Avid Pro Tools Express with Mbox Mini

Customer Ratings:
List Price: $299.00
Sale Price: $157.99
Today's Bonus: 47% Off

• Get best-in-class sound quality and performance with professional-grade circuitry and premium audio conversion
• 2 x 2 simultaneous channels of I/O; One XLR mic/line combo input with 48V phantom power; Two 1/4" instrument inputs; Two balanced 1/4" monitor outputs; One 1/4" stereo headphone output; Mix control for low-latency monitoring; Dedicated monitor volume knob
• Create music and sound for picture-with up to 16 audio tracks-using Pro Tools Express, featuring the core industry-standard tools used by top producers, engineers, and artists

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This was the first time with this product and low and behold, I have ran up my blood pressure trying to install this thing. The instruction "cheat sheet" was not at all helpful. Had to redo everything step-by-step all over again, and again, and again. So once installed, the iLok and registration components did not communicate to well. Apparently, something went wrong with the other partners linked to this product. I need someone to contact me as soon as possible and let me know when iLok, Avid and the iLok Management (3rd Generation) will be fix. It is making a BAD NAME FOR PRO TOOLS AT THIS POINT....help, or don't waste your money on this thing until it is 'REALLY FIXED', I have been pulling all my hair out on this one, for about 2 weeks now....urkkkkkked!!!!

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This is your basic USB recording interface with Pro Tools SE included. When this first came out it had Pro Tools Express which was a much better software than SE, you can check out the comparison chart between the PT versions on Avid's website. I didn't experience all the issues the other reviewer had regarding getting the unit up and running, it was pretty simple. PTSE is just not a very good recording option but you can run the Mbox Mini with Garageband and with Abelton Live Lite which is what I do, it works perfectly fine. It also runs fine with Cubase, Logic and pretty much everything out there.

Some of the plug ins that some in PTExp are pretty cool as are some of the VST's so I still use certain parts of it. As far as the hardware goes, the price is pretty good for a 2x2 interface if you only need a 1 by then you can get away with something like the Fast Track MKII for $100 less. All in all worth the money and for me meets my needs and I found it easy to set up and use.

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I'm more impressed with the design and aesthetics of the thing than the function and use of it. I could understand that they're trying to curb piracy of the product but INSTALLATION IS HELL! they take you to Jabim and back just to install the darn thing. Then after installation i used it once, then I closed it. When I opened the software again, it was telling me that Pro Tools doesnt recognize the Mbox (therefore the software could load/use), please insert the Mbox etc. So I tried using the updated driver from the internet, that then was hell because it would open therefore i couldn't install. Then a month later I tried importing some files into a Pro Tools session, and it would just stuck, wouldn't open or finish load. I had to transfer the session and everything onto another computer of fine where I MBox 2 installed. The whole thing is only stress and I wouldn't advise you to buy Mbox3 with Express. Im not sure if it's only the Mbox mini 3 or Express that's a problem but my advise is to stick with the Mbox 2 with LE. It's safer, more stable and would give you a better overall experience.

Cheers...

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I have worked for weeks/countless hours trying to get this installed to no avail... Not compatible with Xp, Win 8 or 7... Never recognizes the hardware... they have endless lists of drivers, so You pretty much fish around/trial and error. I never got it working... Very sad as Protools has a good reputation... It did to me prior to this! I have never had this much trouble with any software, and I work in IT... Unless You are an IT pro, do not buy this... I will be returning and buying something more user friendly

After barely a year of use, the mbox mini hardware stopped being recognized by my Mac. I tried it on another computer. I tried several different cables. I tried everything suggested in forums. I uninstalled and reinstalled and repaired disk permissions. I tried going to the Avid site, but many of the links are broken and other pages are down for maintenance. And they charge $40 for a service call. Mind you, I'm guessing at that. It might be $20; it might be $80. Their service sales page is very unclear as to which purchase is for a hardware service call.

The only positive thing to come out of my experience with Pro Tools and the mbox mini is that I learned to Command Save frequently, thanks to Pro Tools' propensity for crashing, freezing, and otherwise ceasing to work. So there's that.