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Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide

1. Disk Utility Mac OS X 2 Click the Erase tab 3 Select the drive you want to initialize in the column on the left side of the window 4 Choose the Mac OS Extended Journaled for mat A Do not choose the Case Sensitive format option Pro Tools will not operate properly with case sensitive formatted drives 5 Type a name for the new volume 6 If you plan to connect the drive to a Mac OS 9 computer select Install Mac OS 9 Drivers 7 Click Erase The drive appears on the Desktop with the new volume name 66 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide Partitioning Drives Partitioning creates a logical volume or volumes on a physical drive almost as if you were creat ing virtual hard drives Partitions can then be formatted with the appropriate file system NTES or FAT32 for Windows HFS for Mac FAT32 drive partitions have a limit of 2 terabytes 2000 gigabytes whereas NTES drive partition sizes are almost limitless A Windows XP allows drives formatted with the NTFS or FAT32 file systems to be seen as whole volumes Single Pro Tools audio files cannot exceed 2048 MB in size A Mac OS allows drives larger than 4096 MB to be seen as whole volumes Drives must be initialized with a disk utility that recog nizes the 2 terabyte limit Single Pro Tools audio files cannot exceed 2048 MB in size Seek Times on Partitioned Drives Seek times are actually faster on partitioned drives assuming that reads and writes are
2. Mewnize Additional VO Latency DAL Playback Buffer Sum Level 2 int EN Playback Engine dialog for Mbox 2 RTAS Processors The RTAS Processors setting determines the number of processors in your computer allo cated for RTAS plug in processing With computers that have multiple processors or that feature multi core processing or hyper threading this setting lets you enable multi pro cessor support for RTAS processes Used in com bination with the CPU Usage Limit setting the RTAS Processors setting lets you control the way RTAS processing and other Pro Tools tasks are carried out by the system A higher number of processors reserves more CPU processing capacity for RTAS plug in pro cessing This is useful for sessions with large number of RTAS plug ins A lower number of processors leaves more CPU processing capacity for automation screen redraws and video playback in Pro Tools or for other application running at the same time as Pro Tools Chapter 4 Mac Configuration 25 To set the number of RTAS Processors 1 Choose Setup gt Playback Engine 2 From the RTAS Processors pop up menu select the number of available processors you want to allocate for RTAS plug in processing 3 Click OK CPU Usage Limit The CPU Usage Limit controls the percentage of CPU resources allocated to Pro Tools host pro cessing tasks Used in combination with the RTAS Processors setting the CPU Usage Limit setting
3. Close any error message Double click the Pro Tools application In Pro Tools choose File gt Open Session to open the session Reinstall the Pro Tools application using the Pro Tools Installer disc See your Getting Started Guide or Pro Tools Upgrading Guide for installa tion instructions Audio Interface Is Not Recognized Problem When you launch Pro Tools it does not recog nize an audio interface or a connected audio in terface is not available Possible Solutions For the following possible solutions refer to your Getting Started Guide Turn off your computer and check to be sure your cables are properly and securely connected to your computer and to your audio interface Verify that your Hardware Setup dialog set tings are correct 72 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide Performance Factors There are several conditions that may adversely affect the performance of Pro Tools These in clude Network Connections Close any network con nections unless you are using them for network interchange of audio data Background Applications Any software utilities that run in the background or generate disk ac tivity such as virus protection disk optimiza tion or file savers should be turned off or re moved Screen Savers Screen saver software should be completely disabled on your computer before running Pro Tools Power Saver Features Some automatic power saver features such as those that spin do
4. Getting Started Mbox 2 Version 7 3 1 wd Copyright 2007 Digidesign a division of Avid Technology Inc All rights reserved This guide may not be duplicated in whole or in part without the express written consent of Digidesign Avid Digidesign Mbox and Pro Tools are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Avid Technology Inc inthe US and other countries All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners Product features specifications system requirements and availability are subject to change without notice PN 9320 55985 00 REV A 1 07 Communications and Safety Regulation Information Compliance Statement This model Digidesign Mbox 2 complies with the following standards regulating interference and EMC FCC Part 15 Class B EN 55022 EN 55204 AS NZS 3548 Class B CISPR 22 Class B Radio and Television Interference This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY We Digidesign 2001 Junipero Serra Boulevard Suite 200 Daly City CA 94014 USA tel 650 731 6300 declare under our sole responsibility that the product Mbox 2 complies with Part 15 of FCC Rules Operation is subject to the following two conditions 1 this device may not cause harmful interference and 2 this device must accept any interference received including interference t
5. Pro Tools a Connect the MIDI instrument s audio output to a Line TRS input on your Mbox 2 Input 2 Input 1 right channel left channel Mbox 2 connections for line level stereo input source 44 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide Common Tasks with Pro Tools LE This chapter is designed to give new users spe cific methods for accomplishing common tasks with your Pro Tools system For the most complete information on using Pro Tools see the Pro Tools Reference Guide You can view an electronic PDF version of the Reference Guide by choosing it from the Pro Tools Help menu 194 This chapter uses analog inputs in its exam ples of common tasks To record digitally through the Mbox 2 S PDIF input the steps are basically the same with the following important exception S PDIF must be en abled as the Pro Tools Clock Source in the Hardware Setup dialog For more informa tion see Digital Input and Output on page 44 Recording a Pro Tools Session Before you record with Pro Tools LE you first create a Pro Tools session then prepare an audio track for recording To create a Pro Tools session 1 Verify the connections between your Mbox 2 and your instrument or microphone For connection information see Chapter 6 Making Hardware Connections 2 Launch Pro Tools 3 Choose File New Session 4 In the New Session dialog set the session pa rameters as needed or leave them at thei
6. analog 35 digital 34 gain 33 monitoring 32 installing Pro Tools LE Mac 23 Windows 13 installing QuickTime Windows 14 K key commands 6 L latency see monitoring M Mbox 2 back panel 34 connecting Mac 23 connecting Windows 13 features 4 front panel 31 removing the handle 33 MIDI connections 43 requirements 5 setup Macintosh 59 setup Windows 55 MIDI Input Selector 51 MIDI Studio Setup MSS Windows 55 mix control Mbox 2 32 monitoring when overdubbing 32 zero latency 32 mono switch 32 network connections 72 o optimizing hard drives 67 76 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide outputs digital 34 Monitor outputs 35 S PDIF mirroring 43 P partitioning hard drives 66 Patch Select dialog Macintosh 62 Windows 58 peak indicators 33 phantom power 40 indicator 33 when to use 33 39 power management settings Mac 22 Windows 10 Pro Tools demo session 24 removing 29 Pro Tools LE capabilities 4 configuration Mac 25 configuration Windows 14 installing Mac 23 installing Windows 13 Q QuickTime installing Windows 14 R ratio control Mbox 2 32 recording digital inputs 43 removing Pro Tools 29 RTAS Processors setting 15 25 S S PDIF 34 input indicator 31 mirroring 43 Sample Rate 17 27 screen savers 72 SCSI requirements 64 sources analog 35 DI 35 digital 34 line 35 microphone 35 selecting 33 Stereo Width control 42 44 system optimization Mac 21 22 Windows 9 1
7. disable any networking cards other than a FireWire card that you might use to connect an external drive to your system To disable a network card 1 Right click My Computer and choose Man age 2 Under System Tools select Device Manager 3 In the Device Manager window double click Network adapters then double click the Net work Adapter card you want to disable 4 Under the General tab choose Do not use this device disable from the Device Usage pop up menu and click OK 5 Close the Computer Management window Adjusting Processor Scheduling To Adjust Processor Scheduling Performance 1 Choose Start gt Control Panel 2 In Classic View double click System 3 Click the Advanced tab 4 Under the Performance section click the Set tings button 5 In the Performance Options window click the Advanced tab 6 Under the Processor scheduling section select the Background Services option 7 Under the Memory Usage section select the System cache option 8 Click OK to close the Performance Options window 9 Click OK to close the System Properties win dow 10 Restart the computer for the changes to take effect Chapter 3 Windows Configuration 11 Disabling Hyper Threading Pro Tools LE takes advantage of the added pro cessing power of computers that have multiple processors or that feature multi core processing or Hyper Threading for RTAS processing However if you set the number of pro
8. for instructions on disabling this power op tion if necessary Disabling ClearType Font Smoothing When using Pro Tools the Effects Clear Type setting must be disabled To disable ClearType font smoothing 1 Choose Start gt Control Panel 2 Double click Display 3 Click the Appearance tab 4 Click Effects 5 Deselect Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts 6 Click OK to save your settings and close the Effects dialog 7 Click OK 8 Restart the computer Recommended Optimizations Pro Tools can also be affected by other software and hardware drivers installed on your com puter Itis recommended but not required that you do the following Avoid running any unneeded programs at the same time as Pro Tools Turn off any software utilities that run in the background such as Windows Messen ger calendars and disk maintenance pro grams Turn off any nonessential USB devices while running Pro Tools If your video display card supports it en able Bus Mastering in the manufacturer s Control Panel Refer to the manufacturer s instructions for details Optional Optimizations The following system optimizations may help Pro Tools perform better on some systems It is recommended that you only try these optimiza tions if necessary as they may disable or ad versely affect the functionality of other pro grams on your system Disabling Network Cards If applicable
9. new external device External Device Icon Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide 2 Select a manufacturer and model for the new device from the corresponding pop up menus If the Manufacturer and Model pop up menus do not provide a name for your particular de vice you can type a name Device Name JP 8000 Manufacturer Roland E B Model JP 8000 More Properties v Naming a new MIDI device ce For Manufacturer and Model names AMS refers to one or more files with the suffix middev in the directory Root Library Audio MIDI Devices Pro Tools installs a file that contains information for many commercially available MIDI devices named Digidesign Device List middev If the Manufacturer or Model names for any of your external MIDI devices is not available in the AMS Manufacturer and Model pop up menus you can add them by editing the middev file in any text editor such as TextEdit 3 Click the More Properties arrow to expand the dialog then enable the appropriate MIDI chan nels 1 16 for the Transmits and Receives op tions These determine which channels the device will use to send and receive MIDI Device Name JP 8000 Manufacturer Roland A Model JP 8000 More Properties a fase expe Transmits Channels 3 Clock C MIDI Time Code Receives Channels O Clock MIDI Time Code Features C General MIDI MIDI Machine Control SysEx ID Cane GOD Enabling MIDI channels 4 Click the device im
10. www digidesign com IDE ATA SATA Hard Drives A qualified internal IDE ATA SATA drive may be used as a dedicated audio drive For complete information on track count with internal drives refer to the Digidesign website www digidesign com 64 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide Formatting an Audio Drive Formatting Windows Audio Drives Windows Only For optimal performance audio drives should be formatted as FAT32 or NTFS To format an audio drive 1 Right click My Computer and choose Man age 2 Under Storage choose Disk Management Disk Management window Windows XP 3 If the volume is Healthy do the following 4 If the volume is Unallocated do the follow yx ing F Healthy volumes are volumes that have pre Wn In the Disk Management window right viously been partitioned and formatted click the hard drive you will use for audio In the Disk Management window right and choose New Partition click the hard drive you will use for audio In the New Partition Wizard window click and choose Format Next In the Format window name the volume When prompted select the partition type Choose a file system For optimum perfor mance audio drives should be formatted as NTFS FAT32 is also supported Ur Digidesign recommends using Primary par titions instead of Extended partitions Follow the on screen instructions to select A e cada DRIN re a partition size and other
11. Apple menu and click Spotlight 2 Deselect Spotlight menu keyboard shortcut and Spotlight window keyboard shortcut Disabling the Dashboard Shortcut The Mac OS X Dashboard feature uses the same key command Pro Tools uses to start recording F12 If you want to retain use of this key com mand in Pro Tools this shortcut must be dis abled To disable the Dashboard keyboard shortcut 1 Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu and click Dashboard and Expos 2 Set the Dashboard keyboard shortcut to to disable the shortcut Enabling Journaling for Audio Drives If you plan to use an audio drive that you used with a previous version of Pro Tools on the Mac enable journaling To enable journaling 1 Launch the Disk Utility application located in Applications Utilities 2 Select the volume in the left column of the Disk Utility window 3 Click Enable Journaling in the toolbar Installing Pro Tools LE After the Apple System software settings are con figured you are ready to install Pro Tools LE To install Pro Tools LE on Mac OS X 1 Make sure you are logged in as an Administra tor for the account where you want to install Pro Tools For details on Administrator privi leges in Mac OS X refer to your Apple Mac OS X documentation 2 Insert the Pro Tools LE Installer disc in your CD DVD drive 3 On the Installer disc locate and double click Install Pro Tools 4 Follow the on s
