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Digidesign
2001 Junipero Serra Boulevard
Daly City, CA 94014-3886 USA
tel: 6507316300
fax: 6507316399
Technical Support (USA)
tel: 6507316100
fax: 6507316384
Product Information (USA)
tel: 6507316102
tel: 8003332137
International Offices
Visit the Digidesign Web site
for contact information
Web Site
www.digidesign.com
Getting Started with MboxVersion 6.1 for LE Systems on Windows XP and Mac OS X
Version 5.3.3 for LE Systems on Windows XP
Version 5.2.1 for LE Systems on Mac OS 9
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Copyright
This guide is copyrighted 2003 by Digidesign, a division ofAvid Technology, Inc. (hereafter Digidesign), with all rights
reserved. Under copyright laws, this guide may not beduplicated in whole or in part without the written consent ofDigidesign.
DIGIDESIGN, AVID and PRO TOOLS are trademarks orregistered trademarks of Digidesign and/or Avid Technology,Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respectiveowners.
All features and specifications subject to change withoutnotice.
PN 932011595-00 REV A 06/03
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
complies with Part 15 of FCC Rules.
Current Consumption 500mA
Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) thisdevice may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this devicemust accept any interference received, including interferencethat may cause undesired operation.
NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to complywith the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide
reasonable protection against harmful interference in aresidential installation. This equipment generates, uses, andcan radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed andused in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmfulinterference to radio communications. However, there is noguarantee that interference will not occur in a particularinstallation.
If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio ortelevision reception, which can be determined by turning theequipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try and correctthe 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.
Any modifications to the unit, unless expressly approved byDigidesign, could void the user's authority to operate theequipment.
Canadian Compliance Statement:
This Class B digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES-003.
Cet appareil numrique de la classe B est conforme la normeNMB-003 du Canada.
Australian Compliance
European Compliance
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Contents iii
contents
Chapter 1. Welcome to Mbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Mbox Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Pro Tools LE Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Digidesign Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
About the Pro Tools Guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
About www.digidesign.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Chapter 2. Windows Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Windows System Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Hard Drive Configuration and Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Installing Pro Tools LE and Mbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Installing Optional Software for Pro Tools LE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Launching Pro Tools LE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Configuring Pro Tools LE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Chapter 3. Macintosh Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Apple System Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Hard Drive Configuration and Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Installing Pro Tools LE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Installing OMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Installing the Demo Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Connecting Mbox to the Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Launching Pro Tools LE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Configuring Pro Tools LE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Chapter 4. Connecting Your Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Mbox Front Panel Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Mbox Rear Panel Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
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Getting Started with Mboxiv
Making Signal Connections to Mbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Connecting a Recorder for Mixdowns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
MIDI Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Chapter 5. Working with Pro Tools LE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Session Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Transport Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Navigating a Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Regions Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Importing Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Basic Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Plug-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Mix Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Final Mixdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Appendix A. Windows System Optimizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Advanced Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Appendix B. Configuring AMS (Mac OS X Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Appendix C. Digidesign ASIO Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Installing the ASIO Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Changing ASIO Driver Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Appendix D. Configuring OMS (Mac OS 9 Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Appendix E. Digidesign Control Panel (Mac OS 9 Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
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Chapter 1: Welcome to Mbox 1
chapter 1
Welcome to Mbox
Welcom e to Mb ox, Digidesign s portablePro Tools m icro-studio, d esigned in collabora-
tion with Focusrite.
Mbox provides your USB-equipped computer
with t wo chan n els of analog and digital audio
inpu t and outp ut, em ployin g profession al-qual-
ity mic preamps and 24-bit analog-to-digital
and digital-to-analog converters.
The Mbox p ackage includes th e following:
Mbox desktop audio interface
Installer CD-ROM con taining Pro Tools LE
softw are, DigiRack RTAS (Real-Time Aud io-
Suite) an d AudioSuite p lug-ins, an d electron ic
PDF guid es
Th is Getting Started with MboxGuide, which in-
cludes instructions for installing and config-
uring Mbox, an d an introduction to
Pro Tools LE software
USB conn ector cable
Digidesign registration card
Mbox Features
Th e Mbox d esktop au dio int erface provides the
following:
2 analog audio inp uts with Focusrite micro-
ph one pream ps and switchable 48V phan tom
power
Analog inp ut jacks accept both XLR and 1/4-
inch (TRS) conn ectors, an d are switchable be-
tween Mic, Line, and Instrument levels
2 chann els of S/PDIF digital inp ut an d outpu t
2 ana log moni to r ou tput s
24-bit A/D an d D/A con verters, supporting
samp le rates of 44.1 kHz and 4 8 kHz
Zero-latency analog record m onitoring with
adjustable balance between inp ut an d play-
back
Mono switch for summ ing the input s ignal
with th e mon itor m ix
Analog 1/4-inch TRS insert on each inp ut 1 /4 -in ch (TRS) or 1/8-inch stereo headphone
outp ut with adjustable level control
USB-powered operation
Mbox will not function properly if connected
to a USB hub. If you need to use a hub for
other USB peripherals, use a separate USBport; Mbox must have a dedicated port in or-
der to function properly.
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Getting Started with Mbox2
Pro Tools LE Capabilities
Pro Too ls LE software pro vides th e followin g ca-
pabilities with Mbox:
Pro Tools LE 6.1
Play back up to 32 m ono digita l audio
tracks, and play back up to 30 tracks wh ile
recording up to 2 t racks, depend ing on
your com pu ters capabilities
Sessions can include up to 128 audio tracks(with 32 voiceable tracks maximum), 256
MIDI tracks, 128 Auxiliary Input tracks,
an d 64 Master Fader tracks.
Pro Tools LE 5.3.3 (Windows Only)
Play back up to 32 m ono digita l audio
tracks, and play back up to 30 tracks wh ilerecording up to 2 t racks, depend ing on
your com pu ters capabilities
Sessions can include up to 32 audio tracks,
128 M IDI tracks, 64 Auxiliary Inp ut tracks,
an d 64 Master Fader tracks.
Pro Tools LE 5.2.1
Play back up to 24 m ono digi ta l audio
tracks, and play back up t o 22 tracks while
recording up t o 2 tracks depen ding on yourcom pu ters capabilities. See th e Digidesign
Web site for inform ation on 32 track capa-
bility with Pro Too ls LE 5.2.1 (www.d igide-
sign.com/compato) .
Sessions can include up to 32 audio tracks,
128 MIDI tracks, 64 Auxiliary Inp ut tracks,
an d 6 4 Master Fader tracks.
All Systems
16-bit or 24-bit audio resolution, at sam ple
rates up to 48 kHz
Nonlinear, random -access edit ing and m ix au-
tomation
Audio p rocessing with up to 5 RTAS plug-ins
per track, depend ing on your com put ers ca-
pabilities
Up to 5 inserts and 5 send s per track
Up to 16 in ternal mix busses
Pro Tools LE uses your computers CPU to
mix and process audio tracks (host process-
ing). Computers with faster clock speeds
yield higher track counts and more plug-in
processing.
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Chapter 1: Welcome to Mbox 3
System Requirements
Mbox can be used with a Digidesign -qualified
Windows or Macintosh computer runn ingPro Tools LE software.
Digidesign can on ly assure com patibility and
provide support for hardware an d software it
h as tested an d ap proved. For a list of Digidesign-
qualified computers, operating systems, hard
drives, an d t h ird-party devices, refer to t h e latest
comp atibility inform ation on th e Digidesign
Web site (www.digidesign.com/compato).
Hard Drive Configuration and
Maintenance
It is recom m ended t h at you start with a n ewly
initialized aud io drive. You shou ld also periodi-
cally defragm ent your audio drive to ensure
contin ued system perform ance.
For a list of qualified hard drives and SCSI host
bus adap ters, visit th e Digidesign Web site
(www.digidesign.com/compato).
Avoid Recording to System Drives
Alth ough Pro Tools LE will let you record to
your system d rive, th is is generally not recom-
m ended. Recording an d playback on system
h ard drives results in lower track cou n ts and
fewer plug-ins.
Hard Drive Storage Space
Mono audio tracks recorded with 16-bit resolu-
tion at 44.1 kHz (CD qu ality) require appro xi-
m ately 5 MB of hard d isk space per m inu te.
The same tracks recorded with 24-bit resolution
require about 7.5 MB per m inu te. Table 2 liststh e required d rive space for certain track num -
bers and track len gths, to h elp you estimate
your h ard disk usage.
Table 2. Required hard drive space for audio tracks
Number of tracks and length 16-bit at
44.1 kHz
16-bit at
48 kHz
24-bit at
44.1 kHz
24-bit at
48 kHz
1 mono track, 1 minute 5 MB 5.5 MB 7.5 MB 8.2 MB
1 stereo track (or two mono
tracks), 5 minutes
50 MB 55 MB 75 MB 83 MB
1 stereo track (or two mono
tracks), 60 minutes
600 MB 662 MB 900 MB 991 MB
24 mono tracks, 5 minutes 600 MB 662 MB 900 MB 991 MB
24 mono tracks, 60 minutes 7 GB 7.8 GB 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
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Getting Started with Mbox4
Digidesign Registration
Make sure to comp lete an d return th e registra-
tion card in cluded with your Pro Tools Mboxsystem . Registered users will receive perio dic
software up date an d up grade no tices. Refer to
th e registration card for in form ation on techn i-
cal supp ort.
