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Mbox® 2 Pro
Version 8.0
Legal Notices
This guide is copyrighted ©2008 by Digidesign, a division of
Avid Technology, Inc. (hereafter “Digidesign”), with all rights
reserved. Under copyright laws, this guide may not be
duplicated in whole or in part without the written consent of
Digidesign.
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Communications and Safety Regulation Information
Mbox 2 Pro
Compliance Statement
This model Digidesign Mbox 2 Pro complies with the following
standards regulating interference and EMC:
• FCC Part 15 Class B
• EN 55022 Class B
• EN 55204 Class B
• AS/NZS 3548 Class B
• CISPR 22 Class B Any modifications to the unit, unless expressly approved by
Digidesign, could void the user's authority to operate the
equipment.
Radio and Television Interference
Canadian Compliance Statement
This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the
limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the This Class B digital apparatus complies with Canadian ICES-
FCC Rules. 003.
Communication Statement
NOTE: This equipment has been tested and found to comply Digidesign is authorized to apply the CE (Conformité
with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part Europénne) mark on this compliant equipment thereby
15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide declaring conformity to EMC Directive 89/336/EEC and Low
reasonable protection against harmful interference in a Voltage Directive 73/23/EEC.
residential installation. This equipment generates, uses,
and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed Safety Statement
and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause
This equipment has been tested to comply with USA and
harmful interference to radio communications. However,
Canadian safety certification in accordance with the
there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a
specifications of UL Standards: UL60065 7th /IEC 60065 7th
particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful
and Canadian CAN/CSA C22.2 60065:03. Digidesign Inc., has
interference to radio or television reception, which can be
been authorized to apply the appropriate UL & CUL mark on its
determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is
compliant equipment.
encouraged to try and correct the interference by one or
more of the following measures:
• Reorient or locate the receiving antenna. Warning
• 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.
Important Safety Instructions
Contents v
Chapter 5. Hardware Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Mbox 2 Pro Front Panel Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Mbox 2 Pro Back Panel Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Appendix E. Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
About the Pro Tools Guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
About www.digidesign.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Contents vii
viii Mbox 2 Pro Setup Guide
chapter 1
Analog Outputs
• Two 1/4-inch TRS analog Monitor outputs.
• Four additional 1/4-inch balanced analog
line outputs.
• Two additional channels of unbalanced
outputs on a single 1/4-inch TRS connec-
tor.
Convention Action
2 “Launching Pro Tools LE” on page 6. 2 Insert the Pro Tools LE Installer disc in your
DVD drive.
3 Configuring your system for improved perfor-
mance (see Chapter 4, “Configuring Your 3 On the Installer disc, locate and double-click
Pro Tools System”). Install Pro Tools LE.mpkg.
Installation Options MIDI I/O Driver The MIDI I/O™ Driver is re-
quired if you are using the Digidesign MIDI I/O
Pro Tools LE Options interface.
The demo session for Pro Tool LE is named “Fil- 2 Go to Applications/Digidesign/Pro Tools/
To install the demo session: Safe Uninstall Leaves certain plug-ins and sys-
tem files needed for compatibility with some
1 Insert the Pro Tools LE Installer disc into your
Avid products. Use Safe Uninstall if you are us-
DVD drive.
ing an Avid application or preparing to update
2 On the Pro Tools LE Installer disc, locate and to a CS (customer support) release.
open the Additional Files/Pro Tools Demo Ses-
Clean Uninstall Removes all Pro Tools files, in-
sions Installer folder.
cluding system files, Digidesign plug-ins, and
3 Double-click Install demo session.pkg. MIDI patch names. Use Clean Uninstall when-
ever you are preparing to upgrade, or to trouble-
4 Follow the on-screen instructions.
shoot from a clean system.
5 When prompted, select your audio drive as
5 Click Uninstall.
the install location and click Next to begin the
installation. When installation is complete, 6 Enter your Administrator password and click
click Close. OK.
Installing the Mbox 2 Pro on a Windows com- 1 Start Windows, logging in with Administrator
puter includes the following steps: privileges. For details on Administrator privi-
leges, refer to your Windows documentation.
1 “Installing Pro Tools LE and Connecting Your
Interface” on page 9. 2 Insert the Pro Tools LE Installer disc in your
DVD drive.
2 “Launching Pro Tools LE” on page 11.
3 On the installer disc, locate and open the
3 Configuring your system for improved perfor-
Pro Tools Installer folder.
mance (see Chapter 4, “Configuring Your
Pro Tools System”). 4 Double-click Setup.exe.
.
The demo session for Pro Tool LE is named “Fil- To uninstall Pro Tools from your computer:
tered Dream.”
1 Start Windows, logging in with Administrator
Before installing the demo session to your privileges. For details on Administrator privi-
audio drive, make sure the drive is config- leges, refer to your Windows documentation.
ured as described in “Formatting an Audio 2 Go to Program Files\Digidesign\
Drive” on page 54. Pro Tools\Pro Tools Utilities and double-click
Uninstall Pro Tools.exe.