12. D50 Pound 040 Wurzwell K2000VX 1 Vorst 12000 373 sTe r J 00 14 ea 19 ba 98 1 MIDI Studio Setup window Interface Controls Create This button adds a new instrument to the Instrument Name list Delete This button deletes the instrument or in struments selected in the Instrument Name list Import This button lets you import an existing MIDI Studio Setup file Appendix A Configuring MIDI Studio Setup Windows Only 55 Export This button lets you export the current MIDI Studio Setup file Show Duplicate Emulated Ports When this op tion is selected and you are using a MIDI inter face that supports timestamping such as MIDI I O in addition to the MIDI ports on Mbox 2 the MIDI Studio setup window shows both the DirectMusic time stamped output ports and non stamped duplicate emulated output ports A Some MIDI Interfaces will not properly load or unload their drivers unless you quit and re launch Pro Tools Check the documenta tion that came with your MIDI interface for more information Instrument List The Instrument list contains all the currently defined instruments Selecting an instrument in the list displays that instrument s properties in the Properties section of the window Properties Section The Properties section lets you edit information for new instruments or instrument currently se lected in the Instrument list Properties Instrument Name Proteus Manufacturer
13. LE lets you adjust the performance of your system by changing system settings that af fect its capacity for processing playback and re cording In most cases the default settings for your sys tem provide optimum performance but you may want to adjust them to accommodate large or processing intensive Pro Tools sessions Hardware Buffer Size The Hardware Buffer Size H W Buffer Size con trols the size of the buffer used to handle host processing tasks such as Real Time AudioSuite RTAS plug ins The H W Buffer setting can also be used to manage monitoring latency Lower Hardware Buffer Size settings reduce monitoring latency and are useful when you are recording live input Higher Hardware Buffer Size settings allow for more audio processing and effects and are use ful when you are mixing and using more RTAS plug ins A In addition to causing slower screen re sponse and monitoring latency higher Hardware Buffer Size settings can increase the latency caused by RTAS plug ins and affect the accuracy of plug in automation mute data and MIDI track timing To change the Hardware Buffer Size 1 Choose Setup gt Playback Engine 2 From the H W Buffer Size pop up menu select the audio buffer size in samples 3 Click OK Playback Engine eor 2 Settings NN Buffer Size 12 Samples 5m RTAS Processor 1 Processor CPU Usage Umi 85 X m RTAS Engine O ignore Error During Payback Record
14. MIDI interfaces If your MIDI in terface is properly connected it appears in the window with each of its ports numbered eee Audio MIDI Setup Audio Devices MIDI Devices x A Deur B ws e w Be Ves te ee Anal Tent Seep Lao hst Dres a ins Audio MIDI Setup MIDI Devices 3 For any MIDI devices connected to the MIDI interface click Add Device A new external de vice icon with the default MIDI keyboard image will appear 4 Drag the new device icon to a convenient lo cation within the window Appendix B Configuring AMS Mac OS X Only 59 5 Connect the MIDI device to the MIDI inter face by clicking the arrow for the appropriate output port of the device and dragging a con nection or cable to the input arrow of the cor responding port of the MIDI interface os Audio MIDI Setup Audio Devices EMODE h ea a u es zT 23 Vem kos See es wat Making MIDI input and output connections Add Den amenos Dro Show ty Ras MICK Test Sema 6 Click the arrow for the appropriate input port of the device and drag a cable to the output ar row of the corresponding port of the MIDI inter face xy To remove a connection select the cable and press Delete To delete all connections click Clear Cables 7 Repeat steps 3 6 for each MIDI device in your MIDI setup To configure an external MIDI device 1 Select the external device icon and click Show Info or double click the new device icon
15. Monitor Out Left Monitor Out Right Stereo output from the Mbox 2 back panel Chapter 6 Making Hardware Connections 37 Mon Outs Left and Right play the audio that is routed to analog outputs 1 and 2 within Pro Tools Connecting a Recorder for Mixdowns After you record and mix your sessions in Pro Tools you may want to mix them down to a DAT CD recorder Mini Disc or other stereo 2 track recording device For more information on mixdown options see Chapter 7 Common Tasks with Pro Tools LE Connecting an Analog Deck Connect the left and right Mon Outs on the back of the Mbox 2 to your recorder s analog in puts Mon Outs Left and Right should be routed to the left and right inputs respectively on your recorder These outputs are TRS ports You may need adapter cables if your mixdown deck has RCA inputs Connecting a Digital Deck If you have a CD recorder DAT deck or other de vice that accepts S PDIF connections connect it to the S PDIF In and S PDIF Out RCA ports on the back of Mbox 2 o When recording from Pro Tools to a digital device make sure the Pro Tools Clock Source setting is set to Internal clock mode 38 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide Connecting Audio Inputs This section describes the analog inputs avail able on Mbox 2 For information about connect ing specific audio sources see Connecting a Microphone on page 39 and Connecting In stru
16. and select the MIDI Patch Name file midnam for the MIDI device 58 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide 6 Click Open The Patch Select dialog is populated with patch names and the Patch Name Bank pop up menu appears in the upper left hand corner of the win dow Programs Mode Programs pan am Contromro 9 Comemer32 Bank Programs 00 rel Ulinrament Patch Every 3 Sec Patch name fe E mu Protaus 1 midnam Patch Select dialog with patch names Once patch names have been imported into Pro Tools they are available for that MIDI de vice in all sessions To clear patch names a In the Patch Select dialog click the Clear but ton and click Done bis MIDI patch name files midnam can be edited in any text editor or you can use third party patch librarian and editor soft ware to create your own custom patch names appendix b Configuring AMS Mac OS X Only Audio MIDI Setup Pro Tools recognizes the ports on your MIDI in terface as generic ports With Mac OS X you use Apple s Audio MIDI Setup AMS utility to iden tify external MIDI devices connected to your MIDI interface and configure your MIDI studio for use with Pro Tools To configure your MIDI studio in AMS 1 Do one of the following Launch Audio MIDI Setup located in Ap plications Utilities or In Pro Tools choose Setup gt MIDI gt MIDI Studio 2 Click MIDI Devices AMS scans your system for connected
17. default I O paths Chapter 3 Windows Configuration 17 To rename 1 0 paths in 1 0 Setup 1 Choose Setup I O Input Output Insert Bus In 1 2 v al or Ju 1 0 Setup dialog for Mbox 2 2 Click the Input Output Insert or Bus tab to display the corresponding connections 3 To change the name of a path or subpath double click directly on the Path Name type a new name for the path and press Enter 4 Click OK See the Pro Tools Reference Guide or choose Help gt Pro Tools Reference Guide for more information on renaming I O paths MIDI Studio Setup Optional If you plan to use any MIDI devices with Pro Tools configure your MIDI setup with MIDI Studio Setup See Appendix A Configuring MIDI Studio Setup Windows Only for details Backing Up your System Configuration After configuring your system and Pro Tools you should save an image of your system drive using a backup utility such as Norton Ghost By doing this you can quickly restore your system configuration and settings if you encounter any problems 18 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide Additional Software on the Pro Tools Installer Disc The Pro Tools Installer disc provides additional software for your system including audio driv ers for playing other audio applications through your Digidesign hardware and a Pro Tools demo session CY Refer to your Pro Tools Installer disc for ad ditional software and instal
18. eee aan e Ra 45 Importing Audio from CD ia i sore Se 25 dee aa era diste wore ea 4T Creating an Audio CD from a Pro Tools Session 00 oo ooo 48 Recording MIDI in a Pro Tools Session llle eee 50 Appendix A Configuring MIDI Studio Setup Windows Only 55 MIDI St di Setup sisi ad ede aa aaa a a eA nr a ae 55 MIDI Patch Name Support ar scsi eat see ara Da en aan ERU EU ce Rud 57 Appendix B Configuring AMS Mac OS X Only 59 Audio MIDI S tup i ius vor a east 59 MIDI Patch Name S pport iss 6 sein kon RE 2 2 00 arida UE aan ana x aene 62 Appendix C Hard Drive Configuration and Maintenance 63 Avoid Recording to the System Drive llle 63 Supported Drive Formats and Drive Types 000 cee eee eee 63 Formatting an Audio Drive 0 00 cc eee eee eee 64 Partitioning Drives hif xl Ba a dee bes OPS Oe eho SS EE Godt 66 iv Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide Defragmenting an Audio Drive o ooooooror rennen hrs 67 Using Mac Drives on Windows Systems 000 cee eee ee eee ee eee 68 Hard Disk Storage Space cursi aaa a area 69 Appendix D Troubleshooting 0 0 0 0 0 ccc cee enn eens 71 Backing Up Your Work os 5 2 8 staves ray es I Rm Seas a E adhe RR oy a BRE aan m TI Common Issues 2 a a aaea whee a ern EE 71 Performance Factots asias ar is as a le 72
19. input and not the Mic in put 3 Set the Source to Mic microphone by press ing the Mic DI Source selector on the front of Mbox 2 until the Mic LED is lit Mic DI Source selector DI Mic LED LED Input 1 Source selector and LEDs 40 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide 4 If your microphone requires phantom power make sure the microphone is connected then press the Phantom Power switch labeled 48V on the front of the Mbox 2 This switch sends 48V to both mic inputs The 48V LED on the front of the Mbox 2 will light when phantom power is being supplied Phantom Power Switch IO Phantom Power switch LS gt e 7 2 079 C OL Cy 22 o BE ce 5 On the front of the Mbox 2 turn the Mix con trol fully left to Input Mic control Gain Mix control and Gain knob for Input 1 6 On the front of the Mbox 2 carefully turn the Gain control to the right to increase the input level of your microphone signal Using a Mic that Has a 1 4 Inch Connector To use a microphone that has a 1 4 inch TS Tip Sleeve connector 1 On the back of the Mbox 2 plug the 1 4 inch connector from your microphone into one of the DI inputs Input 1 DI Connecting a microphone to the Input 1 DI connector 2 On the front of the Mbox 2 set the source to DI by pressing the input channel Source selector until the DI LED is lit Mic DI selector Input 1 selector switch and DI LED 3
20. might continue past the end of the last region Li e E LS I f m Session audio selected and ready to bounce 2 Choose File Bounce to Disk Edit View Track Pegon Event AudioSuite Option New Session Cri N Open Session Ctri o Open Recent gt Close Session Ctrl Shift W Save Ctrl S Save As Save Copy In Revert to Saved Send via DigiDelivery Import mr Choosing Bounce to Disk from the File menu 3 In the Bounce Options dialog choose Analog 1 2 as the Bounce Source 4 Choose WAV BWF for the File Type 5 Choose Stereo Interleaved for the Format 6 Choose 16 for the Resolution and 44100 for the Sample Rate 7 If you are changing the sample rate of the bounced file choose a Conversion Quality set ting For details see the Pro Tools Reference Guide 8 Choose Convert after Bounce and click Bounce Bounce Options Bounce Source Out 1 2 Stereo y WAV Stereo Interleaved y ion 16 7 44100 y O Convert During Bounce 9 Convert After Bounce Bounce Cancel Help Bounce options for creating CD burnable tracks 9 In the Bounce dialog give the bounce tracks a name and choose where they should be saved Save Bounce As Audio Files File name Fitered Dream Mix Save TS Entering a name for the bounced file 10 Click Save Pro Tools begins bouncing
21. partition settings ate FAT32 volumes 32 GB or smaller To create FAT32 volumes greater than 32 GB up to 2 TB use a third part utility such as Swiss Knife or Partition Magic When prompted choose a file system For optimum performance audio drives should be formatted as NTES FAT32 is also supported e Select Perform a quick format i Windows Disk Management can only cre ate FAT32 volumes 32 GB or smaller To create FAT32 volumes greater than 32 GB Make sure Enable file and folder compres sion is not selected Set the Allocation unit size to Default up to 2 TB usea third part utility such as Click OK Swiss Knife or Partition Magic A Pro Tools only supports Basic drive types Select Perform a quick format Do not convert the drive to a Dynamic type Make sure Enable file and folder compres sion is not selected Set the Allocation unit size to Default Click OK A Pro Tools only supports Basic drive types Do not convert the drive to a Dynamic type Hard Drive Configuration and Maintenance 65 Formatting Mac Audio Drives Mac Only For optimum performance audio drives should be formatted as Mac OS Extended Journaled To format an audio drive 1 Launch the Disk Utility application located in Applications Utilities eae su New image Bes ca srira Bl Macintosh MD E118 CB indigita fi Auto Drive 1 Volume Format Mac OS Extended Yournaled I
22. to disk Pro Tools bounces are done in real time so you hear audio playback of your mix during the bounce process though you cannot adjust it Bouncing to Disk Time Remaining 2 14 type Control period or Escape to cancel Bouncing to Disk dialog Burning a CD After the bounce is completed you will have an audio file that is ready for burning onto a CD Quit Pro Tools and launch any common CD burning application to burn your bounced mix to CD 141 Make certain that you configure your CD burning application to create an audio CD rather than a data CD Chapter 7 Common Tasks with Pro Tools LE 49 Recording MIDI in a Pro Tools Session What is MIDI MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface data is not audio and has no sound MIDI is a way for musical devices to communicate MIDI is data that can trigger a MIDI device such as a keyboard or software synthesizer In order to create or play a MIDI recording you must have a MIDI controller or sound module real or virtual connected to the computer through a MIDI interface Audio from your MIDI instrument can be monitored through the audio interface or sent to an external mixer HHH HITT vo ampie Mixer MIDI keyboard controller Signal paths for MIDI instruments 50 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide Recording MIDI on an Instrument Track Pro Tools Instrument tracks provide both MIDI and audio capabilities so you can reco
23. 0 11 12 system requirements 5 system settings Clock Source 17 28 CPU Usage Limit 15 26 DAE Playback Buffer Size 16 27 Hardware Buffer Size 14 25 O Setup 17 28 RTAS Processors 15 25 Sample Rate 17 27 T technical support product registration required 73 TRS 39 U USB connection indicator 31 Ww WaveDriver Windows 19 Index 77 78 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide 2 digidesign A duision of Avil www digidesign com DIGIDESIGN 2001 Junipero Serra Boulevard Daly City CA 94014 3886 USA Tel 650 731 6300 Fax 650 731 6399 TECHNICAL SUPPORT USA Tel 650 731 6100 Fax 650 731 6384 PRODUCT INFORMATION USA Tel 800 333 2137 INTERNATIONAL OFFICES Visit the Digidesign website for contact information
24. 0 0 21 Installation OVEWIEW 2 4 5 5 i506 od rr ede vin O es OF dob pibe dine paced ud eS 21 Mac System Optimization piere ree pine on eke hrs 21 Installing Pro Tools LE 255 234 4 ine 6245 eI go eicere nior ROAaC IUS IEREA OUS 23 Connecting Mbox 2 to the Computer llle 23 Launching Pro Tools LE i gt tes har Obed pier ede deen Obed P EEG Da 24 Additional Software on the Pro Tools Installer DiSC o oooooooooooo o 24 Contents iii Configuring Pr Tools LE s u iia des a a ae ea ae 25 Removing Pro TOOlS s suo eder RE 2 awed a awe ga aaa Br rien 29 Chapter 5 Mbox 2 Hardware Overview 0 00 cece cece 31 Mbox 2 Front Panel Features s E rr RE SSE wees So en a an an 31 Mbox 2 Back Panel Feat res serre ertt EUER ee en EG 34 Chapter 6 Making Hardware Connections 0 0000 cece eee 37 Connecting Headphones 2 22 cee ice mos ia eE BUR S RR uer BUR RR 2 EHE yaaa d dark 37 Connecting a Sound System coacci n a an Bde 37 Connecting a Recorder for Mixdowns 0 0c cece eee eee eee eee 38 Connecting Audio Inputs sreca sh xag m ded memes a ran 38 Connecting a Microphone vaccine a a ada aia lea ei were 39 Connecting Instruments to the Mbox 2 0 00 cee nn 41 MIDI Connections iin rm mm Rr ne hom rs er eee 43 Chapter 7 Common Tasks with Pro Tools LE o o o ooo 45 Recording a Pro Tools Session nananana er eee