About the Pro Tools GuidesThis Getting Started with MboxGuide explains
h ow to install and use Mbox to record, edit, and
mix audio and MIDI tracks in Pro Tools LE. For
additional information , see the following on -
line guid es:
Pro Tools Reference Guide
explain s Pro Too ls LE
software in detail.
DigiRack Plug-Ins Guide explains ho w to u se
the RTAS and AudioSuite plug-ins included
with Pro Tools LE.
MIDI Control Surfaces Guide covers th e use of
MIDI con trol surfaces (such as MotorMix
from CM Labs) with Pro Too ls LE.
Keyboard Shortcuts lists keyboard sh ortcut s for
Pro Tools LE.
PDF versions of the Pro Tools guides are in-
stalled aut om atically with Pro Tools LE, and are
accessible from th e Pro Tools men u (Mac OS X)
or th e Pro Tools Help m enu (Windows XP and
Mac O S 9). To view or p rint th e PDF guides, you
can in stall Acrobat Reader (includ ed on th e
Pro Tools LE Installer CD-ROM).
Conventions Used in This Guide
Digidesign guides use th e followin g conven -
tions to ind icate men u cho ices and key com-
mands ::
Th e followin g sym bols are used to h igh light im-
portant information:.
Printed copies of the Pro Tools LE Manual
set (including the Pro Tools Reference
Guide) can be purchased separately from
the DigiStore (www.digidesign.com).
Convention Action
File > Save Session Choose Save Session from
the File menu
Control+N Hold down the Control key
and press the Nkey
Control-click Hold down the Control key
and click the mouse button
Right-click (Windows) Click with the right mouse
button
User Tips are helpful hints for getting the
most from your system.
Important Notices include information that
could affect your data or the performance of
your system.
Shortcuts show you useful keyboard or
mouse shortcuts.
Cross References point to related sections in
other Digidesign guides.
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Chapter 1: Welcome to Mbox 5
About www.digidesign.com
The Digidesign Web site (www.digidesign.com )
is your best source for inform ation to h elp youget th e mo st out o f you r Pro Tools system . Th e
followin g are just a few of th e services and fea-
tures available.
Support Con tact Digidesign Techn ical Sup port
or Custom er Service; down load software up-
dates and th e latest on lin e m anu als; browse th e
Com patibility docum ents for system require-
m ents; search th e on lin e An swerbase; join th e
worldwide Pro Tools com m un ity on th e Digide-
sign User Con feren ce.
Training and Education Becom e a certified
Pro Tools Operator or Expert; stu dy on your
own using courses available on line, or find out
h ow you can learn in a classroom setting at a
certified Pro Tools Trainin g Cen ter.
Products and Developers Learn abou t Digidesign
produ cts; down load dem o software; learn about
our Developm ent Partners and th eir plug-ins,
applications, and h ardware.
News and Events Get th e latest n ews from
Digidesign ; sign u p for a Pro Tools dem o.
To learn m ore about th ese and oth er resources
available from Digidesign , visit ou r W eb site
(www.digidesign.com).
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Getting Started with Mbox6
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Getting Started with Mbox8
Enable DMA for any IDE hard drives:
1 Righ t-click My Com put er and choose Man-
age.
2 In Classic view, cho ose Start > Con trol Pan el >
System > Hardware.
or
In Cat egory view, ch oose Start > Con trol pan el >
Perform an ce an d Maint en an ce > System > Hard-
ware.
3 Un der System Tools, cho ose Device Man ager.
4 In th e Device Manager wind ow, doub le-click
IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers, then double-click
th e Primary IDE Ch an n el for your IDE h ard
drive.
5 Click th e Advan ced Settin gs tab.
6 For each device, set th e Tran sfer Mode t o
DMA if available, an d click OK.
In m ost cases, this will already be set correctly as
Win dow s XP will detect an d activate DMA
m ode by default.
7 Repeat steps 46 for any ad dition al IDE Ch an -
nels.
8 Close the Computer Management window.
Disable Virus Protection Software
Avoid running virus protection software while
using Mbox sin ce it adversely affects system per-
form an ce (as do all backgroun d p rocesses). If
you are u sin g virus prot ection software, you
m ust turn it off or remove it and restart your
computer.
Disable System Standby and Power
Management
Wh en u sin g Pro Tools, th e Win dows System
Stan dby po wer schem e mu st be set to Always
On. This helps prevent long record or playback
passes from stop pin g due to system resources
powering down .
To configure Windows Power Management:
1 Ch oose Start > Con trol Panel.
2 In Classic View, double-click the Power Op-
tions Con trol Pan el, th en click th e Power
Schem es tab.
or
In Category view, click Performan ce and Main-
tenan ce, th en click Power Opt ions, then click
th e Power Schem e tab.
3 From th e Power Schem es pop -up m en u, select
Always On.
4 Click O K.
This sets System Stan dby, System Hibernat e,
an d Turn o ff h ard disks to Never.
Disable ClearType Font Smoothing
Wh en using Pro Tools, th e Effects Clear Type
setting must be disabled.
To disable ClearType font smoothing:
1 Ch oose Start > Con trol Panel.
2 In Classic view, dou ble-click Display.
or
In Cat egory view, click App earance an d Th em es,
th en click Display.
3 Click th e App earance tab.
4 Click Effects.
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Chapter 2: Windows Configuration 9
5 Deselect Use th e following m eth ods to
smooth edges of screen fonts.
6 Click OK to save your settin gs and close th e
Effects dialog.
7 Click O K.
Completing Windows System Settings
Recommended Configuration
Pro Tools LE can also be affected by other soft-
ware and h ardware drivers installed o n your
com pu ter. For best possible performan ce, it is
recomm ended (but n ot required) that you: Avoid runn ing other Windows programs a t
the same time as Pro Tools LE.
Turn off any software uti li t ies that run in
th e background , such as Windows Messen -
ger, calend ars, and disk m ainten ance pro-
grams.
Turn off any n on essen tial USB deviceswh ile usin g Mbox
If your video display card supports i t , en-
able Bus Masterin g in th e m an ufacturers
Con trol Panel.
Disable any n etworking cards (other than
any 1394 FireWire card th at you m igh t
use to conn ect an external drive to yoursystem).
Hard Drive Configuration andMaintenance
Formatting an Audio Drive
On Wind ows, it is recom m ended th at you start
with n ewly formatted drives dedicated for au-
dio. For opt imu m perform ance, audio drives
shou ld be form atted with th e FAT32 or NTFS file
system.
To format and configure an audio drive:
1 Righ t-click My Com put er and choose Man-
age.
2 Under Storage, choose Disk Management.
3 In the Disk Management window, right-click
th e h ard drive you will use for audio an d ch oose
Format.
4 For op tim al disk perform an ce, select 32K from
th e Allocation u n it size pu ll-dow n . Th is in-
creases how efficien tly audio d ata is written to
and read from th e drive.
5 Make sure th e Quick Form at opt ion is dese-
lected, th en click Start, an d follow th e on -screen
instructions.
6 Wh en formatting is comp lete, close the For-
m at wind ow.
Audio Drives and Disk Cleanup
The process of recordin g, editin g, and d eleting
tracks and session s can qu ickly decrease overall
drive performan ce. It is suggested th at you regu-
larly use Disk Cleanu p (or an eq uivalent u tility)
to asses th e con dition of drives an d, if necessary,
delete tem porary files and oth er un used data.
When finished updating required Windows
system settings, power down your com-
puter.
For information on disabling networking
cards, see Disabling Network Cards on
page 59.
Pro Tools only supports Basic drive Types.
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Getting Started with Mbox10
To use Disk Cleanup:
1 Ch oose Start > Con trol Panels.
2 In Classic view, double-click Administrative
Tools.
or
In Cat egory View, click Perform an ce and Main-
ten an ce, th en click Adm inistrative Tools.
3 Select Com put er Managemen t, th en select
Storage.
4 Cho ose Disk Managemen t.
5 Select th e desired volum e in th e list, th en
cho ose File > Opt ion s.
Disk Cleanu p d etermines ho w perform ance is
being affected by drive con dition , and lets you
review and d elete temp orary an d oth er unn eces-sary files from th e selected volu m e. For m ore in-
formation on usin g Disk Cleanu p, see your Win -
dows XP documentation.
Defragmenting an Audio Drive
Periodically defragmentaudio drives to m aintain
system perform ance.
To defragment an audio drive:
1 Righ t-click My Com put er and choose Man-
age.
2 Un der Storage, cho ose Disk Defragm ent er.
3 In th e Disk Defragm enter wind ow, ch oose thedrive you wan t to defragmen t
4 Click the Defragm ent bu tton and follow the
on-screen instructions.
5 Wh en defragmen ting is com plete, close the
Comp uter Management W indow.
