Digidesign today unveiled the latest member of its award-winning Mbox® 2 family; Mbox® 2 Micro is a pocket-sized Pro Tools LE® system that provides Pro Tools® users with an ultra-portable sequencing, editing and mixing solution. The size of a typical USB flash drive, Mbox 2 Micro combines high-quality audio output/monitoring capabilities with the power of Pro Tools LE software, allowing Pro Tools users to easily edit and mix live or studio-recorded sessions created on Pro Tools|HD®, Pro Tools LE, or Pro Tools M-Powered™ systems anywhere they go, or create loop-based and virtual instrument-driven tracks in Pro Tools LE.
Mbox 2 Micro features a rugged, ultra-compact, anodized aluminum case for ultimate portability. Its 1/8-inch stereo output jack supports up to 24-bit/48 kHz audio playback, allowing for high-quality monitoring, while a convenient volume wheel makes headphone adjustments easy. Mbox 2 Micro comes with award-winning Pro Tools LE software, a collection of over 45 Bomb Factory® and DigiRack™ effects plug-ins, and Digidesign’s Xpand!™ sample-playback/synthesis workstation.
Mbox 2 Micro has a suggested retail price of €225 (Euro).
[...] The press release over at ProToolerBlog.com [...]
This would seem to have little appeal considering you could get an Mbox Mini for a few dollars more and have added flexibility. Mini is pretty small anyway. I would get one if it was $150.
Yea i agree…i gassed for it at first but then the more i thought about it i to thought it was over priced. Let see how well it works.
it’s interesting. I bet the Mini pulls more power, though, so if you’re on an airplane or something, sitting in coach and have to work with the battery power you have, this could be the better option…
OK, no offense, but how many people actually mix on airplanes and trains? I know first hand how good the NR on the Bose headphones are but still don’t see how I could ever get any meaningful work done on an airplane. Digi, drop the price to $150. Seriously.
Oto, I don’t think it’s so much the mixing possibilities as the editing possibilities that will make people buy it. Something like this have been requested in the past numerous of times for people who want to do drum editing, fades or whatever on their travels.
Finally…. they made one!!!
great!!
but I agree, it´s overpriced.
That’s way too expensive, if you already have a protools rig then they should be selling it to you for a third of that price.
Seriously, newbie protoolers are not going to buy that version, only existing users who want to do editing on the move etc will be buying so why slug them so much,
@ Stiff – OK, I guess I could see how some people might not mind doing drum editing on a plane.
@ Leadfinger – Excellent point. High school, college kids and musicians just getting into digital recording are not the market for this. They’ll get the Mini. At the very least Digi should offer a $100 to $150 rebate to current HD owners. It will only make the PT platform more attractive.
It’s typical Digidesign. I’m always gettiing excited and impressed and then pissed off in equal measure. This will ONLY sell to existing users as it can’t record, so we should definitely be getting a rebate/discounted price. Why not give it away free with every HD system? Maybe you’d feel you were getting a little more value for money. No need to be a “registered user”-you must have their hardware already. The Micro costs £182, the Mini £195. That’s £17 cheaper than an interface with mic/line ins and outs etc…What is their problem? I wish they had some competition to kick them up the arse. I love our HD system. I love the software. Digidesign treats its customers very badly.
I love it, but then again I don’t have Protools LE, so the price seems reasonable to me.
The only concern I would have is how smoothly it will run on my G4 titanium powerbook 1GHz.
I already record into Protools Free with a VX Pocket and an Apogee MiniMe, which is better quality than an Mbox2, Mbox2 Pro or Digi003 in my opinion, so being able to mix with more tracks than I already have without shelling out for a new rig, this would suit me fine.
Now that’s a point to the debate I hadn’t heard before! Good for you Rob
Thanks Stiff! I have been a Protools user since 1999. I’ve used TDM, but never owned a TDM rig and I had a DIGI001 for about 5 years using PTLE 5. Wow that seems vintage now!
After selling the Digi001 I got a G3 powerbook to run PT Free just for rough recordings, but I soon realized that it was possible to create pro results with it when I started using the Apogee/Digigram interface.
Mbox2 micro gives me the opportunity to step up to PTLE 7 assuming my G4 will run it properly. If I had to get a new Mac I would probably also get an Mbox2 Pro also rather than the micro.
This actually won’t just appeal to existing Pro Tools users.
I just bought one for use with my MPB. My music is entirely based on sound generated by virtual synths and taken from sample CDs. I have no need for any audio inputs at all. For my style of working, this is an ideal solution. I’m sure that there are others in the same boats as I am.
i got one two weeks ago for my MBP. it´s great in our studio-environment for quick edits in another room (while checking mails), for bouncing quicktimes, do quick cuts and/or clean up vocals, check omf files etc. etc. yes, it´s overpriced but- it works (on our old g4s too) and you are in your preferred PT-world.