To install the demo session:
3 Click Next.
1 Insert the Pro Tools LE Installer disc into your
DVD drive. 4 Click Uninstall to proceed with the uninstalla-
tion.
2 On the Pro Tools LE Installer disc, locate and
open the Additional Files\Pro Tools Demo Ses-
sions Installer folder.
After you have connected your system and in- Shut down your Pro Tools system in this order:
stalled Pro Tools software, you are ready to start
1 Quit Pro Tools and any other running applica-
up and configure your Pro Tools system.
tions.
Start up your Pro Tools system in this order: 5 Turn off any control surfaces.
1 Lower the volume of all output devices in 6 Turn off any external hard drives.
your system.
3 Click OK.
The RTAS Processors setting determines the 1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine.
number of processors in your computer allo- 2 From the RTAS Processing pop-up menu, select
cated for RTAS (Real-Time AudioSuite) plug-in the number of available processors you want to
processing. allocate. The number of processors available var-
ies depending on how many processors are
With computers that have multiple processors,
available on your computer:
or that feature multi-core processing or hyper-
threading, this setting lets you enable multipro- • Select 1 Processor to limit RTAS processing
cessor support for RTAS plug-ins. Used in com- to one CPU in the system.
bination with the CPU Usage Limit setting, the • Choose 2 Processors to enable load balanc-
RTAS Processors setting lets you control the way ing across two available processors.
RTAS processing and other Pro Tools tasks are • On systems running four or more proces-
handled by the system. sors, choose the number of processors for
RTAS processing.
For example:
3 Click OK.
• For sessions with large numbers of RTAS plug-
ins, you can allocate 2 or more processors to
System Usage Window and RTAS Processing
RTAS processing and set a high CPU Usage
Limit. The System Usage window (Windows > System
• For sessions with few RTAS plug-ins, you can Usage) displays the combined amount of RTAS
allocate fewer processors to RTAS processing processing occurring on all enabled processors
and set a low CPU Usage Limit to leave more with a single indicator, regardless of how many
CPU resources available for automation accu- processors are available in the system. If the Sys-
racy, screen response, and video. tem Usage Window shows that you are at the
limit of available resources, increase the number
• Depending on the importance of video and
of RTAS processors and adjust the CPU Usage
overall screen response, and on the density of
Limit setting.
automation being employed, try different
combinations of RTAS Processors and CPU Us-
age Limit settings to achieve the best results.
For example, to improve screen response in a
medium-sized session using a moderate num-
ber of RTAS plug-ins, try reducing the number
of RTAS plug-ins, but keep the CPU Usage Limit
set to the maximum (up to 99% on a single
processor system).
3 Click OK.
DAE Playback Buffer Size Using a larger DAE Playback Buffer Size
The DAE Playback Buffer Size setting determines leaves less system memory for other tasks.
the amount of memory DAE allocates for disk The default setting of 1500 msec (Level 2) is
buffers. In addition to levels, the DAE Playback recommended unless you are encountering
Buffer Size shows values in milliseconds, which –9073 (“Disk too slow or fragmented”)
indicate the amount of audio buffered when the errors.
system reads from disk.
To change the DAE Playback Buffer Size:
1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine.
3 Click OK.
Large Improves performance when using Elastic The optimum Plug-in Streaming Buffer Size for
Audio features, but it also decreases the amount most sessions is 250 ms (Level 2).
of memory available for other system tasks, such
• Plug-in Streaming Buffer Size settings lower
as RTAS processing.
than 250 msec (Level 2) reduce the amount of
Using a larger Cache Size leaves less system system memory used for sample playback and
memory for other tasks. The default setting frees up memory for other system tasks. How-
of Normal is recommended unless you are ever, audio quality of sample playback may
encountering -9500 (“Cache too small”) decrease.
errors. • Plug-in Streaming Buffer Size settings higher
than 250 msec (Level 2) improve the audio
To change the Cache Size: quality of sample playback, but they also de-
1 Choose Setup > Playback Engine. crease the amount of memory available for
other system tasks, such as RTAS processing.
2 From the Cache Size pop-up menu, select a
disk cache size. Using a larger Plug-in Streaming Buffer Size
leaves less system memory for other tasks.
3 Click OK.
The default setting of 250 ms (Level 2) is
recommended unless you are experiencing
problems with the audio quality of sample
playback.
3 Click OK.
The Sample Rate setting appears as the default Word Clock Use this setting to clock Pro Tools LE
sample rate when you create a new session. to a Word clock source connected to the
(This setting is available in the Hardware Setup Mbox 2 Pro Word Clock In port.
dialog only when no session is open.)
3 Click OK.
Configuring MIDI Setup
Your digital input device must be connected
and powered on for Pro Tools to synchro- If you plan to use any MIDI devices with Pro Tools,
do one of the following:
nize to it. If your input device is not powered
on, leave the Clock Source set to Internal. On Mac, configure your MIDI setup with Au-
dio MIDI Setup. See Appendix A, “Configuring
Configuring I/O Setup AMS (Mac OS X Only)” for details.