25. Before You Call Digidesign Technical Support llle 73 Index 2 un ae ae a ee ae ac date Manna 75 Contents v vi Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide Installation QuickStart Windows Installation Overview Windows Systems Only Installing the Mbox 2 on a Windows computer includes the following steps 1 Windows System Optimization on page 9 2 Installing Pro Tools LE and Connecting Mbox 2 on page 13 3 Launching Pro Tools LE on page 14 4 Configuring Pro Tools LE on page 14 5 Making audio and MIDI connections to the Mbox 2 See Chapter 6 Making Hardware Connections for details Mac Installation Overview Mac OS X Systems Only Installation of the Mbox 2 on a Mac includes the following steps 1 Mac System Optimization on page 21 2 Installing Pro Tools LE on page 23 3 Connecting Mbox 2 to the Computer on page 23 4 Launching Pro Tools LE on page 24 5 Configuring Pro Tools LE on page 25 6 Making audio connections to the Mbox 2 See Chapter 6 Making Hardware Connec tions for details Chapter 1 Installation QuickStart 1 2 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide Welcome to Mbox 2 Welcome to the Mbox 2 audio MIDI produc tion system from Digidesign Mbox 2 provides your USB equipped computer with two channels of analog audio input and output two channels of digital audio input and output MIDI In and Out ports anal
26. E mu M Model None i Input Port Digidesign MIDI IO 1 Port Output Port Digidesign MIDI IO 1 Port1 y 5 2 s 4 s e 7 8 Send Channels E 10 11 12 13 19 15 16 4 2 8s 4 5 817 8 Receive Channels Fa 40 41 12 43 14 1578 MIDI Studio Setup Properties section When a previously defined instrument is se lected in the Instrument list the Properties sec tion changes to reflect the properties of the se lected instrument 56 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide To define an instrument with MIDI Studio Setup 1 Choose Setup gt MIDI gt MIDI Studio 2 Click Create 3 In the Instrument Name field type the name of your instrument and press Enter oO If you do not enter an instrument name the Instrument Name field will automatically inherit information from the Manufacturer and Model pop up menu 4 Set a manufacturer and model for the new de vice from the corresponding pop up menus If the Manufacturer and Model pop up menus do not provide a name for your particular device choose None 5 From the Input pop up menu choose the in put port on your MIDI interface that is con nected to the MIDI Out of your instrument 6 From the Output pop up menu choose the output port on your MIDI interface that is con nected to the MIDI In of your instrument 7 Enable the appropriate MIDI channels 1 16 for the Send Channels and Receive Channels options These determine which channels send and r
27. Edit window to import the file to a new audio track a 08808 E s v ee ee iQ o gp Audio CD D T T Volume e Audio File ES Tracko2 cda Audio File E Track03 cda Audio File EX Track04 cda Audio File TrackoS cda Audio File Dragging an audio file from the Workspace browser to the Edit window Track List To play back the new track 1 In the Transport window click Return to Zero to go to the beginning of the track 2 Click Play in the Transport window to begin playback 3 Click Stop in the Transport window or press the Spacebar to stop playback Creating an Audio CD from a Pro Tools Session Pro Tools does not create audio CDs directly but you can create stereo audio files from your Pro Tools sessions that can be used by most CD burning software Bouncing Audio to Disk Use the Pro Tools Bounce to Disk feature to combine all your audible tracks into a single master audio file After the new audio file has been bounced to disk you can burn it to a CD 48 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide If you are bouncing to 16 bit CD resolution you should use a dither plug in on the main out put For details see the Pro Tools Reference Guide To bounce audio to disk 1 After you have finished recording and mixing a session in Pro Tools select the length of the session in the timeline ruler or on a track plus an additional amount of time to avoid cutting off any reverb tails that
28. IDI I O USB port outputs S PDIF digital 1 0 Mon Out S PDIF DFE ce o g TESTED TO COMPLY WITH FCC STANDARDS FOR HOME OR OFFICE USE Figure 2 Mbox 2 back panel The Mbox 2 back panel has the following fea tures USB Port This standard USB v1 1 connector is used to connect your computer to the Mbox 2 One standard USB cable is included with your sys tem The Mbox 2 is compatible with USB 2 0 ports However the USB 2 0 bus will switch to the slower USB v 1 1 speed to accommodate Mbox 2 MIDI I O The MIDI In and MIDI Out ports are standard 5 pin MIDI ports each providing 16 channels of MIDI input and output 34 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide S PDIF Digital 1 0 The S PDIF in and out ports are unbalanced two conductor phono RCA connectors that utilize a full 24 bit two channel digital data stream The Sony Philips Digital Interface Format S PDIF is used in many professional and con sumer CD recorders and DAT recorders To avoid RF interference use 75 ohm coaxial cable for S PDIF transfers and keep the cable length to a maximum of 10 meters In use the S PDIF input channels are available in addition to the two channels of analog audio input This lets Mbox 2 be used as a 4 in 2 out digital audio interface for Pro Tools LE The S PDIF output channels always mirror the main outs 1 2 Mon Out Monitor Output These outputs support balanced TRS or unbal an
29. On the front of the Mbox 2 turn the Mix con trol fully left to Input Mix control Gain E Input 1 Gain and Pad controls and the Mix control 4 On the front of the Mbox 2 carefully turn the Gain control to the right to increase the input level of your microphone signal 5 If the incoming signal is too loud press the Pad switch to engage the 20 dB pad Connecting Instruments to the Mbox 2 Mbox 2 provides two input types DI and Line that correspond to the different signal strengths output by different types of instruments DI Input Instruments such as electric guitar or electric bass that usually have a lower level of output than line level instruments use the DI Direct Inject input Line Input Line level devices including elec tronic audio sources such as mixers samplers keyboards turntables and synthesizers use the Line input Connecting Electric Guitar or Bass To use a guitar with Mbox 2 1 On the back of the Mbox 2 plug your guitar cable into one of the DI inputs Input 1 DI Connecting guitar to the Input 1 DI connector Chapter 6 Making Hardware Connections 41 2 On the front of the Mbox 2 set the Source to DI by pressing the Mic DI switch until the DI LED is lit Mix control Mic DI selector Input 1 Gain level control gt fr E 000 04 0 DI LED Source selector and Gain control for Input 1 3 On the front of the Mbox 2 t
30. RTAS Processors 1 Choose Setup gt Playback Engine 2 From the RTAS Processors pop up menu select the number of available processors you want to allocate for RTAS plug in processing 3 Click OK CPU Usage Limit The CPU Usage Limit controls the percentage of CPU resources allocated to Pro Tools host pro cessing tasks Used in combination with the RTAS Processors setting the CPU Usage Limit setting lets you control the way Pro Tools tasks are carried out by the system Lower CPU Usage Limit settings limit the ef fect of Pro Tools processing on other CPU inten sive tasks such as screen redraws and are useful when you are experiencing slow system re sponse or when running other applications at the same time as Pro Tools Chapter 3 Windows Configuration 15 Higher CPU Usage Limit settings allocate more processing power to Pro Tools and are useful for playing back large sessions or using more real time plug ins The maximum available CPU Usage Limit de pends on the number of processors in your com puter and on the number of processors you specify for RTAS processing This value can range from 85 percent for single processor com puters to 99 percent for multi processor com puters A Increasing the CPU Usage Limit may slow down screen response on slower computers To change the CPU Usage Limit 1 Choose Setup gt Playback Engine 2 From the CPU Usage Limit pop up menu se lect the percentage of CPU p
31. RTAS plug ins and affect the accuracy of plug in automation mute data and MIDI track timing To change the Hardware Buffer Size 1 Choose Setup gt Playback Engine Playback Engine Mbox 2 Settings HIW Buffer Size 512 Samples RTAS Processors 4 Processor CPU Usage Limit 85 RTAS Engine lgnore Errors During Playback Record DAE Playback Buffer Size Level 2 Default Playback Engine dialog for Mbox 2 2 From the H W Buffer Size pop up menu select the audio buffer size in samples 3 Click OK RTAS Processors The RTAS Processors setting determines the number of processors in your computer allo cated for RTAS plug in processing With computers that have multiple processors or that feature multi core processing or hyper threading this setting lets you enable multi pro cessor support for RTAS processes Used in com bination with the CPU Usage Limit setting the RTAS Processors setting lets you control the way RTAS processing and other Pro Tools tasks are carried out by the system A higher number of processors reserves more CPU processing capacity for RTAS plug in pro cessing This is useful for sessions with large number of RTAS plug ins A lower number of processors leaves more CPU processing capacity for automation screen redraws and video playback in Pro Tools or for other application running at the same time as Pro Tools To set the number of
32. Session dialog Refer to the Pro Tools Reference Guide for details To change the default Sample Rate 1 Choose Setup Hardware Hardware Setup dialog for Mbox 2 2 Select the sample rate from the Sample Rate pop up menu 3 Click OK Clock Source The Pro Tools Hardware Setup dialog lets you se lect the Clock Source for the system Internal Use this setting if you are recording an alog signals directly into Mbox 2 analog inputs 1 2 and or are recording digital inputs into Mbox 2 inputs 3 4 where the digital device is synchronized to the Mbox 2 digital output S PDIF Use this setting if you are recording through the Mbox 2 S PDIF inputs from an ex ternal digital device This setting will synchro nize Pro Tools to that digital device To select the Clock Source 1 Choose Setup Hardware 2 Choose the clock source from the Clock Source pop up menu 3 Click OK A Your digital input device must be connected and powered on for Pro Tools to synchro nize to it If your input device is not powered on leave the Clock Source set to Internal Configuring I O Setup Using the I O Setup dialog you can label Pro Tools LE input output insert and bus sig nal paths The I O Setup dialog provides a graph ical representation of the inputs outputs and signal routing of the Mbox 2 Pro Tools LE has default I O Setup settings that will get you started Use the I O Setup dialog only if you want to rename the
33. Tools LE software 1 Double click the Pro Tools LE shortcut on your desktop or the application icon in the Pro Tools folder inside the Digidesign folder 2 Enter the authorization code in the dialog making sure to type it exactly as printed and observing any spaces and capitalization then click Validate Your authorization code is located on the inside front cover of this guide Configuring Pro Tools LE Pro Tools System Settings Pro Tools LE lets you adjust the performance of your system by changing system settings that af fect its capacity for processing playback and re cording In most cases the default settings for your sys tem provide optimum performance but you may want to adjust them to accommodate large or processing intensive Pro Tools sessions Hardware Buffer Size The Hardware Buffer Size H W Buffer Size con trols the size of the buffer used to handle host processing tasks such as Real Time AudioSuite RTAS plug ins The H W Buffer setting can also be used to manage monitoring latency Lower Hardware Buffer Size settings reduce monitoring latency and are useful when you are recording live input Higher Hardware Buffer Size settings allow for more audio processing and effects and are use ful when you are mixing and using more RTAS plug ins A In addition to causing slower screen re sponse and monitoring latency higher Hardware Buffer Size settings can increase the latency caused by
34. Transport window or press the Spacebar when you are finished recording To play back a recorded track 1 Ifthe track s Record Enable button is lit click on it to take it out of Record mode 2 Click Play in the Transport window or press the Spacebar to start playback 3 Click Stop in the Transport window or press the Spacebar to stop playback Importing Audio from a CD To import audio from a compact disc 1 Put the source CD into your computer s CD DVD drive 2 In Pro Tools open the Workspace browser by choosing Window gt Workspace The Workspace browser is a window where you can find audi tion and manage your audio files window Help Mix Ctrl v Edit Ctrl Ww Hide All Floating Windows Ctrlt Alt Start W Configurations gt Task Manager Alt Project Alt O Browsers gt Opening the Workspace browser 3 In the Workspace browser click the Audio CD icon to show the files on the CD 4 Click the speaker icon in the Waveform col umn to audition the audio file Press the Space bar to stop playback ic Workspace 00000 g Name E Audio CD D T T Volume T el Audio File E Track02 cda Audio File EX Track03 cda Audio File Track04 cda Audio File Qi Track05 cda Audio File aaa Auditioning an audio file in the Workspace browser Chapter 7 Common Tasks with Pro Tools LE 47 5 Drag the audio file from the Workspace browser to the Track List in the
35. a classe B est conforme la norme NMB 003 du Canada Australian Compliance ACN 069 650 120 European Compliance CE Chapter 1 Installation QuickStart ooo oocococoooooooooo ooo 1 Windows Installation Overview llle RR RII I I he 1 Mac Installation Overview lt s cce ciep eher RR ERR ee ee Dee 1 Chapter 2 Welcome to Mbox 2 ssee e 3 Mbox 2 Package 2 6 4 es Scere go duri ur cR ae sl RE ern ET d a 3 Mbox 2 Features u 322 a Rr RR heran 4 Pro ToolS LE Capabilitles z ca ios aa aria ra ea a a a ea aaa 4 System Requirements duds susc 2 200222 ee ea ea Oe dh eee da 5 Digidesign Registration eec Ges cia ra da 6 About the Pro Tools Guides icons ri a a a RR RERO ROS Re ROS ER ee 6 About www dlgldesignicom 32x cox oues ra an apd a DIA a da 4 Chapter 3 Windows Configuration ooooooococococooooooooo ooo 9 Installation OvervieW iuuenem gn a ue on ry mace on Poe EOS Re om Re nh e mr a hen oe bue cn 9 Windows System Optimization 0 0 cee ss 9 Installing Pro Tools LE and Connecting Mbox 2 llle 13 Launching Pro Tools LE asac ipm iR yr gue aa poer Ss RD vum ERR Ru ad 14 Configuring Pro Tools LE 42d skr LI bee a Se Ra einigen ini 14 Additional Software on the Pro Tools Installer DISC oooooooooooo o 18 Removing Pro Tools LE 25s ux sk ua fh nde unus ar aaa 19 Chapter 4 Mac Configuration 0 0 0
36. ack Input selector S PDIF Mirroring Pro Tools LE uses S PDIF mirroring to automati cally mirror the audio that is sent to Line Out puts 1 and 2 on the S PDIF RCA outputs This is useful for example if you are monitoring a mix using your Line Outputs and also recording the same source to an external S PDIF device MIDI Connections The two MIDI ports on Mbox 2 let you take ad vantage of all the MIDI features of Pro Tools LE including recording and editing MIDI tracks If you need additional MIDI ports you can add a compatible MIDI interface USB MIDI interfaces work effectively with Pro Tools systems on Win dows or Mac Serial MIDI interfaces are sup ported on Windows systems only A Only USB MIDI interfaces are compatible with Pro Tools systems for Mac OS X Mo dem to serial port adapters and serial MIDI devices are not supported To connect your MIDI device to Mbox 2 1 Connect a standard 5 pin MIDI cable from the MIDI Out port of your device to the MIDI In port on the back of Mbox 2 Chapter 6 Making Hardware Connections 43 2 Connect another MIDI cable from the MIDI In port of your device to the MIDI Out port on the back of Mbox 2 MIDI Out MIDI In Mbox 2 MIDI connections Monitoring MIDI Instruments with Mbox 2 If you have a MIDI instrument that has analog outputs you can connect it to Mbox 2 to moni tor its output To connect your MIDI instrument for monitoring in
