratter
Like juniorspecial said, having an external drive dedicated to audio can be a big boost. It might be the difference maker.

I'll give it a try. I hate these unexpected hidden costs.

 

[mike@switchback]

Originally posted by Chance Garrity
I'll give it a try. I hate these unexpected hidden costs.

Yeah, they really should make more of a point of saying it in the system requirements. But if you dig into digidesign.com, they (in the fine print) say that 1) the minimum supported drive is 7200rpm with a 10ms seek time, and 2) they flat-out do not support recording audio on the boot drive.

 

[cg]

Originally posted by ratter
Yeah, they really should make more of a point of saying it in the system requirements. But if you dig into digidesign.com, they (in the fine print) say that 1) the minimum supported drive is 7200rpm with a 10ms seek time, and 2) they flat-out do not support recording audio on the boot drive.

I should have taken the time to read a little more. Oh well. I'll try the external drive and see where it gets me.

 

[juniorspecial]

Besides, an external hard drive is so helpful. I mean, there are a million and one uses for them aside from supporting Protools.

 

[cg]

Originally posted by ratter
Yeah, they really should make more of a point of saying it in the system requirements. But if you dig into digidesign.com, they (in the fine print) say that 1) the minimum supported drive is 7200rpm with a 10ms seek time, and 2) they flat-out do not support recording audio on the boot drive.

Do you think a USB 2.0 drive would work or does it need to be firewire?

 

[cg]

Originally posted by juniorspecial
Besides, an external hard drive is so helpful. I mean, there are a million and one uses for them aside from supporting Protools.

Absolutely.

 

[cg]

One final question - any recommendations on a particular external drive?