getting started mbox 52-61-26842

8/8/2019 Getting Started Mbox 52-61-26842

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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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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
http://-/?-http://-/?-


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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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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).


10/80



11/80


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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:


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:


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.


14/80


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:


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.


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.


15/80


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.


16/80


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.


17/80


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:


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.


18/80


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.


19/80


To change the CPU Usage Limit:


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:


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


20/80


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


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.


21/80


22/80


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.


23/80

Chapter 3: Macintosh Configuration 19


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.


24/80


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).


25/80


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.


26/80


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:


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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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:


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:


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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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


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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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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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.


31/80

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


32/80


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


33/80


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


34/80


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


35/80


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


36/80


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-


37/80


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


38/80


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


39/80


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:


40/80


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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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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