37. ad Switches and LEDs The Pad switches engage a 20 dB pad on their corresponding input channels When engaged the Pad LEDs light Source Selectors and LEDs These switches select either the Mic or DI inputs for each channel The DI and Mic LEDs indicate the current source input Removable Handle Mbox 2 includes a handle that can be used for carrying and tilting as well as a replacement panel that makes the unit more compact The handle can be used as a stand that tilts the unit into a more easily viewable angle when the Mbox 2 is placed on a desktop The handle can also be used to carry the unit The handle can also be replaced with the op tional Mbox 2 faceplate panel This panel lets Mbox 2 sit flat on a desktop and reduces the space required when packed for traveling To replace the handle with the Mbox 2 panel 1 Unscrew the handle mounting screw located along the right edge of the handle when view ing from the front 2 Remove the handle 3 Mount the replacement panel in position where the handle had been 4 Secure the panel to the unit in its new posi tion using the same screw you removed in step 1 5 Repeat the above basic instructions to replace the panel with the handle Chapter 5 Mbox 2 Hardware Overview 33 Mbox 2 Back Panel Features Figure 2 identifies each port on the Mbox 2 back panel Input 2 Input 1 analog analog input 2 input 1 I l Mic DI Mic DI Line Line Monitor M
38. age The window expands to show images for various MIDI devices such as keyboards modules interfaces and mixers Select an icon for your device Device Name JP 8000 Manufacturer Road BB Model JP 8000 al More Properties A Icon set Generic m Select an icon for this device Selecting a device icon CY To use your own custom icons you can place TIFF image files in Library Audio MIDI Devices Generic Images and they will appear as choices in the AMS device window 5 Click OK The device names you enter appear as MIDI in put and output choices in Pro Tools Appendix B Configuring AMS Mac OS X Only 61 MIDI Patch Name Support Pro Tools supports XML Extensible Markup Language for storing and importing patch names for you external MIDI devices Pro Tools installs MIDI patch name files midnam for the factory default patch names of many common MIDI devices These files reside in directories sorted by manufacturer in Library Audio MIDI Patch Names Digidesign To import MIDI patch names into Pro Tools 1 Verify the MIDI Device name in the Audio MIDI Setup window see Audio MIDI Setup on page 59 2 Verify the MIDI track s output is correctly as signed to the MIDI device 3 Click the MIDI track s Patch Select button Patch Select button Patch Select button Mix window 62 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide 4 In the Patch Select dialog click the Change button Comral
39. ardware Overview 35 36 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide chapter 6 Making Hardware Connections To hear audio recorded into a Pro Tools session you will need to connect headphones or an ex ternal sound system such as powered monitors or a home stereo to Mbox 2 Sound from Mbox 2 cannot be played through your com puter s speakers or your computer s sound out put Connecting Headphones On the front panel of the Mbox 2 is a 1 4 inch jack to connect headphones and a headphone level control to adjust headphone volume Headphone level 1 4 inch Headphone jack Headphone jack on front of Mbox 2 To connect headphones a Connect headphones with a 1 4 inch stereo connector or adapter to the Headphone jack Connecting a Sound System The monitor outputs on the back of the Mbox 2 support 1 4 inch plugs These connections can be balanced TRS Tip Ring Sleeve style con nectors or unbalanced connectors To listen to your Pro Tools session these outputs can be connected to any amplification system pow ered speakers a home stereo system or an audio mixer When connecting to a stereo system connect the left channel often the white plug to Mon Out Left and right channel often the red plug to Mon Out Right F Home stereo systems often use RCA connectors You can use an adaptor or a special cable to convert from the TRS or TS connectors used by Mbox 2 to the RCA connectors on your home stereo
40. ation A Before installing this version of Pro Tools refer to the Read Me information included on the Pro Tools Installer disc Installation Overview Installation of the Mbox 2 on a Mac includes the following steps 1 Mac System Optimization on page 21 2 Installing Pro Tools LE on page 23 3 Connecting Mbox 2 to the Computer on page 23 4 Launching Pro Tools LE on page 24 5 Configuring Pro Tools LE on page 25 6 Making audio connections to the Mbox 2 See Chapter 6 Making Hardware Connec tions for details Mac System Optimization To ensure optimum performance with Pro Tools configure your computer before in stalling Pro Tools hardware and software Before configuring your computer make sure you are logged in as an Administrator for the ac count where you want to install Pro Tools For details on Administrator privilegesin Mac OS X refer to your Apple OS X documentation Do not use the Mac OS X automatic Soft ware Update feature as it may upgrade your system to a version of Mac OS that has not yet been qualified for Pro Tools For details on qualified versions of Mac OS refer to the latest compatibility information on the Digidesign website www digide sign com Turning Off Software Update To turn off the Software Update feature 1 Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu and click Software Update 2 Click Update Software and deselect Check for U
41. available USB port on your computer If the USB LED on the front panel of the Mbox 2 does not illuminate after installa tion try unplugging the USB cable from the Mbox 2 USB port and plugging it back in If the USB LED still does not illuminate shut down the computer disconnect Mbox 2 and start the computer Once the computer has fully restarted reconnect Mbox 2 A Mbox 2 may not function properly if con nected to a USB hub If you need to use a hub for other USB peripherals connect the hub to a separate USB port Mbox 2 must be connected to a dedicated port on the com puter in order to function properly Chapter 4 Mac Configuration 23 Launching Pro Tools LE When launching Pro Tools LE the first time you are prompted to enter an authorization code to validate your software To authorize Pro Tools LE software 1 Click the Pro Tools LE icon in the Dock or double click the application icon in the Pro Tools folder inside the Digidesign folder 2 Enter the authorization code in the dialog when prompted making sure to type it exactly as printed and observing any spaces and capi talization then click Validate Your authorization code is located on the inside front cover of this guide Additional Software on the Pro Tools Installer Disc The Pro Tools Installer disc provides additional software for your system including audio driv ers for playing other audio applications through your Digidesign hardwa
42. button Enabling an Instrument track for MIDI recording 8 Make sure Options gt MIDI Thru is selected 52 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide 9 Play some notes on your MIDI controller and look for the track s MIDI Velocity meter to move Remember MIDI is not audio and the MIDI Velocity meter is not registering sound output but MIDI activity MIDI Velocity meter MIDI meter in Instrument track showing MIDI activity 10 Adjust the audio output level of the Instru ment track with its Volume fader Volume fader Adjusting the Volume fader on an Instrument track To record MIDI on the Instrument track 1 Verify that the Instrument track you want to record to is record enabled and receiving MIDI 2 In the Transport window click Return to Zero to start recording from the beginning of the ses sion You can also record to a selection in a track or from the cursor location in the Edit window 3 Click Record in the Transport window Return to Zero Fast Forward Rewind Play Go to End Online Stop Record Transport window 4 Click Play in the Transport window or press the Spacebar to begin recording 5 Play your MIDI controller or input device 6 When you have finished recording click Stop in the Transport window or press the Spacebar The newly recorded MIDI data appears as a MIDI region on the track in the Edit window as well as in the Region List MIDI data in the Instrument track To play back rec
43. ced TS 1 4 inch connections To monitor your mix these outputs can be connected to a mixing board directly to a monitoring system such as a stereo power amp or another stereo destination The Mon Out Left and Right play the audio that is routed to analog outputs 1 and 2 from within Pro Tools respectively These analog outputs feature 24 bit digital to analog converters Input 1 and Input 2 Each analog source input channel Input 1 and Input 2 provides Mic DI Direct Inject and Line TRS ports These balanced unbalanced analog audio inputs support a broad range of in put levels as follows Mic microphone for XLR inputs Line TRS for line level signals on TRS or TS inputs DI for other 1 4 inch TRS or TS connec tions On the front panel the input signal is adjusted by the Gain control for each channel and the source Mic Line or DI is chosen using the Source selectors Source 2 is at the far left when looking at the back panel and Source 1 is to its right The back panel inputs for Source 1 and Source 2 are lo cated such that they are directly in line with their associated input controls on the front panel This lets you locate input jacks more eas ily when viewing from the front of the unit v Though the XLR connectors support instru ment and microphone level inputs when ever a TRS cable is plugged in to the Line TRS port the XLR port on that chan nel is ignored Chapter 5 Mbox 2 H
44. cessors available for RTAS processing to 1 in the Pro Tools Playback Engine dialog some com puters with hyperthreading capability may ex perience decreased performance If this occurs you can increase the number of RTAS processors in the Playback Engine dialog or you can disable Hyper Threading on the com puter Refer to your computer s documentation for steps on how to enter the computer s BIOS and disable Hyper Threading Disabling System Startup Items The fewer items in use by your computer the more resources are available for Pro Tools Some startup applications may be consuming unnec essary CPU resources and should be turned off If you disable any of the following startup items do so carefully Portable media serial number required for applications that utilize a copy protection key Plug and play Event log Cryptographic services DHCP Client TCP IP Net BIOS and other networking related items unless the com puter has no network or internet connec tion in which case these items can be disabled 12 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide To Disable System Startup Items 1 From the Start menu choose Run 2 Type msconfig and click OK The System Configuration Utility opens 3 Under the General tab choose Selective Star tup 4 Deselect Load Startup Items and click OK 5 Click Restart to restart the computer 6 After restarting the computer displays a Sys tem Configuration mes
45. creen instructions to continue and accept installation 5 Select the install location For maximum reli ability install Pro Tools on your startup drive 6 Click Continue 7 Select the Pro Tools application for installa tion 8 You can also select from a list of optional items to install along with Pro Tools DigiTranslator DigiTranslator is a software op tion for Pro Tools that lets you convert and ex change OMF and AAF sequences and MXF files directly in the Pro Tools application This op tion is purchased separately MIDI 1 0 Driver The MIDI I O Driver is required if you are using the Digidesign MIDI VO MP3 Export Option The MP3 Export Option lets you export MP3 files from Pro Tools This op tion is purchased separately 9 Click Install 10 If prompted enter your Administrator pass word and click OK to authenticate the installa tion 11 Follow the remaining on screen instructions 12 When installation is complete click Restart y The Pro Tools Installer disc includes addi tional software for your system For more information see Additional Software on the Pro Tools Installer Disc on page 24 Connecting Mbox 2 to the Computer Before launching Pro Tools LE software con nect Mbox 2 to your computer To connect Mbox 2 to your computer 1 Connect the small end of the included USB ca ble to the USB port on Mbox 2 2 With your computer on connect the other end of the USB cable to any
46. d configur ing the standalone version of the Digidesign Windows Audio Drivers see the Windows Audio Drivers Guide Pro Tools Demo Session The Pro Tools LE Installer disc includes a demo session that you can use to verify that your sys tem is working A Before installing the demo session to your audio drive make sure the drive is config ured as described in Formatting an Audio Drive on page 64 To install the demo session 1 Insert the Pro Tools LE Installer disc into your CD DVD drive 2 From your CD DVD drive locate and open the Additional Files Pro Tools LE Demo Session Installer folder 3 Double click Setup exe 4 Select your audio drive as the install location and click Install 5 When installation is complete click OK Removing Pro Tools LE If you need to remove Pro Tools LE software from your computer you can use the Add or Re move Programs command To remove Pro Tools from your computer 1 Choose Start gt Control Panel 2 Double click Add or Remove Programs 3 From the Currently Installed Programs list se lect Digidesign Pro Tools LE 4 Click the Change Remove button 5 Follow the on screen instructions to remove Pro Tools LE Chapter 3 Windows Configuration 19 20 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide chapter 4 Mac Configuration This chapter contains information for Mac sys tems only If you are installing Pro Tools on a Windows computer see Chapter 3 Windows Configur
47. ded with 24 bit resolution require about 7 5 MB per minute Stereo audio tracks recorded with 16 bit resolution at 44 1 kHz CD quality require approximately 10 MB of hard disk space per minute The same tracks recorded with 24 bit resolution require about 15 MB per minute Table 4 lists the required disk space for certain track numbers and track lengths to help you estimate your hard disk usage Table 4 Required hard drive space for audio tracks 44 1 kHz and 48 kHz sessions shown Number of Tracks and Length 16 bit at 16 bit at 24 bit at 24 bit at 44 1 kHz 48 kHz 44 1 kHz 48 kHz 1 mono track 1 minute 5 MB 5 5 MB 7 5 MB 8 2 MB 1 stereo track or two mono 50 MB 55 MB 75 MB 83 MB tracks 5 minutes 1 stereo track or two mono 600 MB 662 MB 900 MB 991 MB tracks 60 minutes 24 mono tracks 5 minutes 600 MB 662 MB 900 MB 991 MB 24 mono tracks 60 minutes 7 GB 7 8GB 10 5 GB 11 6 GB 32 mono tracks 5 minutes 800 MB 883 MB 1 2 GB 1 3 GB 32 mono tracks 60 minutes 9 4 GB 10 4 GB 14 GB 15 4 GB Hard Drive Configuration and Maintenance 69 70 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide appendix d Troubleshooting Backing Up Your Work It is highly recommended that you back up your work on a regular basis and especially before making changes to your system configuration Backing Up Your Session Data Back up your session and audio data frequently There are a variety of media that are suited to back up pro