Avoid Recording to System Drives
Alth ou gh Pro Tools will let you record t o you r
system drive, this is generally not recom -
m ended. Recording an d playback on systemh ard drives results in lower track cou n ts and
fewer plu g-ins. You shou ld record to system
drives on ly when n ecessary (for examp le, if your
comp uter system h as just on e hard d rive).
Installing Pro Tools LE andMbox
To install Pro Tools LE on Windows:
1 Make sure you h ave configured all the re-
quired Win dows system settings, and rebooted
your com pu ter. SeeWind ows System Settin gs
on page 7 for more information.
2 Start up Windows, logging in with Adminis-
trator p rivileges. If you do n ot h ave Adm inistra-
tor privileges or do n ot kn ow h ow to set th em
up , see your W ind ows Users Guide.
3 Con n ect th e small en d of th e included USB ca-
ble to th e USB port on Mbox.
4 Con n ect th e oth er en d of th e USB cable to an y
available USB port on your com pu ter. Wait for
th e Foun d New Hardware Wizard dialog to ap-
pear and leave it op en: Do n ot p ress Next.
5 Insert the Pro Tools Installer CD-ROM for
Win dows in your CD-ROM d rive. Locate an d
open th e Pro Tools In staller folder, and d oub le-
click the Setup icon.
Mbox may not function properly if con-
nected to a USB hub. If you need to use ahub for other USB peripherals, connect the
hub to a separate USB port; Mbox must
have a dedicated port in order to function
properly.
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Chapter 2: Windows Configuration 11
6 Click Next to begin in stallation .
7 Select the com pon ents you wan t to in stall and
click Next.
8 Wait for th e installer to fin ish in stalling all
software com pon en ts, drivers, an d PACE System
files before proceeding to the next step.
9 Click Quit when prom pted to install Quick-
Tim e (you will in stall QuickTime later).
10 Restart your computer.
Installing QuickTime
Qu ickTim e 5 or later is requ ired for video play-
back with Pro Tools LE if you plan to in clude
m ovie files in your session s. In stalling t h e latest
version of QuickTim e for Wind ows is h ighly rec-
om m en ded (available from www.app le.com ). Be
sure to install the Recomm ended install of
Qu ickTim e or Pro Tools will n ot h an dle Quick-
Tim e video correctly.
To install QuickTime:
1 Locate th e QuickTim e In staller on yo ur
Pro Too ls LE In staller CD-ROM (locat ed in th e
Add ition al Files folder). Follow th e on -screen in -
structions to comp lete th e QuickTime in stalla-
tion process.
2 Wh en in stallation is com plete, click Finish t o
restart you r com pu ter. See In stallin g Op tional
Softwar e for Pro Tools LE on page 1 2.
Updating Mbox Firmware
Firmw are version 2.0 or later is requ ired to u se
Mbox on Wind ows XP.
To Update the firmware on Mbox:
1 Make sure Pro Tools is installed an d t h e Mbox
is conn ected to th e com put er.
2 Dou ble-click on MboxFirm wareUpdater.exe.
In Local Disk (C):\ Program Files\ Digidesign \
Pro Too ls\ Pro Too ls Utilities.)
3 To check the firmware version currently on
Mbox, click th e Start butt on in t h e Mbox Firm-
ware Update window.
4 To up date th e firmware version on th e Mbox,
click th e Start but ton in t h e Mbox Firmware Up-
date window.
If you get a warning dialog about the driver
not passing Windows Logo testing, click
Continue Anyway.
If the USB LED on the front panel of the
Mbox does not illuminate after installation,
try unplugging the USB cable from the
Mbox USB port, and plugging it back in. If
the USB LED still does not illuminate, shut
down the computer, disconnect Mbox and
start the computer. Once the computer has
fully restarted, reconnect Mbox.
If your computer does not start up after in-stalling QuickTime, use Add/Remove Pro-
grams to remove Pro Tools LE and Quick-
Time, then repeat the installation process in
Installing Pro Tools LE and Mbox on
page 10.
If your computer wont startup after install-
ing QuickTime, use Add/Remove Programs
to remove Pro Tools LE and QuickTime,
then repeat the installation process in In-
stalling Pro Tools LE and Mbox on
page 10.
Before you update Mbox firmware,
Pro Tools LE software must be installed
and Mbox connected to your computer.
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Getting Started with Mbox12
5 Click Start to ch eck th e current fi rm ware ver-
sion o n Mbox an d begin th e firmware upgrade
process.
6 Follow the on-screen instructions: Disconn ect Mbox from th e USB port of the
computer.
Reconn ect Mbox to the USB port of the
comp uter. The n ew firmware will be up-
loaded to the Mbox.
Disconn ect and reconn ect Mbox.
7 Click O K.
Installing Optional Softwarefor Pro Tools LE
You r Pro Tools Insta ller CD-ROM in cludes sev-
eral software options (as available for your sys-
tem).
Installing Digidesign ASIO Driver
The Digidesign ASIO (Aud io Soun d In pu t Ou t-
put ) Driver is a mu ltichan n el, m ultimedia
sound driver th at lets third-party audio applica-tions record and play back th rough chan n els
12 of Mbo x. The D igidesign ASIO Driver is not
required t o u se Pro Tools LE with Mbox.
Installing the Demo Session
The Pro Tools LE Installer CD includes a demo
session th at you can use to verify th at your sys-
tem is working.
To install the demo session:
1 Insert the Pro Tools LE Installer CD in your
CD-ROM drive. Locate and double-click
Setup .exe, in D (CD-ROM d rive):\ Add ition al
Files\ Pro Too ls LE Demo Session In staller.
2 Set th e install location to you r audio d rive and
click In stall.
3 Wh en in stallation is com plete, click OK.
Installing MacOpener
With MacOpen er you can open and t ransfer
Pro Tools session s created o n HFS an d H FS Plus-
format ted h ard drives (Macinto sh) to NTFS or
FAT32-form atted h ard d rives (Wind ows).
To share Pro Tools session s between Macinto sh
an d Win dows system , select th e En force
Mac/PC Com patibility option when creating
th e session , or wh en saving a session copy.
For information on installing, using, and
removing the Digidesign ASIO Driver, see
Appendix C, Digidesign ASIO Driver.
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 9.
On Windows-based Pro Tools systems,
avoid recording or playing audio on hard
drives formatted for Macintosh (the HFS or
HFS Plus file system). Use the Save Session
Copy In command in Pro Tools to copy the
session material to a Windows audio drive
formatted using NTFS or FAT32.
While SDII files can be exported or con-
verted on import, they cannot be used
within Pro Tools sessions on Windows.
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Chapter 2: Windows Configuration 13
To install and configure the MacOpener demo
included with Pro Tools:
1 Insert th e Pro Tools In staller CD into your CD-
ROM d rive.
2 Locate and double-click the MacOpener in-
staller file in t h e MacOpen er Demo folder lo-
cated at D (CD-ROM drive):\ Add ition al
Files\ MacOpen er Dem o Installer. Follow th e on-
screen in struction s to install the MacOpen er. Af-
ter installation is complete, restart your com-
puter.
3 Ch oose Start > Programs > MacOpen er >
MacOpen er Driver Preferences.
4 Verify th at th e MacOpen er Driver is en abled.
Under Driver Settings, select Enable Ma-
cOpen er Driver.
5 Und er Extension Mapping, select Do n ot addth e PC extension to th e Mac file nam e.
6 Click OK to q uit t h e MacOpen er Driver Pref-
erences.
7 Ch oose Start > Programs > MacOpen er >
Mac Lic.exe. Wh en in stallation is com plete,
close the installer.
Removing Pro Tools LE
If you n eed to rem ove Pro Tools LE from your
comp uter use th e Add or Remo ve Program s
command .
To remove Pro Tools LE:
1 Ch oose Start > Con trol Panel.
2 In Classic view, dou ble-click th e Add or Re-
m ove Program s icon .
or
In Category view, click Administrative Tools,
th en click Add or Rem ove Programs.
3 From th e Curren tly installed program s list, se-
lect Digidesign Pro Tools LE.
4 Click th e Chan ge/Remo ve butt on .
5 Select Remove, t h en click Next.
6 Click OK to rem ove Pro Too ls LE.
Launching Pro Tools LE
Wh en launch ing Pro Tools the first tim e, youare prom pted to enter an auth orization code to
validate your software.
With n ew Mbox system s, th e auth orization
code is located on th e inside cover of th e Getting
Started with MboxGuide. With software up-
grades, th e auth orization code is located on th e
inside cover of th e Upgrading Guide.
To authorize Pro Tools software:
1 Double-click the Pro Tools LE shortcut on
your desktop (or the app lication in th e Pro Tools
folder inside th e Digidesign folder).
All formatting and maintenance of
HFS/HFS+ drives should be carried out
when the drive is connected to a Macintosh.
For more information about MacOpener
and its performance limitations, see the
Pro Tools Reference Guide.
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Getting Started with Mbox14
2 En ter the auth orization code in th e dialog
wh en p rom pted (m akin g sure to type it exactly
as prin ted, and observing an y spaces an d capi-
talization ) th en click Validate.
