pod studio/mbox, good or bad?

do u have an opinion on the Line 6 POD Studio UX2 with POD Farm? get it, dont get, get something else?

how about the Digidesign Mbox 2 Mini? get it, dont get, get something else?

i wanna record guitar samples to be used for making music with Reason.

thnx

I'm a big fan of Pro Tools, and I don't think that has been a big secret around here... I've also been using the Line 6 Pod Farm plugin a lot lately, and I really like it a lot too. I don't have any hands-on experience with their audio interfaces though... you can't use their hardware along with the Pro Tools software, but you can use their software (Pod Farm) along with Pro Tools and Digidesign hardware.

oh hmmm, thnx. u know, im just starting out...and im a bit confused. i use Reason 4.0 and i find it pretty easy to learn and use. its my first shot at computer music. so there are other software programs like cubase, ableton, pro tools...do these do the same thing as reason? am i supposed to learn one of those other ones like pro tools also, or does it replace reason?

my next purchase, do u think it should be:

1) the pod studio with pod farm and use that to record my guitar and use that with reason

2) the mbox and use that to record my guitar and learn pro tools

3) something else

im a lil confused, but its fun! thnx for ur suggestions!

I have the UX2, and LOVE it. One of the best pieces of gear I have bought. I used it for the last 4 CD's I have made. The only thing I have not used it to record with is drums.

I use Ableton. A lite version comes with the UX2 (only 4tracks at once, rather than unlimited).

As far as learning one program or another, that's completely up to you. Lots of guys swear by the one they get used to.

i went to guitar center and the guy told me to not get the pod studio, but get the mbox mini (which i cant afford right now), use the included effects for my guitar and to learn pro tools. i said id think about it.

what do you guys think?

OK...

There are a lot of people that don't like Pro Tools. They contend that there are less expensive, better programs and interfaces out there. And that Digidesign is a monomaniacal corp intending to getcha and getcha good.

I'm not one of those people.

You could get something cheaper. And quite possible better for your purposes. But you really need to know what it is you want and what's out there. You won't go wrong with getting a Pro Tools setup however. And you very possibly might go wrong by going another route.

With a new Pro Tools rig you'll be able to record vocals and guitar. You can use the basic LE guitar app 11. The mini does not have midi though. If you do go PT, you'll probably want to go with the M Box 2. $450.

I have a question about the UX2. I have it and I am recording with it. When I record bass guitar with it, I get these pops and clicks in the track, anyone know what that's about?

Your question is to vague. My guess is your buffer settings, but you didn't bother to give enough information in order for a good answer.

Kind of like "I was walking down the road and now I have a bloody knee, what's that about?"

See how silly it looks?

OS and recording program would be a good start.

I'm on a Macbook Pro. OS X ( 10.4.11 )

I am hooking my bass guitar into the UX2 and using Garage Band to record the track

I concur.

Especially because if you're new to recording, you'll need an interface anyway. So why not get a Pro Tools setup using a Digi Mbox or an M-Audio interface (which runs Pro Tools M-Powered)? And since you're buying after the release of PT 8, you have the advantage of getting what is one of the best deals going. The improvements and bundled goodies (AIR effects, virtual instruments, etc.) make PT8 a very competitive choice ("finally!" some would say, but it's true now). Consider that for guitarists, IKM AmpliTube, NI Guitar Rig, Waves GTR3, and Peavey ReValver all have RTAS (Pro Tools' plug-in protocol) versions. (This is in addition to L6 POD Farm, which Phil mentioned.)

Where I have to scratch my head is when people ask for a DAW recommendation and they already have an interface. Then you have to know you want Pro Tools specifically, because you'll end up buying another interface -- just to run Pro Tools. But if you're starting from nothing, it's that much easier to recommend Pro Tools.

I work in Cubase as well, but I find that for audio work -- where the project is mostly audio recording and editing, with perhaps some straightforward MIDI backing tracks -- Pro Tools offers a very intuitive interface -- most like the analog domain I grew up with (Mackie mixers, ADAT MDMs, outboard effects, etc.). There seem to be fewer environments you have to acclimate to.

And as I said, the upgrade from 7.x to 8 is really impressive, offering a much more complete suite of effects and instruments (which mitigates criticisms that the plug-in choices were somewhat limited). For new recordists, a Pro Tools LE or M-Powered system bears serious consideration.

Keep in mind I have ilife 08...