48. dware Setup dialog only when no session is open Y You can change the sample rate when creat ing a new Pro Tools session by selecting a different sample rate in the New Session dialog See the Pro Tools Reference Guide for more information Chapter 4 Mac Configuration 27 To change the default Sample Rate 1 Make sure that no Pro Tools session is open 2 Choose Setup gt Hardware Hardware Setup Porgras al wo Merz Cock soror roaroa m amore Rat PI m Hardware Setup dialog for Mbox 2 3 Select the sample rate from the Sample Rate popup menu 4 Click OK Clock Source The Pro Tools Hardware Setup dialog lets you se lect the Clock Source for the system Internal Use this setting if you are recording an alog signals directly into Mbox 2 analog inputs 1 2 and or are recording digital inputs into Mbox 2 inputs 3 4 where the digital device is synchronized to the Mbox 2 digital output S PDIF Use this setting if you are recording ma terial into Mbox 2 S PDIF inputs from an exter nal digital device This setting will synchronize Pro Tools to that digital device 28 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide To select the clock source 1 Choose Setup Hardware 2 Choose the clock source from the Clock Source pop up menu 3 Click OK A Your digital input device must be connected and powered on for Pro Tools to synchro nize to it If your input device is not powered on leave the Clock Source set to I
49. e 67 Defragmenting Windows Audio Drives To defragment an audio drive Windows 1 Right click My Computer and choose Man age 2 Under Storage choose Disk Defragmenter 3 In the Disk Defragmenter window choose the drive you want to defragment 4 Click the Defragment button and follow the on screen instructions When defragmenting is complete close the Computer Management Window 68 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide Using Mac Drives on Windows Systems Pro Tools for Windows lets you record and play back sessions directly from a Mac formatted HFS drive connected to a Windows system This functionality requires that all Mac session and audio files be stored on Mac formatted drives During Pro Tools installation make sure to se lect the Mac HFS Disk Support option This op tion lets your Pro Tools system read write record and play back using Mac formatted HFS disks For information on using the Mac HFS Disk Support option see the HFS Disk Support Option Guide For information on sharing sessions be tween Mac and Windows systems see the Pro Tools Reference Guide Formatting and Maintaining HFS Drives To format and partition any drives as HFS con nect the drives to a Mac computer and use the Apple OS X Disk Utility Hard Disk Storage Space Mono audio tracks recorded with 16 bit resolution at 44 1 KHz CD quality require approximately 5 MB of hard disk space per minute The same tracks recor
50. e playback and recording initiation speed but may make it difficult to play or record tracks reliably with sessions con taining a large number of tracks or a high den sity of edits or with systems that have slower or heavily fragmented hard drives DAE Playback Buffer Size settings higher than Level 2 will allow for a higher density of editsin a session or a higher track count when using slower hard drives However a higher setting can also cause a time lag to occur when starting playback or recording or longer audible time lag while editing during playback i34 Using a larger DAE Playback Buffer Size leaves less system memory for other tasks The default setting of Level 2 is recom mended unless you are encountering 9073 Disk too slow or fragmented errors To change the DAE Playback Buffer Size 1 Choose Setup gt Playback Engine 2 From the DAE Playback Buffer pop up menu select a buffer size 3 Click OK Pro Tools Hardware Settings Pro Tools lets you set the default sample rate and clock source for your system as well as a range of controls specific to each type of audio interface Default Sample Rate The Sample Rate setting appears as the default sample rate when you create a new session This setting is available in the Hardware Setup dialog only when no session is open Y You can change the sample rate when creat inga new Pro Tools session by selecting a different sample rate in the New
51. eceive MIDI Instrument Name The Instrument Name field shows the user de finable instrument name for the currently se lected instrument Manufacturer The Manufacturer pop up menu provides a list of MIDI equipment manufacturers This list is derived from the XML based MIDI device files For more information see MIDI Patch Name Support on page 57 Model The Model pop up menu provides a list of MIDI devices filtered by the manufacturer name This list is derived from the XML based MIDI device files provided with your Pro Tools installation For more information see MIDI Patch Name Support on page 57 Input Port The Input Port pop up menu displays a list of available MIDI interface input ports Inputs will include Mbox 2 and any additional MIDI inter faces enabled on your system The MIDI inter face port that is set and displayed here is the port through which MIDI data is sent from the external MIDI device specified in the Instru ment Name field into your MIDI interface If you set the input port to None the defined instrument will not appear as a choice in a MIDI Input selector Output Port The Output Port pop up menu displays a list of available MIDI interface output ports The port set and displayed here is the port through which MIDI data is sent from your MIDI interface to the MIDI device specified in the Instrument Name field A If you set the output port to None the de fined instr
52. ed with installation 8 Select the install location For maximum reli ability install Pro Tools on your startup drive 9 Click Next 10 Select the Pro Tools application for installa tion 11 You can also select from a list of optional items to install along with Pro Tools Mac HFS Disk Support Option This option lets your Pro Tools system read write record and play back using Mac formatted HFS disks HFS disks are commonly referred to as Mac OS Ex tended disks DigiTranslator DigiTranslator M is a software op tion for Pro Tools that lets you convert and ex change OMF and AAF sequences and MXF files directly in the Pro Tools application This op tion is purchased separately Command 8 Controller and Driver The Com mand 8 Driver is required if you are using the Digidesign Command 8 control surface MP3 Export Option The MP3 Export Option lets you export MP3 files from Pro Tools This op tion is purchased separately 12 Click Next 13 Click Install A Windows will display several messages during installation that can be ignored in cluding multiple Found New Hardware dialogs and A Problem Occurred During Hardware Installation A If you get a warning dialog about the driver not passing Windows Logo testing click Continue Anyway 14 Wait for the installer to finish installing all software components drivers and PACE System files before proceeding to the next step 15 When installation i
53. ereo plug in gt E Routing an input to a stereo track 46 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide 7 Play the instrument or sound source at the volume you will record 8 Use the Gain controls to maximize the signal going into Pro Tools while avoiding clipping A Clipping occurs when you feed a signal to an audio device that is louder than the circuitry can accept To avoid clipping adjust the out put volume of the source device then adjust the Mbox 2 Gain control Adjust these two levels so that the input Peak LEDs on the front panel do not light red One Peak LED is provided on the front panel for each input Peak LEDs light green when the input signal is roughly 60 dBFS light yellow at 6 dBFS and will turn red to indicate the input signal is at 0 dBFS also known as full code To record an audio track 1 Click the track s Record Enable button Record enabling a track in the Mix window 2 Choose Window Transport to display the Transport window Click Return to Zero to go to the beginning of the session Return to Zero Fast Forward Rewind Play Go to End Online Stop m emm e me em r 0 e ei i iae a a l Transport window 3 Click Record in the Transport window to arm Pro Tools for recording The Record button flashes red to indicate that Pro Tools is ready to record 4 When you are ready to start recording click Play or press the Spacebar 5 Record your performance 6 Click Stop in the
54. ers supporting sample rates of 44 1 kHz and 48 kHz Zero latency analog record monitoring with adjustable balance between input and play back Mono switch for enhanced monitoring of sin gle channel input sources does not affect re cording 1 4 inch TRS stereo headphone output with adjustable level control e USB powered operation Q Mbox 2 will not function properly if con nected to a passive USB hub If you need to use a hub for other USB peripherals use a powered hub or a separate dedicated USB port for Mbox 2 to function properly Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide Pro Tools LE Capabilities Pro Tools LE software provides the following ca pabilities with Mbox 2 e Playback of up to 32 mono digital audio tracks and of playback up to 28 tracks while recording up to 4 tracks depending on your computer s capabilities Upto 128 audio tracks with 32 voiceable tracks maximum 64 video tracks 128 Auxiliary Input tracks 64 Master Fader tracks 256 MIDI tracks and 32 Instrument tracks per session e 16 bit or 24 bit audio resolution at sample rates up to 48 kHz Non destructive random access editing and mix automation Audio processing with up to 5 RTAS plug ins per track depending on your com puter s capabilities Up to 5 inserts per track Up to 10 sends per track Up to 32 internal mix busses A Pro Tools LE uses your computer s CPU to mix and process audio tracks host process ing Com
55. f you have the following information handy when you contact Technical Support it will make the diag nosis of your problem easier Take a few minutes to collect the following basic information System Information Computer Make model processor speed Amount of system RAM Operating system version of Windows or Mac OS Any Drivers Disk Utilities or other system related applications you may have installed Digidesign Hardware Type of cards interfaces or peripherals Hard Drives Make Model Drive size GB Drive speed RPM Drive type SCSI FireWire IDE ATA Utility used to format the drive Number and size of partitions on the drive Digidesign Software Pro Tools software version Plug in versions Other Digidesign software Additional plug ins from Digidesign Devel opment Partners Troubleshooting 73 Other Hardware Refer to the manufacturer s documentation for operational details The most common hardware additions include 1394 FireWire cards for Windows systems manufacturer model Video Capture cards manufacturer model To verify that your hardware is qualified for use with your Pro Tools system refer to the latest compatibility information on the Digidesign website www digidesign com Other Software If you are using other audio or video applica tions refer to the manufacturer s documenta tion for operational details Make note of any other s
56. fewer plug ins Supported Drive Formats and Drive Types Drive Formats Windows Windows XP systems should use drives formatted as NTFS or FAT32 NTFS preferred Windows systems can also support Mac drives formatted with HFS system also commonly referred to as Mac OS Extended Refer to the Pro Tools Reference Guide for more information Mac Mac systems should use drives formatted with HFS or HFS file system only A HES drives are supported as Transfer drives only Hard drive performance depends on factors in cluding system configuration number of tracks session sample rate density of edits and the use of crossfades and other processes such as Beat Detective in a session For complete hard drive requirements see the Digidesign website www digidesign com Hard Drive Configuration and Maintenance 63 SCSI Hard Drives Digidesign recommends qualified SCSI hard drives and a qualified SCSI host bus adapter HBA card or on Windows systems a qualified built in SCSI HBA connector on the mother board For complete information on track count and the supported number and configuration of SCSI drives visit the Digidesign website www digidesign com FireWire Hard Drives Digidesign recommends qualified FireWire drives and on Windows systems a qualified FireWire host adapter For complete information on track count and the supported number and configuration of FireWire drives visit the Digidesign website
57. hat may cause undesired operation NOTE This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation This equipment generates uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions may cause harmful interference to radio communications However there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on the user is encouraged to try and correct the interference by one or more of the following measures Reorient or locate the receiving antenna Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected Consult the dealer or an experienced radio TV technician for help Trade Name Mbox 2 Tested To Com with FCC Standards FC FOR HOME OR OFFICE USE Any modifications to the unit unless expressly approved by Digidesign could void the user s authority to operate the equipment Canadian Compliance Statement This Class B digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES 003 Cet appareil num rique de l
58. ides such as the Pro Tools Reference Guide and the Pro Tools Menus Guide are accessi ble from the Pro Tools Help menu Pro Tools Reference Guide explains Pro Tools software in detail e Pro Tools Menus Guide covers all the Pro Tools on screen menus e DigiRack Plug Ins Guide explains how to use the RTAS and AudioSuite plug ins included with Pro Tools e Digidesign Plug Ins Guide explains how to use optional Digidesign plug ins Pro Tools Shortcuts lists Keyboard and Right click shortcuts for Pro Tools 6 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide These guides and other guides are installed on your startup drive during installation To view or print PDF guides you can use Adobe Reader or Apple Preview Mac only es Printed copies of the Pro Tools Reference Guide and other guides in the Pro Tools guide set can be purchased separately from the DigiStore www digidesign com Conventions Used in This Guide Digidesign guides use the following conven tions to indicate menu choices and key com mands Convention Action File gt Save Choose Save from the File menu Control N Hold down the Control key and press the N key Control click Hold down the Control key and click the mouse button Right click Click with the right mouse button The following symbols are used to highlight im portant information Y User Tips are helpful hints for getting the most from your Pro Tools system Important N
59. ive Also the remaining free space on the disk will be dis contiguous increasing the likelihood of file fragmentation on subsequent record passes Increased fragmentation increases the chance of disk errors which can interfere with playback of audio and result in performance errors ie On Windows to avoid fragmentation for mat drives with higher cluster sizes such as 32K Optimizing Defragmenting Drives To prevent fragmentation you can optimize your drive which rearranges your files into a contiguous format Most optimizing software lets you run a check on a drive to find out the percentage of fragmentation If your drive shows moderate to heavy fragmentation you should consider optimizing it If you use your system for intensive editing or if you frequently delete audio or fade files from your hard drive you may need to optimize your drives on a weekly basis or even every few days since it doesn t take long for even a large hard drive to become fragmented Backing Up Data Before Optimizing Since your files will be rewritten by the optimi zation process always make a backup copy of the data on your hard drive before you optimize it You should also use a hard drive utility to find and repair any problems before optimizing data or re initializing your drives If there is any damage to your hard drive s directories prior to optimizing serious data loss may result Hard Drive Configuration and Maintenanc