Configuring Pro Tools LE
Pro Tools System Settings
Pro Tools LE allows you to adjust t h e perfor-
m ance of your system b y changing system set-
tings th at affect its capacity for p rocessin g, play-
back, and recording
In m ost cases, th e default settings for your sys-
tem provide optimu m performan ce, but you
m ay want to adjust th em to accom m odate large
or processing-intensive Pro Tools sessions.
Hardware Buffer Size
The Hard ware Buffer Size (H/W Buffer Size) con -
trols th e size of the h ardware cache used to h an-
dle h ost p rocessing tasks such as Real-Tim e Au-
dio Suit e (RTAS) plu g-ins.
Lower Hard ware Buffer Size sett in gs reduce
m on itorin g latency, and are useful when you are
recording live inpu t.
High er Hard ware Buffer Size settin gs allow for
m ore audio p rocessin g and effects, an d are use-
ful when you are m ixin g and usin g m ore RTAS
plug-ins.
To change the Hardware Buffer Size:
1 Ch oose Setup s > Playback En gine.
2 From th e H/W Buffer Size pop -up m en u, select
th e audio buffer size, in sam ples.
3 Click O K.
CPU Usage Limit
The CPU Usage Limit con trols th e percent age of
CPU resources allocated t o Pro Tools ho st pro-
cessin g t asks.
Lower CPU Usage Limit settings limit the ef-
fect of Pro Tools processing on oth er CPU-int en -
sive tasks, such as screen red raws, and are useful
when you are experiencing slow system re-
sponse, or when run n ing oth er applications atth e same tim e as Pro Tools.
Higher CPU Usage Limit settings allocate
m ore processing p ower to Pro Tools, and are
useful for p layin g back large session s or u sin g
m ore real-time plug-ins.
With Pro Tools 6.x, the m axim um CPU Usage
Lim it is 85 percent for sin gle-processor com pu t-
ers, and 99 percent for mu lti-processor compu t-
ers. (The 99 percen t setting d edicates on e ent ire
processor to Pro Tools.)
In addition to causing slower screen re-
sponse and monitoring latency, higher
Hardware Buffer Size settings can affect the
accuracy of plug-in automation, mute data,
and timing for MIDI tracks.
Playback Engine dialog for Mbox
Increasing the CPU Usage Limit may slowdown screen responses on slower computers.
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Chapter 2: Windows Configuration 15
To change the CPU Usage Limit:
1 Ch oose Setup s > Playback En gine.
2 From th e CPU Usage Limit p op-up m en u, se-
lect the percen tage of CPU processing you wan t
to allocate to Pro Tools.
3 Click O K.
DAE Playback Buffer Size
The D AE Playback Buffer Size determ in es th e
am oun t of m emory DAE uses to m anage diskbu ffers, wh ich affects system p erform an ce.
Low er DAE Playback Buffer Size sett in gs can
imp rove playback and recording in itiation
speed. However, a lower settin g can m ake it dif-
ficult for slower hard drives to p lay or record
tracks reliably.
Higher DAE Playback Buffer Size settings can
allow for a high er den sity of edits in a session .
However, a h igher settin g can cause a time lag to
occur before playback or recordin g begins. It can
also cause a tim e lag to occur wh en yo u are ed-
iting during playback.
To change the DAE Playback Buffer Size:
1 Ch oose Setup s > Playback En gine.
2 From th e DAE Playback Buffer pop-up m enu ,
select a b uffer size.
3 Click O K.
Pro Tools Hardware Settings
Usin g th e Hardware Setup dialog, you can select
th e default sam ple rate and clock sou rce for your
system , and con figure th e clock sou rce for you rsystem.
Default Sample Rate
The Sam ple Rate setting ap pears as th e default
sample rate when you create a new session.
(Th is settin g is available in th e Hardware Setup
dialog on ly when n o session is open .)
To change the default Sample Rate:
1 Make sure th at n o Pro Tools is session op en.
2 Ch oose Setup s > Hardware Setup .
3 Select th e sam ple rate from th e Sam ple Rate
pop-up m enu.
4 Click OK.
You can change the sample rate when creat-
ing a new Pro Tools session by selecting a
different sample rate in the New Session di-
alog. (Refer to the Pro Tools Reference Guide
for details.)
Hardware Setup dialog for Mbox
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Getting Started with Mbox16
Channel 12 Input Source
The Pro Tools Hardware Setup dialog allows you
to con figure the two in puts on Mbox to receive
an alog or d igital signals.
To select the Channel 12 input format for Mbox:
1 Ch oose Setup s > Hardware Setu p.
2 Choose the Chan nel 12 Input format by do-
ing on e of the following:
Choose Analog if you are sending a micro-ph on e, lin e, or instrumen t signal throu gh
th e 1/4 TRS or XLR connectors on Mbox.
or
Ch oose S/PDIF if you are sen ding signal
from a digital device to t h e S/PDIF inp ut on
Mbox.
Clock Source
Usin g th e Hardware Setup dialog, you can select
th e clock sou rce for th e system .
Internal If you are recordin g an an alog signal di-
rectly int o Mbox, you w ill usually use th e
Pro Tools In tern al clock source. The clocksource autom atically chan ges to In ternal wh en
you chan ge th e Ch. 12 Inpu t to An alog.
SPDIF If you are tran sferrin g m aterial int o
Pro Tools from an extern al digital device, you
will usually syn chro n ize Pro Tools to th at digital
device. The clock sou rce autom atically chan ges
to SPDIF when you ch ange th e Ch. 12 In put to
SPDIF.
To select the clock source:
1 Ch oose Setup s > Hardware Setu p.
2 Cho ose the clock source from th e Clock
Source pop -up m enu .
3 Click O K.
Configuring I/O Setup
Usin g th e I/O Setu p dialog, you can label
Pro Tools LE input, output, insert, and bus sig-
nal paths. Th e I/O Setup dialog provides a graph -
ical representation of th e inpu ts, outputs, and
signal routin g of the Mbox.
Pro Tools LE h as default I/O Setu p settin gs that
will get you started. Use th e I/O Setup dialog
on ly if you wan t to renam e the default I/O
paths.T
Your digital input device must be connected
and powered on for Pro Tools to synchro-
nize to it. If your input device is not poweredon, leave the Clock Source set to Internal.
Refer to thePro Tools Reference Guide (orchoose Help > Pro Tools Reference Guide)
for more information on renaming I/O
paths.
After configuring Pro Tools LE and your
system, you should save an image of your
system using Norton Ghost. Norton Ghost
lets you save and recall known good config-
urations of your system and settings, which
can help you recover if you encounter any
problems in the future.
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Getting Started with Mbox18
4 Return to t h e System Preferences and click
Software Upd ate.
5 Deselect Autom atically check for u pd ates
when you h ave a n etwork conn ection.
6 Close the Software Upd ate dialog box.
7 Proceed t o Insta lling Pro Too ls on M ac OS X
on page 19.
System Settings for Mac OS 9
The following settings en sure optimu m perfor-
m ance and comp atibility for system s run n ing
Mac OS 9.
To configure Mac OS 9 for Pro Tools LE:
1 In th e Memory Con trol Panel, do the follow-
ing:
Set Virtual Memory to Off.
Set the RAM Disk to Off.
Set the Disk Cache to a Custom Setting of
512K.
2 In th e En ergy Saver Con trol Panel, set th e in-
active time to Never.
3 If you are in stalling Pro Tools on a Macinto sh
PowerBook, click th e Advan ced Settin gs tab in
th e En ergy Saver Con trol Pan el, and turn off
Processor Cyclin g.
4 In th e Appearance Con trol Pan el, do t h e fol-
lowing:
Click th e Fon ts tab and set the Large Sys-tem Fon t to Ch icago. In addition, deselect
Sm ooth all fon ts on screen .
Click the Soun d tab and select None from
th e Soun d Track pop-up m enu .
5 In t h e Extensions Manager Cont rol Pan el,
choose the Mac OS 9.2.2 Base set from the Se-
lected Set pop-up m enu .
6 Click Duplicate Set, nam e th e new set
Pro Too ls, an d click OK.
7 Click Restart to restart you r com pu ter.
8 Proceed t o Insta lling Pro Too ls on Mac OS 9
on page 20.
Hard Drive Configuration andMaintenance
It is recom m end ed th at you start with a n ewly
initialized au dio d rive. You shou ld also periodi-
cally defragment your audio drive to ensure
contin ued system perform ance.
If you are using a SCSI hard drive, you can ini-
tialize your drive with t h e utility software
named ExpressStripe (Mac OS X) or ExpressPro-
Tools (Mac OS 9) from ATTO, includ ed on th e
Pro Too ls LE Insta ller CD-ROM. If you are usin g
an ATA/IDE or FireWire h ard d rive, init ialize
your drive with th e utility nam ed Disk Utility
(Mac OS X) orDrive Setup (Mac OS 9), includedwith your Apple System software.
Extensions Manager Control Panel
Be sure to create your Pro Tools extension
set before installing Pro Tools LE. After you
install Pro Tools, a number of Digidesign
extensions will be added to the new
Pro Tools Extension Set. Be sure this
Pro Tools Extension Set is activated
whenever you use Pro Tools.
