Don't faint...I bought an interface

[corsair]

"looks around the room shamefully"

I use an old Digidesign Mbox2, bought off eBay for pennies. It does everything I want it to do and I'm now wondering what the differences are from the newer generation of interfaces? It came with no software, but I downloaded the drivers and it hooks into Garageband seamlessly and performs its' tasks very well.... as far as I know!

I do very basic recording - just layer the tracks in, alter levels and position in the stereo spectrum etc. - and wish to take up Sonics' offer of assistance with Garageband as I'm very much the fumbler at this.... :-)

[Simon Barden]

I use an old Digidesign Mbox2, bought off eBay for pennies. It does everything I want it to do and I'm now wondering what the differences are from the newer generation of interfaces?

The A/D and D/A converters of today are a step up from the ones available in 2005 when it was released. Clocking and jitter rates have improved considerably, which probably matters if making a commercial release, but for own entertainment purposes, it won't. The Mbox 2 wasn't a basic interface, so differences will be smaller than with some other interfaces of the period, but you might notice a slight improvement in the quality of your recordings with a new interface. But you may also notice differences simply because the pre-amps won't be the same.

The USB1.1 connection limited the maximum sample rate to 48kHz. Which isn't a problem for most people, but a USB2 or USB3 based interface allows more input channels, higher sampling rates (if you really feel it's that important) and normally reduced latency (though that does depend on the interface and the quality of the drivers).

The Mbox2 doesn't have a huge amount of gain available (40dB). Fine for condenser mics and dynamic mics on loud sources (like a loud guitar cab), but less so for dynamic and ribbon mics on vocals other quieter applications. You have to turn the gain right up to get a reasonable signal, which adds noise to the signal. If you are using dynamics, then an AI (audio interface) with an available gain of 60dB or more should allow you to provide sufficient gain for a reasonable signal level without having to be right up in the last 10dB of gain, when extra noise normally creeps in.

I'm using a MOTU Traveller which was also a 2005 design and is still fine for my needs. It's got 8 ins and outs (just 4 mic pres though), a reasonable sound, 60dB of digitally controlled gain (so easy to match levels if recording with mics in a stereo set-up), and has been very reliable (apart from one big glitch that required a factory reset to clear). It's Firewire, so it's not of much use to anyone else now, but it's still fine for me. I keep thinking about updating, but as I do so little actual recording, I then think 'why bother?' Before anything else , i need to try and improve my 'studio' with better desk positioning and an attempt at some acoustic treatment.

[PJSprog]

"looks around the room shamefully"

I use an old Digidesign Mbox2, bought off eBay for pennies.

Don't feel too ashamed. I've been dragging myself kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Trying to do it with as little budgetary impact as possible. Bought a $200 Dell 23" all-in-one off FB Marketplace, $130 Behringer 4-channel interface, $60 Reaper DAW, $260 Monoprice powered nearfield monitors and sub, and $150 EZdrummer 2 that I downloaded last night.