60. jects of various sizes from auto mated tape backup systems to high capacity op tical drives or to CD burners The best way to back up an entire session is to use the Save Copy In command This command lets you save the session file and all of its associ ated files to a new location y You can also use the Auto Save Backup fea ture in the Operation Preferences page to have Pro Tools automatically save backups of the session file while you work Backing Up Your System Configuration After configuring your system and Pro Tools you should save an image of your system drive using a backup utility such as Norton Ghost Windows or Bombich Carbon Copy Cloner Mac By doing this you can quickly restore your system configuration and settings if you encounter any problems Common Issues Pro Tools Won t Launch Problem When you double click the Pro Tools applica tion or a Pro Tools session file Pro Tools doesn t launch or displays an error message Possible Solutions Check to be sure your computer has the re quired amount of RAM to launch Pro Tools See the latest compatibility information on the Digidesign website www digidesign com Try a complete restart Turn off your audio in terfaces computer peripherals and your com puter and then turn them on again in the proper sequence Troubleshooting 71 If you tried to launch Pro Tools by double clicking a Pro Tools session file do the follow ing
61. ler 32 TO o m 120 a un 2 22 oc 4 24 1 1 1 1 1 1 n 7 2 SSRRLSESS yz L increment Patch Every Patch name file None Change button Patch Select dialog 5 In the Open dialog navigate to Library Au dio MIDI Patch Names Digidesign lt name of manufacturer gt and select the MIDI Patch Name file midnam for the MIDI device 6 Click Open The Patch Select dialog is populated with patch names and the Patch Name Bank pop up menu appears in the upper left hand corner of the win dow Once patch names have been imported into Pro Tools they are available for that MIDI de vice in all sessions To clear patch names a In the Patch Select dialog click the Clear but ton and click Done XY MIDI patch name files midnam can be edited in any text editor or you can use third party patch librarian and editor soft ware to create your own custom patch names appendix c Hard Drive Configuration and Maintenance It is recommended that you start with a newly formatted external or secondary internal audio drive You should also periodically defragment your audio drive to ensure continued system performance A Always back up any important data on your drive before formatting it as it will erase all data on the drive Avoid Recording to the System Drive Recording to your system drive is not recom mended Recording and playback on a system drive may result in lower track counts or
62. lers Windows Audio Drivers The Digidesign ASIO Driver and WaveDriver Windows System Audio Driver let you use your Digidesign Mbox 2 hardware interface with third party applications that support the ASIO Driver or WaveDriver MME Multimedia Exten sion The Digidesign ASIO Driver and WaveDriver for Mbox 2 are automatically installed when you install Pro Tools Digidesign ASIO Driver The Digidesign ASIO Audio Sound Input Out put Driver is a single client multichannel sound driver that allows third party audio pro grams that support the ASIO standard to record and play back through Digidesign hardware For detailed information on configuring the Digidesign ASIO Driver see the Windows Audio Drivers Guide Digidesign WaveDriver The Digidesign WaveDriver Windows System Audio Driver is a single client stereo sound driver that allows third party audio programs that support the WaveDriver MME Multimedia Extension standard to play back through Digi design hardware For detailed information on configuring the Digidesign WaveDriver see the Windows Audio Drivers Guide Standalone Digidesign ASIO Driver Digidesign Windows Audio Drivers can be in stalled on Windows systems that do not have Pro Tools software installed Use the standalone version of the Digidesign Windows Audio Driv ers installer Digidesign Audio Drivers Setup exe which is available on the Pro Tools Installer disc For information on installing an
63. lets you control the way Pro Tools tasks are carried out by the system Lower CPU Usage Limit settings limit the ef fect of Pro Tools processing on other CPU inten sive tasks such as screen redraws and are useful when you are experiencing slow system re sponse or when running other applications at the same time as Pro Tools Higher CPU Usage Limit settings allocate more processing power to Pro Tools and are useful for playing back large sessions or using more real time plug ins The maximum available CPU Usage Limit de pends on the number of processors in your com puter and on the number of processors you specify for RTAS processing This value can range from 85 percent for single processor com puters to 99 percent for multi processor com puters A Increasing the CPU Usage Limit may slow down screen response on slower computers 26 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide To change the CPU Usage Limit 1 Choose Setup gt Playback Engine 2 From the CPU Usage Limit pop up menu se lect the percentage of CPU processing you want to allocate to Pro Tools 3 Click OK RTAS Engine RTAS Error Suppression The RTAS Engine options determine RTAS error reporting during playback and recording This is especially useful when working with instrument plug ins You should only enable RTAS error suppression if you are experiencing frequent RTAS errors that are interrupting your creative workflow When RTAS error suppression is e
64. ment plug in Inserting an instrument plug in on an Instrument track MIDI Output selector in an Instrument track If you are using an external MIDI device click the track s MIDI Output selector at the top of the Instrument track and assign the device and channel to receive the MIDI output the choices will vary depending on the device str ECL channel 2 channel 3 channel 4 channel S channel 6 channel 7 channel 8 channel 9 channel 10 channel 11 channel 12 channel 13 channel 14 Xx If your connected MIDI device does not ap pear check that you have configured your computer and its MIDI settings For more information refer to Appendix A Config uring MIDI Studio Setup Windows Only or Appendix B Configuring AMS Mac OS X Only Chapter 7 Common Tasks with Pro Tools LE 51 6 If you are using an external MIDI device and have connected its audio output to your audio interface for monitoring in Pro Tools click the Input selector of the Instrument track and choose the corresponding audio input This step is not necessary if you are using an instru ment plug in no input e interface gt bus L plug in gt gt In 1 Mono gt In 2 Mono gt S PDIF L Mono gt S PDIF R Mono Choosing an audio input for an Instrument track 7 In the Mix Window click the track s Record Enable button to enable the Instrument track for MIDI recording Track Record Enable
65. ments to the Mbox 2 on page 41 Overview of Analog Inputs Mbox 2 inputs sources support microphones guitars keyboards and other types of instru ments Mbox 2 has two audio input sections la beled Input 1 and Input 2 For stereo inputs use Input 1 for the left input and Input 2 for the right input Input 2 Inputs on back of Mbox 2 The two input sections are located so that the hardware input jacks line up directly behind their corresponding input controls on the front panel This makes it easier to locate channel in put connections from the front Each Input section has three analog input jacks Mic For XLR microphone cables Line TRS For 1 4 inch Tip Ring Sleeve cables from keyboards mixers microphones and other line sources DI For 1 4 inch Tip Sleeve cables from guitar bass microphones or similar sources Analog input connectors For information about connecting specific au dio sources see Connecting a Microphone on page 39 and Connecting Instruments to the Mbox 2 on page 41 Connecting a Microphone There are several ways to use Mbox 2 with a mi crophone depending on the type of micro phone and cable you use Mic Cables and Connectors Some microphone cables use an XLR connector to attach a microphone to an input such as those on the Mbox 2 other microphones use a 1 4 inch connector If you have achoice use an XLR connector to connec
66. n level control Es 22 2 4 Ot DEN CARE Ss Mic LED Source selector and Gain control for Input 1 4 Set your instrument s volume to its optimal level For example the optimal level for most keyboards is between 80 and 100 of maxi mum volume 5 On the front of the Mbox 2 carefully turn the Gain control to the right to increase the input level of your keyboard Digital Input and Output Mbox 2 provides digital inputs and outputs for S PDIF format digital audio The two channels of S PDIF digital input can be used in combina tion with the two analog inputs for a total of four simultaneous input channels Connecting Digital Devices To connect a S PDIF device to Mbox 2 1 Use two 75 ohm coaxial cables with male RCA connectors on both ends purchased sepa rately 2 Connect the device s S PDIF output to Mbox 2 s S PDIF input port and the device s S PDIF input to Mbox 2 s S PDIF output port y To configure Mbox 2 to record from a digital source choose Setups gt Hardware Setup in Pro Tools then select S PDIF in the Clock Source Using S PDIF Input To configure Pro Tools to record from a S PDIF device 1 Choose Setups gt Hardware Setup 2 Choose S PDIF from the Clock Source selector On the front panel the S PDIF LED lights to in dicate this setting 3 Click OK 4 On the recording track choose the appropri ate stereo or mono S PDIF source from the tr
67. nabled you can experience a degradation of audio quality However this may be acceptable in order to avoid interrupting playback and recording when working with instrument plug ins Be sure to disable RTAS error suppression when you need to ensure the highest possible audio qual ity such as for a final mix There are two RTAS Engine options Ignore Errors During Playback Record When en abled Pro Tools continues to play and record even if the RTAS processing requirements ex ceed the selected CPU Usage Limit This can re sult in pops and clicks in the audio but does not stop the transport Minimize Additional 1 0 Latency When enabled any additional latency due to suppressing RTAS errors during playback and record is minimized to 128 samples Suppressing RTAS errors re quires at least 128 samples of additional buffer ing on some systems If this option is disabled the buffer is half the H W Buffer Size or at least 128 samples which ever is greater If you are on an older slower computer you may not want to enable this option since doing so can adversely affect performance The Minimize Additional I O Latency option is only available if the Ignore Errors During Play back Record option is enabled To enable RTAS error suppression 1 Choose Setup gt Playback Engine 2 Select Ignore Errors During Playback Record 3 If available you can also select Minimize Ad ditional I O Latency 4 Click OK DAE Playback B
68. nternal Configuring 1 0 Setup Using the I O Setup dialog you can label Pro Tools LE input output insert and bus sig nal paths The I O Setup dialog provides a graph ical representation of the inputs outputs and signal routing of the Mbox 2 Pro Tools LE has default I O Setup settings that will get you started Use the I O Setup dialog only if you want to rename the default I O paths To rename 1 0 paths in I O Setup 1 Choose Setup I O r 1 O Setup input Output Ins In 1 2 S PDIF L R 1 0 Setup dialog for Mbox 2 2 Click the Input Output Insert or Bus tab to display the corresponding connections 3 To change the name of a path or subpath double click directly on the Path Name type a new name for the path and press Return 4 Click OK See the Pro Tools Reference Guide or choose Help gt Pro Tools Reference Guide for more information on renaming I O paths Audio MIDI Setup AMS Optional If you plan to use any MIDI devices with Pro Tools LE configure your MIDI setup with the Apple Audio MIDI Setup AMS utility See Appendix B Configuring AMS Mac OSX Only for details Backing Up your System Configuration After configuring your system and Pro Tools you should save an image of your system drive using a backup utility such as Bombich Carbon Copy Cloner By doing this you can quickly re store your system configuration and settings if you encounter a
69. ny problems Removing Pro Tools If you need to remove Pro Tools software from your computer use the Uninstaller application To remove Pro Tools from your computer 1 Make sure you are logged in as an Administra tor for the account where Pro Tools is installed For details on Administrator privileges in Mac OS X refer to your Apple OS X docu mentation 2 Go to Applications Digidesign Pro Tools Pro Tools Utilities and double click the Uninstall Pro Tools file 3 Click Continue to proceed with the uninstall 4 Choose the type of uninstall you want to per form Safe Uninstall Leaves certain plug ins and sys tem files needed for compatibility with some Avid products Clean Uninstall Removes all Pro Tools files in cluding system files Digidesign plug ins and MIDI patch names 5 Click Uninstall 6 Enter your Administrator password and click OK 7 Click Finish to close the Installer window Chapter 4 Mac Configuration 29 30 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide Mbox 2 Hardware Overview Mbox 2 Front Panel Features The Mbox 2 front panel has the following features Input 1 Input 2 Headphone Monitor Mix Level Level Ratio en Gain Source Gain au selector USB Mono 48V Peak eier Peak Pad LED LED a m Ae ar HR SS SSS er 00 Y Headphone 0 Output A S Si Mono 48V LED LED DI Mic LEDs DI Mic LEDs Figure 1 Mbox 2 front panel S PDIF LED Front Panel Head
70. oftware that was run ning when a problem occurred Diagnostic Information Note any DAE errors or other error codes you en counter Additonally note the ability to repro duce the problem under different conditions for example with another session or after changing settings such as the Hardware Buffer Size 74 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide A ASIO driver Windows 18 audio digital connections 43 audio drivers ASIO driver Windows 18 CoreAudio driver Mac 24 WaveDriver Windows 19 Audio MIDI Setup AMS Macintosh 59 authorizing Pro Tools LE Mac 24 Windows 14 C Clock Source 17 28 and digital output 38 Internal setting 17 28 S PDIF digital setting 17 28 connecting Mbox 2 Mac 23 Windows 13 CoreAudio driver Mac 24 CPU Usage Limit 15 26 D DAE Playback Buffer Size 16 27 drive formatting Mac 66 Windows 65 drive maintenance 63 drive requirements 5 F FireWire requirements 64 G gain headphones 32 input 33 H hard drives drive formats 63 FireWire requirements 64 formatting 65 66 formatting Mac 66 IDE ATA requirements 64 maintenance 63 67 optimizing 67 partitioning 66 requirements 5 SCSI requirements 64 space requirements 69 Hardware Buffer Size 14 25 headphones gain control 32 output 31 l YO Setup Mac 28 Windows 17 IDE ATA requirements 64 indicators peak level 33 phantom power 33 S PDIF 31 USB connection 31 input and output connectors 34 Index 75 inputs