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Chapter 3: Macintosh Configuration 19
Avoid Recording to System Drives
Alth ou gh Pro Tools will let you record to you r
system drive, this is generally not recom-
m end ed. Recording an d p layback on systemh ard drives results in lower track coun ts and
fewer plug-ins. You shou ld record t o system
drives only wh en n ecessaryfor exam ple, if
your com put er system h as just on e hard d rive.
Installing Pro Tools LEAfter th e App le System software settin gs are con-
figured, yo ure ready to in stall Pro Tools LE.
Installing Pro Tools on Mac OS X
To install Pro Tools LE on Mac OS X:1 Make sure you are logged in as an Adm inistra-
tor for the accoun t wh ere you wan t to in stall
Pro Tools. For d etails on Adm inistrator privi-
leges in M ac O S X, refer to you r App le Mac O S X
documentation.
2 In sert th e Pro Too ls LE In staller CD-ROM in
your CD-ROM drive. Double-click Install
Pro Tools LE.
3 En ter your Adm inistrator password an d click
OK to aut h enticate the in stallation .
4 Select you r Startu p h ard d rive as th e install lo-
cation an d click Install.
5 Wh en in stallation is com plete, click Restart.
or
Click Contin ue to install any ad ditional soft-
ware or docum entation , an d restart your com -
put er when you are fin ish ed.
Removing Pro Tools LE on Mac OS X
If you n eed to rem ove Pro Tools LE from yo ur
com pu ter, you can u se th e In staller CD-ROM.
To remove Pro Tools LE from your computer:
1 Make sure you are logged in as an Adm inistra-
tor for th e accoun t wh ere Pro Tools LE is in-
stalled. For details on Adm inistrator privileges
in Mac OS X, refer to you r Mac OS X docum en -
tation.
2 In sert th e Pro Too ls LE In staller CD-ROM in
your CD-ROM drive. Double-click Install
Pro Tools LE.
3 En ter your Adm inistrator password an d click
OK to aut h enticate the in stallation .
4 In th e Installer wind ow, ch oose Unin stall
from th e pop-up m enu , and click Un install.
5 Click Quit to close th e Installer wind ow.
If you plan to use any MIDI devices with
Pro Tools, configure your MIDI setup with
the Apple Audio MIDI Setup (AMS) utility.
SeeAppendix B, Configuring AMS
(Mac OS X Only) for details.
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Getting Started with Mbox20
Installing Pro Tools on Mac OS 9
To install Pro Tools LE on Mac OS 9:
1 Insert t h e Pro Too ls LE 5.2.1 In staller CD-ROM in your CD-ROM drive. Double-click In-
stall Pro Tools LE 5.2.1.
2 In t h e Installer win dow, select
Pro Tools LE 5.2.1 for Mbox, and make sure
the Install Location is on your startup drive.
3 If you wan t to use Mbox with Apple Soun d
Manager-compatible applications, select the
Digidesign Con trol Panel option . See
App end ix E, Digidesign Con trol Panel
(Mac OS 9 Only).
4 Click In stall.
5 Wh en installation is comp lete, do one of the
following:
Click Quit and install OMS (see Installing
OMS on page 20) if it is not already in-stalled on your system.
or
Click Restart .
Removing Pro Tools LE on Mac OS 9
If you n eed to rem ove Pro Tools LE from your
com pu ter, you can u se th e In staller CD-ROM.
To remove Pro Tools LE from your computer:
1 Insert t h e Pro Too ls LE 5.2.1 In staller CD-
ROM in your CD-ROM drive. Double-click In-
stall Pro Tools LE 5.2.1.
2 In th e Installer wind ow, ch oose Unin stall
from th e pop-up m enu , and click Unin stall.
3 Click Quit to close th e Installer wind ow.
Installing OMS
Mac OS 9 Only
To u se Pro Tools LE on Mac O S 9, you m ust fi rst
install and configure the Open Music System
(OMS), wh ich is in cluded on th e Pro Tools In-staller C D-ROM.
To install OMS:
1 In sert th e Pro Too ls LE 5.2.1 In staller CD-
ROM in your CD-ROM drive.
2 Open th e OMS Installer folder and doub le-
click th e OMS in staller.
3 At t h e Install wind ow, select t h e Easy In stall
option , and set th e In stall Location to your
Startu p h ard d rive. Click Install.
4 Follow th e on-screen installation in struction s.
5 Wh en in stallation is com plete, click Restart.
Pro Tools installs the Rocket Plug-in to your
Web browser's plug-ins folder. Be sure to se-lect your Web browser's application folder
when prompted.
Even if you don't intend to use MIDI in your
Pro Tools sessions, you still need to install
OMS. The Pro Tools application will not
launch without it.
For more information on configuring OMS,
seeAppendix D, Configuring OMS
(Mac OS 9 Only).
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Chapter 3: Macintosh Configuration 21
Installing the Demo Session
(Optional)
The Pro Tools LE In staller CD-ROM in clud es a
dem o session th at you can use to verify that
your system is working.
To install the demo session:
1 Insert the Pro Tools LE Installer CD in your
CD-ROM d rive. Locate an d d ou ble-click th e
dem o session installer icon.
2 Select you r aud io drive as th e install location
an d click In stall.
3 When installation is complete, click Quit.
Connecting Mbox to theComputer
Before lau n ch in g Pro Too ls LE software, con n ect
Mbox to your comp uter.
To connect Mbox to your computer:
1 Con n ect th e sm all end of the in cluded USB ca-
ble to th e USB port o n Mbox.
2 With your com puter on, conn ect th e other
end of the USB cable to any available USB port
on your computer.
Launching Pro Tools LE
Wh en laun chin g Pro Tools LE th e first tim e, you
are prom pted to enter an auth orization code to
validate your software.
With n ew Mbox system s, th e auth orization
code is located on th e inside cover of th e Getting
Started with Mbox Guide. With software up-
grades, th e auth orization code is located on th e
inside cover of th e Upgrading Guide.
To authorize Pro Tools LE software:
1 Double-click the Pro Tools LE application, lo-
cated in th e Pro Tools folder, in side th e Digide-
sign folder.
2 With Mac OS 9, if OMS was no t p reviously
configured, you will be promp ted to con figure a
New Stu dio Setup . For specific step s, see
App en dix D, Con figurin g OMS (Mac OS 9
Only).
3 En ter the auth orization code in th e dialog
when prom pted (m akin g sure to type it exactly
as prin ted, and observing an y spaces an d capi-
talization ) th en click Validate.
If th e USB LED on th e front pan el of Mbox does
n ot does not illum inate after you con n ect it and
laun ch Pro Tools, try un plugging th e USB cable
from th e Mbox USB port , th en p luggin g it back
in .
If the USB LED still does not illuminate, shut
down th e com put er, disconn ect Mbox and start
th e com put er. On ce the comp uter h as fully re-
started, re-conn ect Mbox, then launch
Pro Tools.
Mbox may not function properly if con-
nected to a USB hub. If you need to use ahub for other USB peripherals, connect the
hub to a separate USB port; Mbox must be
connected to a dedicated port on the com-
puter in order to function properly.
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Getting Started with Mbox22
Configuring Pro Tools LE
Pro Tools System Settings
Pro Tools LE allows you to adjust t h e perfor-
m ance of your system b y changing system set-
tings th at affect its capacity for p rocessin g, play-
back, and recording.
In m ost cases, th e default settings for your sys-
tem provide optimu m performan ce, but you
m ay want to adjust th em to accom m odate large
or processing-intensive Pro Tools sessions.
Hardware Buffer Size
The Hard ware Buffer Size (H/W Buffer Size) con -
trols th e size of the h ardware cache used to h an-
dle h ost p rocessing tasks such as Real-Tim e Au-dio Suit e (RTAS) plu g-ins.
Lower Hardware Buffer Size settings improve
MIDI timing an d aut om ation accuracy, but lim it
th e nu m ber of RTAS plug-ins and m ixer con fig-
urations you can run on your system
High er Hard ware Buffer Size settin gs allow for
m ore audio p rocessin g and effects, an d are use-ful when you are using larger mixer confi gura-
tion s or m ore RTAS plug-ins on your system .
To change the Hardware Buffer Size:
1 Ch oose Setup s > Playback En gine.
2 From th e H/W Buffer Size pop -up m en u, select
th e audio b uffer size, in sam ples.
3 Click O K.
CPU Usage Limit
The CPU Usage Limit con trols th e percent age of
CPU resources allocated t o Pro Tools ho st pro-
cessin g t asks.
Lower CPU Usage Limit settings limit the ef-
fect of Pro Tools processing on oth er CPU-int en -
sive tasks, such as screen red raws, and are useful
when you are experiencing slow system re-
sponse, or when run n ing oth er applications at
th e same tim e as Pro Tools.
Higher CPU Usage Limit settings allocate
m ore processing p ower to Pro Tools, and are
useful for p layin g back large session s or u sin g
m ore real-time plug-ins.
With Pro Tools 5.2.1, th e max imu m CPU Us-
age Lim it is 85 percent .
