The Avid MBox 3 is a 4 channel USB interface that has 2 solid quality microphone preamps built into it and it comes with Pro Tools express . You can use the Avid MBox 3 almost any DAW that has come out over the years. The Avid MBox 3 is very versatile and well made. It is easy to install and get running. Since it is a smaller interface you cannot rack it, it is a simple but good desktop recording interface. It has phantom power on it a total of 4 inputs and 2 outputs. UTILIZATION Avid MBox 3 is a built in guitar tuner and a built in soft clipper, the soft clipper comes in handy when you are recording from a external device and the audio might be way to loud. The Avid MBox 3 does not plug into a wall outlet, all power is provided via USB. The price of the Avid MBox 3 is around 500 dollars which is a good price considering the fact that it does come with a copy of Pro Tools Express. Or if you already have the full version of Pro Tools then you can use the Avid MBox 3 with that. The drivers are very stable and I have not received an update for them yet and I don’t think I will need to update on this system because everything seems to be working great. GETTING STARTED The manual is clear and easy to understand if you need it. But for just the interface you won’t need a manual. All of the main and basic functions of the Avid MBox 3 work great and have never gave me any problems. OVERALL OPINION I have used several similar interfaces to the Avid MBox 3, most of them all work great and so does the Avid MBox 3. It will be great for your first interface, but if you need something with better preamps you will need to invest more money.
The Mbox 3 Mini is a mid level, high quality 2x2 audio recording interface for musicians. It's got a very compact and accessible design, and is really easy to use. The computer I run this on is a current gen i7 3570k with an AsRock mother board, 16 gigabytes of ram and an ATI 7850 graphics card. This thing runs like a charm, and I've never had any latency issues with it or anything. The sound quality is very high, especially considering the price, and the build is phenomenal. The Mbox 3 mini features 2 x 2 Simultaneous channels of I/O, one XLR mic/line combo inputs with professional-grade mic preamps and 48V phantom power, two 1/4" DI inputs on front panel for easy access, two balanced 1/4" monitor outputs, one 1/4" stereo headphone output with volume control, a mix control for low-latency monitoring and a dedicated monitor volume knob. UTILIZATION The drivers are completely stable, and always up to date and working perfectly. It records 2 tracks simultaneously with no problems whatsoever, and I've never had an issue with latency. I usually run it into Steinberg's Cubase 5 software, but I've used it with the same level of success with Avid's Protools, Ableton's Live and Apple's Logic Pro. Even with a high number of tracks running and audio effects and processing, I've yet to encounter any issues with lockups or latency. So far the performance has been phenomenal. GETTING STARTED Installation was simple and easy. All I had to do was connect the device and install the drivers. Previous versions of the Mbox had issues working in DAW's besides Protools, but this one works in everything I've thrown at it so far. Ableton, Cubase, Logic, whatever, this thing works like a charm. Plus it barely takes up any real estate in my workspace. OVERALL OPINION Overall, the Mbox 3 mini is a great piece of work. Going back, I definitely would have bought it again, in fact I would've bought two knowing what I know. The price is decent and the product is great, and that's the bottom line.