71. og monitor outs and a headphone output with front panel level control Mbox 2 provides professional quality mic preamps and 24 bit analog to digi tal and digital to analog converters Mbox 2 Package The Mbox 2 package includes the following Mbox 2 desktop audio interface Pro Tools Installer disc containing Pro Tools LE software DigiRack RTAS Real Time AudioSuite and AudioSuite plug ins optional software and electronic PDF guides This Getting Started Guide covering installa tion configuration and common tasks for your Pro Tools system USB connector cable Digidesign Registration Information Card Chapter 2 Welcome to Mbox2 3 Mbox 2 Features The Mbox 2 provides the following Two channels of analog audio input with mi crophone preamps and switchable 48V phan tom power Analog input jacks include one XLR and two 1 4 inch connectors one TRS one TS with switchable Mic Line and DI levels e 20 dB pad available separately on each an alog input channel Two channels of S PDIF digital input and out put e S PDIF inputs are available independently in addition to analog inputs 1 2 S PDIF outputs mirror analog outs 1 2 Up to a total of four channels of input using analog and digital inputs simultaneously One MIDI In and one MIDI Out port provid ing 16 MIDI input channels and 16 MIDI out put channels Two 1 4 inch TRS analog monitor outputs 24 bit A D and D A convert
72. orded MIDI data 1 Click the track s Record Enable button to take the Instrument track out of Record mode 2 In the Transport window click Return to Zero to play back from the beginning of the track 3 Click Play in the Transport window to begin playback The recorded MIDI data plays back through the track s assigned instrument and channel Chapter 7 Common Tasks with Pro Tools LE 53 54 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide Configuring MIDI Studio Setup Windows Only MIDI Studio Setup MIDI Studio Setup MSS lets you configure the MIDI controllers and sound modules that are connected to your system and control the rout ing of MIDI data between your MIDI equipment and Pro Tools MSS automatically finds MIDI interfaces and lets you specify a custom name for each of the MIDI ports within the MIDI Studio Setup docu ment MSS also supports XML based patch file names for storing and importing patch names for your external MIDI devices Entire MIDI Studio Setup configurations created within MSS can be imported and exported MIDI Studio Setup Window The MIDI Studio Setup window is organized into three sections Interface controls are at the top of the window All the currently defined in struments are displayed in the Instrument Name list on the left side of the window A de tailed view of MIDI parameters is shown in the Properties section on the right testumert c J Oo Name Emu Proteus 1 m Rotand
73. otices include information that could affect your data or the performance of your system w Shortcuts show you useful keyboard or mouse shortcuts Cross References point to related sections in other Digidesign guides About www digidesign com The Digidesign website www digidesign com is your best source for information to help you get the most out of your Pro Tools system The following are just a few of the services and fea tures available Registration Register your purchase online See the enclosed Digidesign Registration Informa tion Card for instructions Support Contact Digidesign Technical Support or Customer Service download software up dates and the latest online manuals browse the Compatibility documents for system require ments search the online Answerbase join the worldwide Pro Tools community on the Digi design User Conference Training and Education Become a certified Pro Tools Operator or Expert study on your own using courses available online or find out how you can learn in a classroom setting at a certified Pro Tools Training Center Products and Developers Learn about Digidesign products download demo software learn about our Development Partners and their plug ins applications and hardware News and Events Get the latest news from Digidesign sign up for a Pro Tools demo To learn more about these and other resources available from Digidesign visit the Digidesign web
74. ound that is the result of phase can cellation This quick test with the Mono switch can help to avoid phase problems later when mixing these tracks Frequent checking of phase relationships with the Mono switch can also as sist you in finding the optimal microphone placement 48V Switch and LED Phantom power is activated by the switch la beled 48V on the front panel of Mbox 2 The LED when lit indicates that 48V phantom power is active on the Mic Line inputs These inputs provide phantom power for micro phones that require it to operate About Phantom Power Dynamic microphones such as a Shure SM57 do not require phantom power to operate but are not harmed by it Most condenser micro phones like an AKG C3000 do require phan tom power to operate A Although phantom power can be used safely with most microphones it is possible to damage some ribbon microphones with it Always turn off phantom power and wait at least ten seconds before connecting or disconnecting a ribbon microphone A When using phantom power Mbox 2 s maximum current per microphone is 4 mA If you are not sure about the phantom power re quirements for your microphone consult your microphone s documentation or contact the manufacturer Peak LEDs These LEDs are clip indicators If the Peak LEDs flicker occasionally the signal reaching Mbox 2 has clipped Gain Controls These knobs adjust the input gain levels of the Mic Line inputs P
75. pdates Chapter 4 Mac Configuration 21 Turning Off Energy Saver To turn off the Energy Saver feature 1 Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu and click Energy Saver 2 Click Sleep and do the following Set the computer sleep setting to Never e Set the display sleep setting to Never Deselect Put the hard disk s to sleep when possible option Setting Processor Performance Mac G5 Computers Only To set the Processor Performance 1 Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu and click Energy Saver 2 Click Options and set Processor Performance to Highest Disabling Spotlight Indexing The Mac OS X Spotlight feature indexes files and folders in the background affecting system per formance It is recommended that you disable Spotlight indexing before using Pro Tools To disable Spotlight indexing 1 Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu and click Spotlight 2 In the Spotlight window click Privacy 3 To prevent indexing of a drive drag its icon from the desktop into the list 22 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide Disabling the Spotlight Shortcuts The Mac OS X Spotlight feature uses the same key commands Pro Tools uses to start recording Command Spacebar and to record online Command Option Spacebar If you want to retain use of these key commands in Pro Tools these shortcuts must be disabled To disable the Spotlight keyboard shortcut 1 Choose System Preferences from the
76. per formed on a single partition since the heads only have to seek within the partition bound aries rather than the whole capacity of the drive Smaller partitions perform faster than larger par titions but this comes at the expense of contig uous storage space When you partition a drive you will need to find the compromise that best suits your performance and storage require ments A Avoid distributing audio files within a ses sion over different partitions on the same drive since this will adversely affect drive performance Defragmenting an Audio Drive Mac Systems When working with larger files such as video you can limit fragmentation by backing up your important files to another disk erasing the files from the original hard disk then copying the files back instead of doing a defragmentation Window Systems Periodically defragment audio drives to maintain system performance For maximum recording and playback effi ciency data should be written to your hard drive in a contiguous fashion minimizing the seek requirements to play back the data Unfor tunately your computer can t always store the sound files in this way and must write to disk wherever it can find space In multitrack recording audio tracks are written in discrete files spaced evenly across the disk While fragmentation of individual files may be zero the tracks may be far enough apart that playback will still be very seek intens
77. phone Output This LED indicates that Mbox 2 is using the Use the Headphone Output to connect stereo S PDIF inputs as the clock source See S PDIF headphones with a 1 4 inch stereo connector Digital I O on page 34 USB LED The USB LED indicates that the Mbox 2 has re ceived power from its USB connection Once the USB light is on audio can pass in or out of the system Chapter 5 Mbox 2 Hardware Overview 31 Headphone Level The headphone knob adjusts the output level of the Headphone port which outputs the signal that is routed to Outputs 1 2 in Pro Tools LE and mirrors the Line Outputs Monitor Level The Monitor knob adjusts the output level of the Line Out ports In Pro Tools this will be the signal routed to Outputs 1 2 Mix Ratio Control Mbox 2 gives you the ability to monitor your analog input signals while recording without the delay incurred by A D A converters and host based processing This zero latency analog monitoring is con trolled with the Mix knob which you can use to blend and adjust the monitor ratio between Mbox 2 analog inputs and Pro Tools playback The Mix knob has no effect when you are using S PDIF digital inputs since it controls the signal before it reaches the A D converters To listen to just the Source input signal turn the Mix knob fully left to Input To listen to Pro Tools output only turn the knob fully right to Playback The output from the Mix control is routed di
78. puter can do other Pro Tools tasks In most cases the DMA option will already be set correctly as Windows XP detects and activates DMA mode by default To enable DMA for any IDE hard drives 1 Choose Start gt Control Panel 2 In Classic View double click System 3 Click the Hardware tab 4 Under Device Manager choose Device Man ager 5 In the Device Manager window double click IDE ATA ATAPI controllers then double click the Primary IDE Channel for your IDE hard drive 6 Click the Advanced Settings tab 7 For each device set the Transfer Mode to DMA if available and click OK 8 Repeat steps 5 7 for any additional IDE Chan nels 9 Close the Computer Management window Disabling System Standby and Power Management When using Pro Tools the Windows System Standby power scheme must be set to Always On This helps prevent long record or playback passes from stopping due to system resources powering down 10 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide To configure Windows Power Management 1 Choose Start gt Control Panel 2 Double click Power Options 3 Click the Power Schemes tab 4 From the Power Schemes pop up menu select Always On 5 Click OK This sets System Standby System Hibernate and Turn off hard disks to Never Q On AMD processors be sure to check and disable Cool N Quiet in the System BIOS in the Cool amp Quiet Configuration section Refer to the manufacturer s documentation
79. puters with faster clock speeds yield higher track counts and more plug in processing System Requirements Mbox 2 can be used with a Digidesign qualified Windows or Mac computer running Pro Tools LE software For complete system requirements visit the Digidesign website www digidesign com Compatibility Information Digidesign can only assure compatibility and provide support for hardware and software it has tested and approved For a list of Digidesign qualified computers op erating systems hard drives and third party de vices refer to the latest compatibility informa tion on the Digidesign website www digidesign com MIDI Requirements Mbox 2 includes one MIDI In port and one MIDI Out port providing 16 channels of MIDI input and 16 channels of MIDI output If you require additional MIDI ports add a MIDI interface to your system USB MIDI interfaces work effectively with Pro Tools systems on Windows or Mac Serial MIDI interfaces are supported on Windows sys tems only A Only USB MIDI interfaces are compatible with Pro Tools systems for Mac OS X Modem to serial port adapters and serial MIDI devices are not supported For a list of supported adapters visit the Digi design website www digidesign com Hard Drive Requirements For optimal audio recording and playback all Pro Tools systems require one or more Digi design qualified drives For a list of Digidesign qualified hard drives visit
80. r de fault settings For details on New Session settings see the Pro Tools Reference Guide Name the session Folders Save in s AUDIO DRIVE FJ Oda lt gt Fle nane Sample Rate Bit Depth WAV v 44 1 kHz v O 16Bit Save as type Pro Tools Session ptf Session Parameters Audio File Type 1 0 Settings 3 24 Bit Stereo Mix v New Session dialog 5 Choose the audio drive where you want to save your session 6 Type a name for your session Chapter 7 Common Tasks with Pro Tools LE 45 7 Click Save To prepare an audio track for recording 1 Choose Track gt New 2 Specify 1 Mono Audio Track in Samples if your source is mono or 1 Stereo Audio Track in Samples if your source is stereo Creating a new Stereo Audio track 3 Click Create CY A mono instrument uses one input on the Mbox 2 and a stereo instrument uses two Creating a stereo track in Pro Tools will not make a mono instrument into a stereo in strument If a mono instrument is recorded on a stereo track one of the sides of the ste reo track will show no signal 4 Make sure the Mix window is open by choos ing Window Mix 5 In the Mix window click the Audio Input Path selector on the new track 6 From the pop up menu select the interface in put you want to record For example select Analog 1 if your audio source is plugged into an Input 1 connector on the Mbox 2 no input EG v carne b S PDIF L R St
81. rd MIDI and monitor audio from software and hardware instruments To record or playback tracks using MIDI data your Pro Tools system must be config ured for MIDI See Appendix A Configuring MIDI Studio Setup Windows Only or Appendix B Configuring AMS Mac OS X Only To create an Instrument track and configure it for recording 1 Choose Setup MIDI Input Devices and make sure your input device is selected in the MIDI Input Enable window and click OK 2 Choose Track New and specify 1 Mono In strument Track then click Create Lowe Creating a new Mono Instrument track 3 Select View gt Mix Window gt Instruments to display the MIDI controls for the Instrument track Ctri at m RR v Inserts Narrow Mix Mix Window n Window v Sends A E n sl Sends F J ree v Track Color Sends A E gt Comments Sends F J all Track Number None Showing the Instrument View in the Mix window 4 At the top of the Instrument track in the Mix window click the track s MIDI Input selector and assign the device and channel to be re corded or leave it set to All MIDI Input selector MIDI Input selector in an Instrument track 5 Do one of the following depending on the type of instrument you are using If you are using an instrument plug in click an Insert selector and insert the plug in on the Instrument track The track s MIDI output is automatically assigned to the instru
82. re and a Pro Tools demo session Q Check your Pro Tools Installer disc for addi tional software and installers Mbox 2 CoreAudio Driver The Mbox 2 CoreAudio Driver is a multi client multichannel sound driver that allows Core Audio compatible applications to record and play back through Digidesign hardware 24 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide The Mbox 2 CoreAudio Driver is installed by de fault when you install Pro Tools For information on configuring the Mbox 2 CoreAudio Driver see the Core Audio Drivers Guide Standalone Mbox 2 CoreAudio Driver The Mbox 2 CoreAudio Driver can be installed as a standalone driver on Mac systems that do not have Pro Tools software installed The standalone version of this driver is available on the Pro Tools Installer disc in the Additional Files Folder For information on installing and configur ing the standalone version of the Mbox 2 CoreAudio Driver see the CoreAudio Driv ers Guide Pro Tools Demo Session The Pro Tools Installer disc includes a separate demo session installer You can use this session to verify that your system is working To install the demo session 1 Insert the Pro Tools LE Installer disc in your CD DVD drive Locate and double click the demo session installer icon 2 Select your audio drive as the install location and click Install 3 When installation is complete click Quit Configuring Pro Tools LE Pro Tools System Settings Pro Tools