In addition to causing slower screen re-
sponse and monitoring latency, higher
Hardware Buffer Size settings can affect the
accuracy of plug-in automation, mute data,
and timing for MIDI tracks.
Playback Engine dialog for Mbox (Pro Tools 6.x)
Playback Engine dialog for Mbox (Pro Tools 5.2.1)
Increasing the CPU Usage Limit may slow
down screen responses on slower computers.
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Chapter 3: Macintosh Configuration 23
With Pro Tools 6.x, the m axim um CPU Usage
Lim it is 85 percent for sin gle-processor com pu t-
ers, an d 99 percen t for m ulti-processor com put -
ers. (The 99 percent settin g dedicates on e entire
processor t o Pro Tools.)
To change the CPU Usage Limit:
1 Ch oose Setup s > Playback En gine.
2 From th e CPU Usage Limit p op-up m en u, se-
lect the percen tage of CPU processing you wan t
to allocate to Pro Tools.
3 Click O K.
DAE Playback Buffer Size
The D AE Playback Buffer Size determ in es th e
am oun t of m emory DAE uses to m anage disk
bu ffers, wh ich affects system p erform an ce.
Low er DAE Playback Buffer Size sett in gs can
imp rove playback and recording in itiation
speed. However, a lower settin g can m ake it dif-
ficult for slower hard drives to p lay or record
tracks reliably.
Higher DAE Playback Buffer Size settings can
allow for a high er den sity of edits in a session .However, a h igher settin g can cause a time lag to
occur before playback or recordin g begins. It can
also cause a tim e lag to occur wh en yo u are ed-
iting during playback.
To change the DAE Playback Buffer Size in
Pro Tools 6.x:
1 Ch oose Setup s > Playback En gine.
2 From th e DAE Playback Buffer pop-up m enu ,
select a b uffer size.
3 Click O K.
To change the DAE Playback Buffer Size in
Pro Tools 5.2.1:
1 Launch DAE. If Pro Tools is already running,
switch to th e DAE app lication by cho osing it
from th e Application m enu .
2 Ch oo se File > Set Playb ack Buffer Size.
3 Select a p layback b uffer size.
4Click O K.
5 Qu it Pro Tools if it is run n ing. The n ew buffer
settin g will take effect when you laun ch
Pro Too ls again .
Pro Tools Hardware Settings
Usin g th e Hardware Setup dialog, you can selectth e default sam ple rate, in put form at, and clock
source for you r system .
Default Sample Rate
The Sam ple Rate setting ap pears as th e default
sample rate when you create a new session.
(Th is settin g is available in th e Hardware Setup
dialog on ly when n o session is open .)
DAE Playback Buffer Size dialog (Pro Tools 5.2.1)
You can change the sample rate when creat-
ing a new Pro Tools session by selecting a
different sample rate in the New Session di-
alog. (See Starting a Session on page 37.)
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Getting Started with Mbox24
To change the default Sample Rate in
Pro Tools 6.x:
1 Make sure th at n o Pro Tools session is open .
2 Ch oose Setup s > Hardware Setup .
3 Ch oose th e sam ple rate by clicking th e corre-
spond ing Samp le Rate button .
4 Click O K.
To change the default Sample Rate in
Pro Tools 5.2.1:
1 Make sure th at n o Pro Tools session is open .
2 Ch oose Setup s > Hardware.
3 Select th e sam ple rate from t h e Sam ple Rate
pop-up m enu.
4 Click O K.
Channel 12 Input Format
The Pro Tools Hardware Setup dialog allows you
to con figure the two in put s on Mbo x to receive
either an alog or digital signals.
To select the Channel 12 input format for Mbox:
1 Ch oose Setup s > Hardware Setup
(Pro Too ls 6.x) or Setu ps > Hardw are
(Pro Tools 5.1.1).
2 Choose the Chan nel 12 Input format by do-
ing on e of the following:
Choose Analog if you are sending a micro-
ph on e, lin e, or in strumen t signal throu gh
th e 1/4-inch TRS or XLR con n ectors on
Mbox.
Cho ose S/PDIF (RCA) if you are sen ding
signal from a digital device to th e S/PDIF
input on Mbox.
Clock Source
Usin g th e Hardware Setup dialog, you can select
th e Clock Source for th e system . (Clock Source is
called Sync Mode in Pro Tools 5.2.1.)
Internal If you are recordin g an an alog signal di-
rectly int o Mbo x, you will usually use th e
Pro Tools In tern al clock sou rce. Th e Clock
Source autom atically chan ges to Internal wh en
you chan ge th e Ch. 12 Inpu t to An alog.
SPDIF/RCA If you are tran sferring m aterial in to
Pro Tools from an extern al digital device, youwill usually syn chro n ize Pro Tools to th at digital
device. The Clock Source aut om atically chan ges
to SPDIF/RCA wh en yo u ch an ge the Ch . 12 In-
put to SPDIF/RCA.
Hardware Setup dialog for Mbox (Pro Tools 6.x)
Hardware Setup dialog for Mbox (Pro Tools 5.2.1)
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Chapter 3: Macintosh Configuration 25
To select the Clock Source:
1 Ch oose Setup s > Hardware Setup
(Pro Too ls 6.x) or Setu ps > Hardwa re
(Pro Tools 5.2.1).
2 Select a clock source (Pro Tools 6.x) or ch oo se
th e clock source from th e Sync Mod e pop -up
m en u (Pro Tools 5.2.1).
3 Click O K.
Configuring I/O Setup
Usin g th e I/O Setu p dialog, you can label
Pro Tools LE input, output, insert, and bus sig-
nal paths. Th e I/O Setup dialog provides a graph -ical representation of the in put s, outp uts, and
signal routing of th e Mbox.
Pro Tools LE has default I/O Setup settin gs that
will get you started . Use th e I/O Setup dialog
on ly if you wan t to renam e the default I/O
paths.
To rename I/O paths in I/O Setup:
1 Ch oose Setup s > I/O Setup s.
2 Click the In put, O utp ut, Insert, or Bus tab todisplay the correspon ding con n ections.
3 To chan ge th e nam e of a path or subpath ,
double-click directly on the Path Name, type a
n ew nam e for th e path , and press Return.
4 Click O K.
Other Pro Tools Settings
The following settings are explain ed in detail in
th ePro Tools Reference Guide.
DigiBase Volume Designators If usin gPro Tools 6, use th e Workspace browser to des-
ignate h ard drives and volum es as Record, Play
an d Record, o r Transfer volum es. Th ese settin gs
determin e the fun ction o f each volum e in you r
system . For m ore information , see th eDigiBase
Guide.
Your digital input device must be connected
and powered on. If your input device is notpowered on, leave the Clock Source set to In-
ternal.
I/O Setup dialog for Mbox, Input page
Refer to thePro Tools Reference Guide for
more information on renaming I/O paths.
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Getting Started with Mbox26
Disk Allocation Choose Setup > Disk Allocation
to assign h ard drives an d volum es as th e storage
(recording) location for Pro Tools tracks. Tracks
record data to t h eir assigned volu m e as con fig-
ured in th e Disk Allocation d ialog.
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Chapter 4: Connecting Your Studio 27
chapter 4
Connecting Your Studio
This chapter explain s how t o con n ect your Mbox to a m on itorin g system , a digital recorder, an d to
aud io sources for recordin g.
Your studio setup will differ depen ding o n th e equipm ent in your studio. The following illustration s
show two p ossible setup s.
Figure 1. Mbox micro studio configuration running Pro Tools LE on a desktop computer
powered speakers
monitor
mixer
DAT orS/PDIF
microphone
Mbox
instrument
USB
FireWire
headphones
computer
display
outputs
digital I/O CD recorder
cable
drive
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Getting Started with Mbox28
Figure 2. Mbox micro studio configuration running Pro Tools LE on a laptop computer
lapto
p
Mbox
instrument
USB
FireWire
Laptopheadphones
cable
drive
Th e Mbox front pan el has th e followin g fea
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Chapter 4: Connecting Your Studio 29
Mbox Front Panel FeaturesTh e Mbox front pan el has th e followin g fea-
tures:
48V LED
This LED, when lit, ind icates th at 48V ph an tom
power is active on th e Mic/Lin e inp uts. These
inpu ts provide ph ant om p ower for micro-
ph on es th at require it to operate. Phan tom
power is activated by t h e switch labeled 48V on
th e top of the rear panel of Mbox.
About Phantom Power
Dynamicm icroph on es (such as a Sh ure SM57)
do n ot require phantom power to operate, but
are n ot h armed by it. Most condensermicro-
ph on es (like an AKG C3000) do require phan-
tom power to operate.
If you are n ot sure about th e phan tom power re-
quiremen ts for your m icroph on e, consult your
m icrophon es documentation or contact the
manufacturer.
Source Selector
These switches select am on g th ree types of in-puts:
Mic (m icrophon e) for XLR inputs
Line for lin e level signals on TRS or TS inp ut s
Inst (instrum ent) for oth er 1/4=in ch TRS or TS
connections
For m ore information , see An alog Aud io on
page 34.
