Seeking Input On Digital Recording Modules

[Stan Malinowski]

I'm interested in using my PC for recording and would like to get a recording box similar in functionality to the DigiDesign MBox and would like input from some of you users. From what I have seen the reaction towards the MBox is lukewarm at best. What I have scoped out so far:

1) DigiDesign MBox
2) Lexicon Omega
3) M-Audio Firewire 410

Are there any other boxes I should consider? Any opinions on the above mentioned (or any other) boxes? I'm a bit confused and need your help....

[killerburst]

If you can wait a few weeks, Mackie's Spike is almost ready. The bundled software is very easy to use and its workflow is easy to get used to. You should be able to pick one up for ~$400. I have had an Omega for a few months on an eval basis. I am sending it back. They still haven't sorted out their drivers. You'll be stuck with their dated version of Sonar "lite".

[Stan Malinowski]

Jon,

The Omega package contains Pro Tracks as software, is this the same as Sonar Lite? I'm pretty unfamilar with the software packages used for these computer based recorders, is Sonar really that bad? What other software packages are good or bad?

[Stan Malinowski]

Jon,

I have heard about the upcoming Mackie Spike. What features would make it preferable over the Omega? Is the Spike Software better? As I said I'm dumb about these things but trying to learn before I spend the $$$$s!

[ddemusic]

Hey Stan,

I'd at least check out a used MOTU 828. While 8 inputs may seem like overkill, you never know when it might come in handy. They are very reliable . There are a lot of them out there in the studios and MOTU support is better than most companies. You can find them pretty cheaply on ebay. I recently picked one up for $45o and now I can do 16 tracks at once - Tres cool!

[mbrown3]

I use a Tascam US-428 with Cubase SX 2.0 and couldn't be happier. They all have some kind of learning curve, but once you get used to them they're awesome.

[killerburst]

Stan,

I was referring to Pro Tracks when I said Sonar Lite. Sorry for the confusion. Pro Tracks is a basically a scaled back version of Sonar 1.0. It kinda sucks compared to the current version (3.0), or even the last version (2.2) of the commercially available Sonar program. Sonar rocks. The program that comes with Omega doesn't.

If you use a PC, then be wary of the MOTU stuff. ddemusic's post is the first and only I've ever read in praise of MOTU's support, except from Mac users. My own experience is quite different. And for PC users, the track record of reliability is not good. Caveat emptor. My 2 cents.

The Tascam stuff is another solid choice, although slightly different. The US-224 and US-428 have faders and transport controls, making them control surfaces in addition to audio/MIDI interfaces. The US-122 is strictly an interface and is a good bang for the buck, although it comes with Cubasis (not to be confused with Cubase) which is worse than Pro Tracks, IMHO.

Spike uses Analog Devices SHARC DSPs for processors, vs. generic Motorola DSPs. The SHARC chips are designed specifically for audio processing and provide the software and hardware engineers much more flexibility and power when designing the product. Of course, that doesn't mean anything unless they give you something that allows you to take advantage of that extra horsepower. In the case of Spike, you do get something- hardware DSP. You can actually get dynamics and EQ processing happening in the box before your signal hits the software. This means you can track with compression and/or EQ with zero latency and zero CPU cycles. This is a BIG plus, again IMHO. None of the other USB devices offer that. You will get approx. 10ms of latency, plus the additional CPU overhead if you want to track with software based effects.

You can download a Tracktion demo from Mackie's website that works indefinitely, but adds some white noise at random intervals until you unlock the software ($80). Cheap, fast, easy and powerful. I believe they are working on a major feature upgrade and early adopters will be geting a super deal. It's worth looking into.

[Stan Malinowski]

Jon,

Thanks for the great input, it seems like you have been around the block with these things before. I originally mentioned that the DigiDesign MBox received a fair amount of negative comments from people on various forums. Do you have any experience with it? In spite of some negative comments a couple of things keep my interest in this product:

1) The Pro Tools has a lot of educational support, from books to film clips. A good thing for someone like me.
2) There is a large number of add-ons available from 3rd parties.

Can you offer me any comments on my observations?

[killerburst]

Most popular apps have decent manuals (albeit in PDF these days) and there are 3rd party "Power" books that get you inside the programs pretty deep. Digi is very particular about what they "support", and anything outside of what they explicitly tell you is supported, ain't supported. If you need help configuring your system or other apps for use with ProTools, you could be SOL. However, there is a large installed base of users from which to draw upon for support if you can hook up with friendly users. Cubase and Sonar also have user forums from which to draw upon. Tracktion has far fewer users, but that number is growing. They do have a forum, too. You will probably find that the features you need for basic recording, editing and mixing are accessed pretty-much the same in most of these apps. The advanced features require in-depth study, but you may not even know you need them unti you have been using the program for a while. If you are really concerned about learning curve, Tracktion is by far the easiest to jump into. I presume you've already downloaded the demo to try it out, right? ; ) In fact, you should download demos for all of them and see which one is easiest to stumble through for you. That should tell you a lot.

Digi has been slow to open their platform to the industry, and I'm not sure what your options might be if you decided to use different hardware or software with the Digi stuff. The biggest thing M-Box has going for it is that ProTools is used in most commercial studios. This would allow you to track and mix in multiple locations- bring the project on a DVD-R or hard drive to the studio and record vocals on top of your home-grown rythm tracks.

There are more third party options for VST and Direct-X than there are for RTAS currently. VST and Direct-X are open APIs and anybody (private or commercial) can write plug-ins for those APIs without having to pay for the privelege. Software companies have to go through Digi ($$) and be subject to Digi's control if they want to offer RTAS plug-ins. Digi's pro-level API is TDM, which is N/A for M-Box.