83. rectly to the TRS line outputs and is mirrored in the Headphone ports and S PDIF output ports This ability to blend and control the relative lev els of Pro Tools playback and latency free live analog inputs can be particularly effective when overdubbing 32 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide Mono Switch and LED The Mono switch sums the input channels to a mono signal delivering that identical signal to both speakers This has no effect on Pro Tools playback monitoring recording or on the main outputs Switching your stereo source signal to mono is useful when you are recording a mono input while listening to stereo playback to hear your playing in both sides or for checking the phase relationship of stereo inputs When en gaged the Mono LED lights Monitoring while Overdubbing By panning signals to the center or using the Mono switch as opposed to panning them hard left and right in the Headphone outputs you can create a more focused monitor mix to help minimize distractions while overdubbing In situations where you are monitoring stereo microphones stereo synthesizers or any source pairs with a comfortable balance you will prob ably not want to use the Mono switch Checking Phase Relationships The Mono switch can also be used for a quick check of the phase relationship between Source 1 and Source 2 inputs When the two input signals are out of phase pressing the Mono switch will result in a sudden hollow s
84. rocessing you want to allocate to Pro Tools 3 Click OK RTAS Engine RTAS Error Suppression The RTAS Engine option determines RTAS error reporting during playback and recording This is especially useful when working with instrument plug ins You should only enable RTAS error suppression if you are experiencing frequent RTAS errors that are interrupting your creative workflow When RTAS error suppression is enabled you can experience a degradation of audio quality However this may be acceptable in order to avoid interrupting playback and recording when working with instrument plug ins Be sure to disable RTAS error suppression when you need to ensure the highest possible audio qual ity such as for a final mix 16 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide There is one RTAS Engine option Ignore Errors During Playback Record When en abled Pro Tools continues to play and record even if the RTAS processing requirements ex ceed the selected CPU Usage Limit This can re sult in pops and clicks in the audio but does not stop the transport To enable RTAS error suppression 1 Choose Setup gt Playback Engine 2 Select Ignore Errors During Playback Record 3 Click OK DAE Playback Buffer Size The DAE Playback Buffer Size determines the amount of memory DAE allocates for disk buff ers The optimum DAE Playback Buffer Size for most disk operations is Level 2 DAE Playback Buffer Size settings lower than Level 2 may improv
85. s complete click Finish Chapter 3 Windows Configuration 13 Installing QuickTime QuickTime is required for Pro Tools if you plan to include movie files or import MP3 or MP4 AAC files in your sessions QuickTime for Win dows XP is available as a free download from the Apple website www apple com A For information on which version of Quick Time is compatible with your version of Pro Tools visit the compatibility pages of the Digidesign website www digidesign com To install QuickTime 1 Visit www apple com and go to the Quick Time page 2 Download the QuickTime installer applica tion to your computer 3 Double click the QuickTime installer applica tion and follow the on screen installation in structions 4 Restart your computer A If the USB LED on the front panel of the Mbox 2 does not illuminate after installa tion try unplugging the USB cable from the Mbox 2 USB port and plugging it back in If the USB LED still does not illuminate shut down the computer disconnect Mbox 2 and start the computer Once the computer has fully restarted reconnect Mbox 2 O The Pro Tools Installer disc includes addi tional software for your system For more information see Additional Software on the Pro Tools Installer Disc on page 18 14 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide Launching Pro Tools LE When launching Pro Tools LE the first time you are prompted to enter an authorization code To authorize Pro
86. sage Check to see if Pro Tools performance has increased before you deselect the Don t show this message again option If performance has not changed run msconfig and return your computer Selective Startup back to Normal Startup Alternatively try disabling Startup items and non essential processes individually Installing Pro Tools LE and Connecting Mbox 2 Windows will display several messages during installation that can be ignored in cluding multiple Found New Hardware dialogs and A Problem Occurred During Hardware Installation To install Pro Tools LE 1 Start Windows logging in with Administrator privileges For details on Administrator privi leges refer to your Windows documentation 2 Connect the small end of the included USB ca ble to the USB port on Mbox 2 A Mbox 2 may not function properly if con nected to a USB hub If you need to use a hub for other USB peripherals connect the hub to a separate USB port Mbox 2 must have a dedicated port in order to function properly 3 Connect the other end of the USB cable to any available USB port on your computer Wait for the Found New Hardware Wizard dialog to ap pear and leave it open Do not click Next 4 Insert the Pro Tools LE Installer disc for Win dows in your CD DVD drive 5 On the Installer disc locate and open the Pro Tools Installer folder 6 Double click the Setup icon 7 Follow the on screen instructions to proce
87. site www digidesign com Chapter 2 Welcome to Mbox 2 7 8 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide Windows Configuration This chapter contains information for Windows systems only If you are installing Pro Tools on a Mac computer see Chapter 4 Mac Configura tion A Before installing this version of Pro Tools refer to the Read Me information included on the Pro Tools LE Installer disc Installation Overview Installing the Mbox 2 on a Windows computer includes the following steps 1 Windows System Optimization on page 9 2 Installing Pro Tools LE and Connecting Mbox 2 on page 13 3 Launching Pro Tools LE on page 14 4 Configuring Pro Tools LE on page 14 5 Making audio and MIDI connections to the Mbox 2 See Chapter 6 Making Hardware Connections for details Windows System Optimization Before configuring your computer make sure you are logged in as an Administrator for the ac count where you want to install Pro Tools For details on Administrator privileges refer to your Windows documentation Required Optimizations To ensure optimum performance with Pro Tools LE configure the following settings before you install Pro Tools hardware and soft ware A When you are finished changing Windows system settings restart your computer Chapter 3 Windows Configuration 9 Enabling DMA Enabling your computer s DMA Direct Memory Access frees up CPU bandwidth so the com
88. t the microphone to the Mbox 2 to yield better results XLR connector 1 4 inch connector XLR and 1 4 inch connectors Phantom Power Some microphones require power to operate This power called phantom power is supplied ei ther by a battery in the microphone or through an audio interface such as Mbox 2 that can supply power through the microphone cable Most condenser microphones such as an AKG C3000 require phantom power to operate Dy namic microphones such as a Shure SM57 do not require phantom power to operate but are not harmed by it A Although phantom power can be used safely with most microphones it is possible to damage some ribbon microphones with it Always turn off phantom power and wait at least ten seconds before connecting a ribbon microphone The Mbox 2 can only supply power through a microphone cable with XLR connectors If you are not sure about the phantom power require ments for your microphone refer to your micro phone s documentation or contact the manu facturer Chapter 6 Making Hardware Connections 39 Using a Mic that Has an XLR Connector To use a microphone that has an XLR connector 1 Plug your microphone cable into one of the Mic inputs on the back of Mbox 2 Input 2 Mic input Input 1 Mic input XLR connector plugged into Input 1 2 Make sure nothing is plugged in to the Line TRS jack otherwise Mbox 2 will use audio from the Line TRS
89. the Digidesign website www digidesign com If you are using an ATA IDE or FireWire hard drive initialize your drive with Windows Disk Management Windows or the Disk Utility ap plication included with Apple System software Mac For more information see Appendix C Hard Drive Configuration and Maintenance Avoid Recording to the System Drive Recording to your system drive is not recom mended Recording and playback on a system drive may result in lower track counts and fewer plug ins Ay Digidesign does not recommend recording to the system drive Record to a system drive only when necessary Chapter 2 Welcome to Mbox2 5 Digidesign Registration Review the enclosed Digidesign Registration In formation Card and follow the instructions on it to quickly register your purchase online Regis tering your purchase is the only way you can be eligible to receive complimentary technical sup port and future upgrade offers It is one of the most important steps you can take as a new user About the Pro Tools Guides This Getting Started guide explains how to in stall Pro Tools LE software make basic connec tions to your Mbox 2 interface to get sound in and out of your interface and do common tasks such as recording in Pro Tools In addition to any printed guides or documenta tion included with your system PDF versions of Pro Tools guides and Read Mes are installed au tomatically with Pro Tools The main gu
90. uffer Size The DAE Playback Buffer Size determines the amount of memory DAE allocates for disk buff ers The optimum DAE Playback Buffer Size for most disk operations is Level 2 DAE Playback Buffer Size settings lower than Level 2 may improve playback and recording initiation speed but may make it difficult to play or record tracks reliably with sessions con taining a large number of tracks or a high den sity of edits or with systems that have slower or heavily fragmented hard drives DAE Playback Buffer Size settings higher than Level 2 will allow for a higher density of edits in a session or a higher track count when using slower hard drives However a higher setting can also cause a time lag to occur when starting playback or recording or longer audible time lag while editing during playback y Using a larger DAE Playback Buffer Size leaves less system memory for other tasks The default setting of Level 2 is recom mended unless you are encountering 9073 Disk too slow or fragmented errors To change the DAE Playback Buffer Size 1 Choose Setup Playback Engine 2 From the DAE Playback Buffer pop up menu select a buffer size 3 Click OK Pro Tools Hardware Settings Pro Tools lets you set the default sample rate and clock source for your system Default Sample Rate The Sample Rate setting appears as the default sample rate when you create a new session This setting is available in the Har
91. ument will not appear as a choice in a MIDI Output selector Send Channels The Send Channels grid sets the send channels for the MIDI device specified in the Instrument Name field Receive Channels The Receive Channels grid sets the receive chan nels for the MIDI device specified in the Instru ment Name field MIDI Patch Name Support Pro Tools supports XML Extensible Markup Language for storing and importing patch names for your external MIDI devices Pro Tools installs MIDI patch name files midnam for the factory default patch names of many common MIDI devices These files reside in directories sorted by manufacturer in Program Files Common Files Digidesign MIDI Patch Names Digidesign To import MIDI patch names into Pro Tools 1 Verify the MIDI Device name in the MIDI Stu dio Setup window see MIDI Studio Setup on page 55 2 Verify the MIDI track s output is correctly as signed to the MIDI device Appendix A Configuring MIDI Studio Setup Windows Only 57 3 Click the MIDI track s Patch Select button Patch Select button Patch Select button Mix window 4 In the Patch Select dialog click the Change button wuzustu ETETE a lt ur ux Dineramerd Patch Every 3 Sec Change button Patch Select dialog 5 In the Open dialog navigate to Program Files Common Files Digidesign MIDI Patch Names Digidesign lt name of manufacturer
92. urn the Mix con trol fully left to Input 4 On the front of the Mbox 2 carefully turn the Gain control to the right to increase the input level of your guitar w When you record a guitar or any mono in strument that uses only one source input you will hear the sound in only one side of the stereo field Pushing the mono button on the front of the Mbox 2 brings the sound from one side of the stereo field to both sides The Mono switch does not affect the audio being recorded It only affects how you hear your input to the Mbox 2 42 Mbox 2 Getting Started Guide Connecting Keyboards and Mixers To use a keyboard or mixer with Mbox 2 1 Plug your keyboard mixer or other audio source into either the Input 1 or Input 2 Line TRS inputs on your Mbox 2 If your source is stereo such as a stereo keyboard or the stereo output from a mixer connect the left channel often the white plug to Input 1 and right channel often the red plug to Input 2 Input 2 right channel Input 1 left channel Mbox 2 connections for line level stereo input source If your keyboard has unbalanced outputs use the Mbox 2 s DI inputs Refer to your keyboard s documentation 2 On the front of the Mbox 2 set the source to Line by pressing the Source selector until the Line LED is lit 3 On the front of the Mbox 2 turn the Mix con trol fully left to Input Mix control Mic DI selector Input 1 Gai
93. wn the system hard drive can affect Pro Tools perfor mance These features should be turned off Before You Call Digidesign Technical Support Register Your System Register your purchase immediately after re viewing the Digidesign Registration Informa tion Card included with every Pro Tools system Registering your purchase is the only way you become eligible to receive complimentary tech nical support and future upgrade offers Regis tering is one of the most important steps to complete as a new user Use Digidesign Resources In addition to the printed and PDF versions of Pro Tools guides your system includes the fol lowing sources of information Read Me Files These contain late breaking in formation and known issues pertaining to Pro Tools software and hardware configura tions Read Me files are installed in Documenta tion folder when you install Pro Tools Answerbase This is a database of common prob lems and DAE errors and their solutions based on the latest information from Digidesign Tech nical Support This database is installed in the Digidesign folder when you install Pro Tools Answerbase is also available on the Digidesign website www digidesign com Website www digidesign com This is your best online source for information to help you get the most out of your Pro Tools system Gather Important Information Digidesign wants to help you resolve problems as quickly and efficiently as possible I

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