Figure 3. Mbox front panel
48V LED
Source
Gain
Peak
USBS/PDIF
Mono
Mix (Ratio)
Headphone
Headphone
Selector
Gain
Peak
SourceSelector
LED
LED
LEDLED
CH 1
CH 2
Gain
Output
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.
Gain Controls To listen to just th e Source input signal turn th e
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Getting Started with Mbox30
Gain Controls
These knobs adjust th e inp ut gain levels of the
Mic/Line inputs.
Peak LEDs
These LEDs are triggered just below analog clip-
pin g levels. In oth er words, if th e Peak LEDs
flicker occasionally, the signal is approaching
clipp ing levels, but th ey do n ot n ecessarily in di-
cate distortion or clipping.
USB LED
The USB LED ind icates th at th e Mbox d river h as
initiated th e un it for playback. On ce the USB
light is on , audio can p ass in or out of the sys-
tem.
S/PDIF LED
This LED ind icates th at ch an n els 1 an d 2 are set
to receive digital in put rath er than analog inpu t.
See Th e S/PDIF in an d ou t po rts are un balanced
two-con ductor ph on o (RCA) con n ectors th at
ut ilize a full 24-bit, two-ch an n el digital datastream . on p age 32.
Mix (Ratio) Control
Mbox gives you th e ability to m on itor your an-
alog in put signals while recording, withou t th e
delay incurred by A/D/A converters and host-
based p rocessin g.
This zero-latency analog monitoring is con-
trolled with th e Mix knob, wh ich you can u se to
blend an d adjust the m on itor ratio between
Mbox an alog in put s and Pro Tools playback.
The Mix kn ob h as n o effect when you are using
S/PDIF digital in pu ts, since it con trols th e signalbefore it reach es the A/D con verters.
To listen to just th e Source input signal, turn th e
Mix knob fully left to In pu t. To listen to
Pro Tools outp ut on ly, turn th e knob fully righ t
to Playback.
Th e outpu t from th e Mix control is routed di-
rectly to t h e TRS line ou tpu ts, and is m irrored in
th e Headph on e ports an d S/PDIF outp ut p orts.
This ability to blen d an d con trol th e relative lev-
els of Pro Tools playback and latency-free live
an alog inpu ts can be part icularly effective when
overdubbing.
Mono Switch
Th e Mono switch sum s and cen ters th e in put
signals being m on itored, but h as no effect on
Pro Tools playback m on itorin g or on t h e m ain
out pu ts. Th is is useful when you are recording am on o inp ut while listenin g to stereo playback,
or for ch eckin g the ph ase relationsh ip of stereo
inputs .
Monitoring while Overdubbing
By centering input signals, as opposed to pan-
ning th em h ard left and right in th e Headphon eoutp uts, you can create a mo re focused m on itor
m ix to h elp m inim ize distraction s while over-
dubbing.
In situations where you are m on itorin g stereo
m icroph on es, stereo syn th esizers, or an y sou rce
pairs with a com fortable balan ce, you will prob-
ably n ot want t o use th e Mono switch.
Checking Phase Relationships
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Chapter 4: Connecting Your Studio 31
g p
The Mon o switch can also be used for a quick
check of the p h ase relationship between
Chan nel 1 and Ch ann el 2 in puts .
Wh en th e two inpu t signals are out o f phase,
pressing th e Mon o switch will result in a sud den
ho llow soun d th at is th e result of ph ase can -
cellation . Th is qu ick test with t h e Mon o switch
can h elp to avoid ph ase problems later when
m ixing th ese tracks. Frequen t checking of ph ase
relationships with th e Mon o switch can also as-sist you in fin ding th e optimal microph on e
placement.
Headphone Gain
The h eadph one gain control adjusts the ou tput
level of the front an d rear Headph on e ports,
wh ich ou tput th e sign al th at is routed to Out-
pu ts 12 in Pro Tools LE, and m irrors th e Line
Outputs .
Front Panel Headphone Output
Use the front pan el Headphon e port to con nect
stereo headph on es with a 1/8-in ch stereo min i
connector.
The fron t pan el 1/8-inch Headph on e port is dis-
abled wh en a 1/ 4-inch stereo conn ector is in -
serted in to th e rear pan el Headph on e port.
Mbox Rear Panel Features
The Mbox rear pan el has th e following features:
Rear Panel Headphone Output
Use this Headph on e Outpu t to conn ect stereo
h eadph on es with a 1/4-in ch stereo conn ector.
Wh en a 1/4-in ch stereo conn ector is in serted
into th e rear panel Headphon e port , the fron t
pan el 1/8-inch Headph on e port is disabled.
Figure 4. Mbox rear panel
rear panel 48V
USB port
S/PDIF
Line
Source 1
Inserts
Source 2
digital I/O
Headphonesoutput
outputs
(analoginput 2)
(analoginput 1)
48V Switch Line Outputs
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Getting Started with Mbox32
8 S tc
This button activates phan tom power on th e
Mic inpu ts for m icroph on es th at require it to
operate.
USB Port
This stan dard USB v1.1 con n ector is used to
conn ect your computer to th e Mbox. One stan-
dard USB cable is in cluded with your system.
The Mbo x is com patible with USB 2.0 port s.
However, th e USB 2.0 bus will switch to t h e
slower USB v.1.1 speed t o accom m odat e Mbox.
S/PDIF Digital I/O
The S/PDIF in an d ou t po rts are un balan ced two-
cond uctor ph on o (RCA) conn ectors th at utilize
a full 24-bit, two-ch an n el digital data stream.
The Sony/ Philips Digital Interface Form at
(S/PDIF) is used in m an y profession al and con -
sum er CD recorders an d DAT recorders. To
avoid RF int erference, use 75-oh m coaxial cable
for S/PDIF tran sfers an d keep t h e cable len gth to
a m axim um of 10 meters.
e Outputs
These outpu ts sup po rt balan ced TRS, or un bal-
an ced TS, 1/ 4-in ch conn ections. To m onitor
your mix, these outp uts can be conn ected to am ixin g board, directly to a m on itorin g system
such as a stereo power am p, or an oth er stereo
destination.
Th e Line Outp uts 1 and 2 play the audio th at is
routed to an alog outp uts 1 and 2 from with in
Pro Tools, respectively. Th ese analog ou tp uts
featu re 24-bit digital-to-an alog con verters.
Source 1 and 2
Th ese balanced/u n balanced analog audio in-
puts support a broad ran ge of inpu t levels, in-
cludin g m icroph on e, in strumen t, or lin e-level
in pu ts. The p ort s accept XLR, TRS, or TS au dioinpu t con n ectors. Th e inpu t sign al is adjusted
by the Gain cont rol for each ch ann el, in con -
junction with th e Source switch .
Inserts 1 and 2
Mbox provides an in sert point on each in put
chan n el. These TRS ports sen d an d return th e
input channels signal directly after the pream-
plifier, and before th e A/D con verter. Th is al-
lows th e insertion of an alog processors such as
com pressors or eq ualizers, which are typically
used as inserts on traditional analog recording
consoles. See Using the Analog Inserts on
page 34.
Be sure to check the 48V LED on the front
panel of Mbox before plugging in any mi-
crophones. The 48V switch on the rear is lo-
cated directly above the USB connector and
may be inadvertently activated when con-
necting the USB Cable.
The XLR connectors only support micro-
phone level inputs. If Line or Inst are cho-
sen, the XLR portion of the port is ignored.
Likewise, if you choose Mic, the 1/4-inchpart of the connector is ignored.
Making Signal Connections to2 Adjust h eadph one volum e with the Head-
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Chapter 4: Connecting Your Studio 33
Making Signal Connections toMbox
Mbox can be used in a variety of aud io setu ps.
This section d escribes h ow to m ake basic con -
n ection s for:
Mo n it orin g
Analog and digital inp ut for recording
Hardware Inser ts
Mixd own
Monitoring Audio
There are two Headph on e ports, giving you a
cho ice between t h e rear pan el 1/4-in ch TRS port
or the 1/8-inch m ini port on th e front pan el.
Mbox Line Out puts play the aud io that is routedin Pro Tools to Analog Out pu ts 12, and can
provide left and righ t ou tpu ts to a t wo-track
deck for m ixdown, or to ano th er stereo destina-
tion.
Mbox Lin e Outp ut s feature 24-bit digital-to-an -
alog converters capable of m axim um outp ut of
+4 dBu/ +2 dBV (balan ced/u n balanced signal).
The con n ectors are TRS port s; un balan ced TS
conn ectors are also supp orted.
To connect headphones:
1 Conn ect headph ones to the Headphon e port
on th e Mbox. The Headph one output on th e
fron t accepts a 1/8-in ch con n ector, and th e
Headph on e output on th e rear pan el accepts a
stereo 1/4-inch TRS con n ector.
ph one gain knob.
To connect to a home stereo:
Using 1/4-inch cables, conn ect th e Line Ou t-
put s on th e back panel of Mbox to th e appropri-
ate input s on you r stereo.
