Digidesign Digi 002 Rack

I have used both the DigiDesign 002 Rack as well as the actual console model. There are some small differences between the two. Mainly just that the rack doesn’t have the mixing sliders on it (because there is no room) but that doesn’t mean that the 002 Rack isn’t good. The great thing about this interface is that it is affordable, there are not many interfaces that are great with PC or with MAC that run on Fire wire and are made for pro tools. It is like having a real full professional studio right in your house. With the 8 channels that are balanced analog and also 8 of ADAT optical I/O you cant go wrong. On the DigiDesign 002 Rack there are 4 mic preamps with 48V phantom power, there is also some midi ports as well, I cant remember exactly how many there are though but there are well more than the average home musician needs.


UTILIZATION

When you purchase DigiDesign 002 Rack it will come with Pro Tools LE (if I remember correctly). Since this rack is pretty much made for Pro Tools it makes it really easy to configure and to set it up and start using it right away. If you are new to Pro Tools then that’s where the trouble will come in. Pro Tools is not easy to understand right away, it will take some time. But the DigiDesign 002 Rack will cause you no problems setting it up. The latency is almost 0 and the drivers are very stable, I don’t think I have every had any updates for it though. I used it on a Quad Core PC and also with a Mac Book.


GETTING STARTED

The manual isn’t the easiest thing in the world to understand, but you can get through it if you need to use it.


OVERALL OPINION

My favorite thing about the DigiDesign 002 rack is that its like having a major studio right in the privacy of your own home, and it’s a great tool to understand how things will work in the major studio. I do suggest getting the actual 002 Digital Mixing Console (board) over the rack though, it will come in handy later down the road.

I have used the DigiDesign 002 Rack in a few different studio’s and I must say that its amazing! I wish I could have this at my house! Its an amazing audio interface with all of the ins/outs you need to have a powerful session.


UTILIZATION

It seems pretty simple to run, they had it in pro tools in the studio that I was in. I am very familiar with pro tools so it was simple. I am not too sure if you can use it on a different DAW though. Digidesign does create other audio interfaces that can be used on several platforms though. But the whole time we were using it, we had no lag/latency. Well there is no such that as 0 latency , but you would think the DigiDesign 002 Rack had 0 latency with how well it worked! Probably the best interface of I have every worked on. It didn’t crash on us or anything. We had absolutely zero problems with it, for the few hours we were using it.


GETTING STARTED

Getting started with it wasn’t hard at all , as I said before I am really good with pro tools. But with a newbie it could be an issue getting started. But I am sure the manual will clear up any questions or concerns you might have. It does allow you to run several tracks at once, so if you are running this on a mac with a lot of ram you will be good to go! Very powerful tool right here!


OVERALL OPINION

Overall, I say if you can afford this unit buy it now! You probably wont find anything better on the market that can fit in your rack at home. This unit is used in major studios all across the world, and after using it I See why. No complaints at all with this one! Buy it!

Four channels, 24-bit at up to 96kHz sample rate support. Analog, digital, and MIDI capabilities with dedicated monitor and headphone outputs. The unit can supply phantom power if need be.

I ran it into an ancient mac book and used the version of protools that came with it. Worked great.

UTILIZATION

This unit is (i think) discontinued, which means no more driver updates. I had no issues with the unit crashing or freezing, so no updates were needed.

There was some latency, but the unit allows you to directly monitor the signal (with the monitor and headphone outs) which means latency is a moot point.

I never used it with anything besides the version of protools it came with, which worked flawlessly.

It allows you to record 4 tracks simultaneously. I only ever did it with 2. I had no issues what so ever.



GETTING STARTED

The only issue I ever had with it was when it came to MIDI. I tried to use it to program my FCB1010, however the 002 rack wouldn't recognize it. Its was just a compatibility issue between the two units, the MIDI worked fine when it came to anything else.

I never had a need to consult the manual, so I cannot comment.

As for the setup, it was really simple. Simple enough that I did not need the manual.

Everything is clearly laid out and clearly labeled, so its really easy to find and access all the functions.

OVERALL OPINION

Besides the lone MIDI issue there is not much to complain about, the built in mic preamps sound great, its really easy to setup and use, and its runs flawlessly.

I used this unit on lone from a friend, and as great as it is I can't really see paying full price for it. Its an excellent unit, but not $1200 excellent. I'd much rather pickup a Makie onyx board or some other equivalent unit for half that price.

I only use this interface with ProTools LE, simply because I prefer that program. I use it with my MacBook Pro and it works well. Since I mostly record with it at home it serves every purpose I've ever needed. If I need to use a lot of mics I prefer to go to a studio. I tend to stick to guitars and vocals, as well as rough demos for my band. For these ends, it's great. The interface isn't great but it works fine. It is capable of running up to 16 tracks simultaneously. There are four built-in preamps that are pretty solid.

UTILIZATION

This interface works pretty well. It's compatible with Pro Tools and it doesn't cause my computer any problems. Everything tends to be pretty stable. The only problem occurs with the Pro Tools software, not this interface. The manual is pretty easy to read, too, in case it's too confusing, though it shouldn't be.

GETTING STARTED

There haven't been any compatibility issues for me, but then again my setup for it isn't particularly exhaustive. I only have ProTools on my Mac. I can't speak to how well it works with a PC, but from what I hear, anything and everything is more difficult to use with a PC when you're dealing with ProTools, so I doubt this would be any different. Every function that the interface can handle is accessible and easy to use. They are also identified pretty easily, which is good for me since I use larger boards in a studio.

OVERALL OPINION

The sound of this interface is pretty good. It's not incredible, but not many of its kind are. The price of this interface is really fair and reasonable. I have slowly upgraded my interfaces, and haven't tried any that are around this price range other than this one. However, at this point, this model more than serves my purposes.