In garageband go to the garageband menu and click preferences... Under this window hit the audio/midi tab. Under this tab try selecting max number of simultaneous tracks under the "optimized for" area.

If that doesn't work (different version or something) then... look up "optimizing audio" or "buffer settings" in the help menu.

thanks I'll try that

Of course you'll have to suffer through:

1) Artificially limited available number of tracks. My Symphonic template alone uses over 64 tracks - Protools limits you to 48. You can expand that to another to 64 tracks for $500 making it $200 more expensive than the other DAWs that give you unlimited tracks. Even if you upgrade you still have to deal with...

2) No automatic delay compensation for your plug ins. That means you have to have deal with that for every project. All the other main DAW's have it.

3) Real time bounces. This means that you have to wait the entire length of your song every time you want to do any kind of bounce. It takes just seconds in other DAWs. This alone would be deal breaker for me.

4) Your are locked into Digidesign hardware. There are more choices since Digidesign bought M-Audio but you're still locked in.

5) To get software that rivals Logic, Sonar or Cuebase you have to spend $10,000 or more on Protools HD.

Despite my endorsement of Pro Tools and my recommending it to certain people when I know enough about their circumstances (and their psychic makeup!), points #1-#4 are absolutely true. No denying these.

My only observation is that #5 is not like the previous four points and so should be presented as a concluding paragraph, or a way to solve some of the points above (except that you're still stuck with #3 and #4). Though aspects of that statement are certainly true, the previous four points are hard, tangible facts about PT LE/ME features, and have separated out PT from the rest of the DAW choices for years. Digidesign is aware of these limitations and still doesn't feel the need to include them to draw customers.

The "dealbreaker" could be any single point or an accumulation of any combination of the four points above. Or issues related to #1-#4 could never come up -- for example, a singer-songwriter or other short-form composer doing small-ensemble projects with just a few plug-ins who already owns or would like to buy a Digi or M-Audio interface. Sounds like a narrow demographic, but that's the choice Avid/Digi/M-A has clearly made.

I also use Cubase, so I always have a choice, but when I go to Cubase, it's usually for its MIDI editing features, which have always been ahead of Pro Tools (except in PT 8, where Digi narrowed the gap a bit). That's another often-cited area where PT has traditionally trailed the other DAWs. (And only in PT 8 did they add notation.)

Pro Tools isn't for everybody, but I use it and and am drawn to it time and again despite my frustrations with Digi's stubbornness on the issues above. A couple good things about PT: 1) it's cross-platform, unlike Logic and Sonar (mentioned above); 2) its interface is more "analog traditional" and intuitive than Cubase's (I know this is subjective, but I'll stand by that); 3) if you plan on "graduating" to Pro Tools HD (which is widely used in pro-level studios), you'll have a leg up in knowing what's going on; and 4) PT 8, which is the version you'll get if you buy today, has improved MIDI and notation editing and the plug-in and VI bundles to a point where it's much more of a complete system.

I'm not really a Protools basher and at $295 the M-Box Mini is a good deal for the singer-songwriter that may not care about it weaknesses. It does bug me that so many people such as the sales guy at Guitar Center tell people who don't know any better that Protools is better than anything else simply because the pro studios all use it. This is the same mentality that user the word Protools as verb replacing "digitally edit". Have you ever "Xeroxed" a paper? Is it any less of copy if it is done on an HP copier? I also think that Digidesign keeps those features out in order to get people to upgrade to HD but I really can't be sure that is true.

I often have to clear that up with people who know "just enough audio terminology to be dangerous."

To wit: "Can you just Pro Tools that to make it, you know, sizzle?"

"Well," I say, "Pro Tools is only one of a whole category of digital audio editors that can handle that, but yes, I can fix it, even though in this case, I'll be working with Cubase. I do own Pro Tools, mind you, but I'll use Cubase here."

Okay, maybe I don't actually say that, but I'm thinking it.

That's my suspicion too: that they're taking a lesson from my phone carrier, Verizon, which sells me a phone that they've taken considerable effort to cripple in order to entice me with their upsells. It's maddening, but it doesn't stop me from using -- or buying -- their products.

I think you can have issues with a technology but still come out in favor of them, even with their limitations. I'm that way about Apple. Macs are much more expensive than similarly powered Win-Tel boxes, and I can't believe they've gotten away with it as long as they have, but it doesn't prevent me from buying them.