To connect monitor speakers with a power amp or
self-powered monitor speakers:
Using 1/4-inch cables, conn ect th e Line Ou t-put s on th e back of Mbox to th e appropriate in-
put s on your m ixer, power amp , or powered
speakers.
You cannot monitor Pro Tools audio
through speakers connected to your com-
puter. To monitor audio, connect head-
phones, powered speakers, or an external
amplifier to your Mbox.
The Mbox Headphone output can produce
very loud output levels. Prolonged exposurecan cause hearing damage. Adjust head-
phone volume carefully.
Only one Headphone output can be used at
a time. When headphones are connected to
both Headphone outputs, the front panel
Headphone output is muted.
Home stereo systems often use RCA connec-
tors. You can use an adaptor or a special ca-
ble to convert from the TRS or TS connectors
used by Mbox to the RCA connectors on
your home stereo.
Connecting Audio Sources to Using the Analog Inserts
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Getting Started with Mbox34
Mbox for Recording
Digital an d an alog audio sources can be con -
n ected d irectly to Mbox.
Analog Audio
Analog audio signals are output by micro-
ph on es, synth esizers, mixers, and instrum ents
with m agnetic pickups.
Of th ese sources, microph on es an d m agneticpickup in strum ents outp ut th e quietest signals,
and gen erally require the m ost amp lification .
Keyboards, preamp s, an d m ixers outpu t line-
level aud io, wh ich varies with each d evice be-
tween th e 10 dBV an d +4 dBu stan dards.
To accommodate these varying sources, Mbox
provides switch able lin e inp ut t ypes (an d associ-ated impedances) with adjustable gain for each
input channel.
To connect an analog audio source:
1 Plug an XLR or TRS cable directly in to
Mic/Line Inp ut 1 or 2 on Mbox. Th ese inpu ts ac-
cept XLR connectors or TRS connectors.
2 Step th rough cho ices by repeatedly pressing
each ch an n els Source but ton un til the LED cor-
respon ding t o your choice lights.
To activate phantom power:
If your m icroph on e requires ph ant om power,
first m ake sure th e micropho n e is con n ected,
th en p ress the Phan tom Power switch (labeled
48V).
Th e analog in put ch ann els on Mbox each fea-
ture a d edicated TRS insert po int . Th ese h ard-
ware in serts break th e analog inpu t path before
it is con verted to a d igital signal an d sent t o
Pro Tools. Th is is wh ere you can insert a com -
pressor, equ alizer, or oth er serial effect in to th e
analog signal path .
Because th e inserts on Mbox a re hardw are in -
serts that d ivert the signal path before it reaches
Pro Tools, th ey are notavailable for in sertion ontracks with in a Pro Tools session .
To insert a d evice you will n eed a TRS In sert ca-
ble that h as a TRS conn ector on on e end, break-
ing out to two un balanced con n ectors. The con -
n ector attached to th e tip is th e send , an d th e
conn ector attached to th e rin g is th e return .
To insert a device in the signal path:
1 You will need a cable th at b reaks a TRS con -
nector on on e end out to two un balanced con-
n ectors. The type of un balan ced conn ector is
determin ed by the inp uts of the device.
2 Locate the un balanced con n ectors an d deter-m ine which correspond s to tip, an d wh ich to
ring.
3 Conn ect th e unbalanced conn ector that cor-
respon ds to tip to th e in put port of the device.
4 Conn ect th e unbalanced conn ector that cor-
respon ds to ring to the ou tput port of the de-
vice.
5 Insert th e TRS conn ector into an insert p ort
on Mbox.
Enabling phantom power enables 48V
through both mic inputs.
Digital Audio Connecting an Analog Deck
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Chapter 4: Connecting Your Studio 35
Mbox provides digital in put s and outp uts for
S/PDIF form at digital audio.
About S/PDIF
S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interchange For-
m at) I/O is available on m an y DAT decks, com -
pact disc players, an d oth er digital devices. Each
S/PDIF con n ection provides two ch ann els of
digital audio with 24-bit capability.
To connect a S/PDIF device to Mbox:
1 Use two 7 5-ohm coaxial cables with m ale RCA
conn ectors on both ends (purchased sepa-
rately).
2 Con n ect th e devices S/PDIF ou tpu t to Mboxs
S/PDIF inp ut port , an d t h e devices S/PDIF inp ut
to Mboxs S/PDIF ou tpu t p ort.
3 Ch oose Setup s > Hardware Setup , and m ake
the appropriate selections in the Clock Source
(Clock Sou rce is called Sync Mo de in
Pro Tools 5.2.1) and Ch 12 Inpu t po p-up
menus .
S/PDIF Mirroring
Pro Tools LE uses S/PDIF mirroring to automati-
cally m irror th e audio th at is sen t to Line Ou t-
pu ts 1 an d 2 o n th e S/PDIF RCA ou tpu ts. Th is is
useful, for exam ple, if you are m on itoring a m ix
usin g your Line Out put s, and also recordin g th e
same sou rce to an extern al S/PDIF device.
Connecting a Recorder forMixdowns
After you record an d m ix your session s in
Pro Tools, you m ay wan t to m ix th em do wn to aDAT, audio cassette, or other stereo 2-track re-
cordin g device.
Connect your recorder (cassette deck or other
analog device) to th e Line Outp uts on th e back
of Mbox. Line Outp uts 1 and 2 should be rout ed
to t h e left and righ t in put s, respectively, on your
record er. These ou tp ut s are TRS po rts. You m ay
n eed adapter cables if your m ixdown deck has
RCA in pu ts.
Connecting a Digital Deck
If you h ave a CD recorder, DAT deck or oth er de-vice th at accepts S/PDIF con n ections, con n ect it
to the S/PDIF In and S/PDIF Out RCA ports on
th e back of Mbox.
MIDI Connections
By addin g a comp atible MIDI in terface to you r
system , you can take advan tage of all th e MIDI
features of Pro Tools LE, including recording
an d editin g MIDI tracks.
Bot h USB an d serial MIDI int erfaces work effec-
tively with Pro Tools.
On Macinto sh system s, serial MIDI int erfaces re-
quire a qualified modem-to-serial port adapter.
This is because PCI-based serial expanders do
n ot wo rk with serial MIDI int erfaces on Macin-
tosh system s. For com patibility information on
th ese adapt ers, visit th e Digidesign W eb site
(www.digidesign.com/compato).
For Macintosh systems runn ing Mac OS X,
see Appendix B, Configuring AMS (Mac OS X
Only) for information on confi gurin g Audio
MIDI Setup an d yo ur MIDI devices.
For Macin tosh systems runn ing Mac OS 9, see
App en dix D, Con figurin g OMS (Mac OS 9
Only) for information on con figuring Open
Music System an d your MIDI devices.
To connect MIDI devices to your system:
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Getting Started with Mbox36
1 Con n ect th e MIDI in terface to your com put er
according to the MIDI interfaces documenta-
tion.
2 Install any MIDI driver software requ ired by
th e MIDI in terface. (On ce you h ave installed
your MIDI in terface hard ware and software,
confirm th at it is workin g properly usin g the
procedure given in th e interfaces docum enta-
tion.)
3 Con n ect th e MIDI OUT of you r MIDI deviceor con troller to th e MIDI IN of your MIDI int er-
face.
4 Con n ect th e MIDI IN of you r MIDI device or
con troller to th e MIDI OUT of your MIDI inter-
face.
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Chapter 5: Working with Pro Tools LE 37
chapter 5
Working with Pro Tools LE
This overview of Pro Tools LE software intro-
duces its main windows and features, and alsoinclud es a step-by-step overview of audio re-
cordin g (see Basic Recording on page 47).
All features described in th is ch apter are ex-
plain ed fully in th ePro Tools Reference Guide.
You can view an electron ic PDF version of th e
Reference Guide by choosin g it from th e
Pro Tools App lication m enu (Pro Tools 6) or th e
Pro Tools Help m en u (Pro Tools 5). Refer to th at
guide an d its in dex for m ore in formation o n
Pro Tools LE features.
Session Basics
Pro Tools LE projects are created and saved as
sessions. Session s store all tracks, aud io, MIDI,
and oth er session information . Audio an d fade
files are stored in folders with in th e session
folder.
Starting a Session
To create a new session:
1 Laun ch Pro Tools LE.
2 Ch oo se File > New Session .
3 In t h e New Session dialog, set th e sam ple rate,
bit depth , and oth er options for th e new session.
4 Select wh ere you wan t to save your session . If
you are using external h ard drives with your
Pro Tools system, m ake sure you select t h e ap-
prop riate drive in th e New Session dialog.
5 Type a n am e for your session .
6 Click Save. The new session opens its Mix,
Edit, an d Tran sport win dows (see Figure 5 o npage 38).
Session file, Audio Files and Fade Files folders
New Session dialog
Main Windows Workspace (Pro Tools 6 Only) The Workspacebro wser is a DigiBase feature available in
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Getting Started with Mbox38
The Mix, Edit, and Tran sport win dows are th e
m ain Pro Tools work areas. You can show an y of
th ese wind ows by choosing them from the Win -
dows men u.
Mix Window Displays th e Pro Tools mixer, with
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