– or –
Using the I/O Setup dialog, you can label
Pro Tools LE input, output, insert, and bus sig- On Windows, configure your MIDI setup with
nal paths. The I/O Setup dialog provides a graph- MIDI Studio Setup. See Appendix B, “Configur-
ical representation of the inputs, outputs, and ing MIDI Studio Setup (Windows Only)” for de-
signal routing of the Mbox 2. tails.
For details on qualified versions of Mac OS, Disable or Reassign Mac Keyboard
refer to the latest compatibility information Shortcuts Used by Pro Tools
on the Digidesign website
(www.digidesign.com/compatibility). To have the full complement of Pro Tools key-
board shortcuts, you need to disable or reassign
Turning Off Software Update any conflicting Mac OS X Keyboard Shortcuts in
the Apple System Preferences, including the fol-
To turn off the Software Update feature: lowing:
5 Press and hold Command+Option+Con- 2 Select the volume in the left column of the
For Mac System Optimization, see “Opti- 3 In the right-hand pane, click the plus (+) sign
mizing a Mac System for Pro Tools” on to expand IDE ATA/API Controllers.
page 22.
4 Right-click on the Primary IDE Controller and se-
Before configuring your computer, make sure lect Properties.
you are logged in as an Administrator for the ac- 5 Click the Advanced Settings tab.
count where you want to install Pro Tools. For
details on Administrator privileges, see your 6 For each device, do one of the following de-
Windows documentation. pending on your operating system:
• Check the box Enable DMA (Windows Vista)
Required Optimizations – or –
• Set the Transfer Mode to DMA if available
To ensure optimum performance with
(Windows XP)
Pro Tools, configure the following settings be-
fore using Pro Tools hardware and software. 7 Click OK.
6 In the Power Options dialog, reveal Hard disk 3 Click Turn User Account Control on or off.
> Turn off hard disk after. 4 Deselect the Use User Account Control (UAC) to
7 Click the Setting option. help protect your computer option.
6 Click OK.
tions if necessary, as they may disable or ad- Computer (Windows XP) and choose Properties.
versely affect the functionality of other pro- 2 in the System Properties window, click the Ad-
grams on your system. vanced tab.
1 Right-click Computer (Windows Vista) or My 6 Under the Memory Usage section, select the
Computer (Windows XP) and choose Manage. System cache option.
2 Under System Tools, select Device Manager. 7 Click OK to close the Performance Options
window.
3 In the Device Manager window, double-click
Network adapters, then double-click the Network 8 Click OK to close the System Properties win-
Adapter card you want to disable. dow.
4 Under the General tab, choose “Do not use this 9 Restart the computer for the changes to take
device (disable)” from the Device Usage pop-up effect.
menu, and click OK.
Hardware Overview
Headphone Outputs
48V Switch and LED
Mbox 2 Pro provides two 1/4-inch, stereo head-
phone outputs, A and B, each with its own level Phantom power is activated by the switch la-
control. Headphones mirror the Monitor out- beled 48V on the front panel of Mbox 2 Pro. The
puts, by default (usually your main Pro Tools LED, when lit, indicates that 48V phantom
Analog 1–2 outputs). Headphone B can also be power is active on both Mic/Line inputs. These
configured for discrete monitoring of Pro Tools inputs provide phantom power for micro-
outputs 3–4 (Analog 3–4) using the 3–4 switch. phones that require it to operate.
Peak LEDs
Gain Controls
Input 1, 2 and the Aux Input have Peak LEDs
These knobs adjust the input gain levels of their that also function as signal meters. They light
corresponding input (Input 1, Input 2, or green at –60 dBFS, yellow at –6 dBFS, and red at
Aux In). 0 dBFS (peak).
The Mbox 2 Pro back panel provides the follow- 4-Pin FireWire Cable
ing:
Mbox 2 Pro includes a 6-pin to 6-pin FireWire
cable. Some Windows laptops include a 4-pin
DC Power FireWire port. To use Mbox 2 Pro with these
computers, a 4-pin to 6-pin cable is required.
This port supplies power to Mbox 2 Pro using
You can purchase this cable (model #CS625)
the included power supply. Though external
through your authorized Digidesign dealer or
power is not always required, you should use ex-
online at the DigiStore (www.digidesign.com).
ternal power if your 1394 bus is unable to pro-
vide enough power, or if you need to conserve This cable can also be purchased at com-
battery power in a portable computer. puter supply stores. Maximum supported
cable length for FireWire (IEEE-1394) is
FireWire (1394) Port 14 feet (4.3 meters).
The footswitch connector is designed specifi- The Mon Out Left and Right play the audio that
cally for instantaneous (momentary) on/off is routed to analog outputs 1 and 2 from within
pedals with a 1/4-inch TS connector. Continu- Pro Tools, respectively. These analog outputs
ous on/continuous off pedals can also be used, feature 24-bit digital-to-analog converters.
but may result in unexpected behavior.
Grounding Post
The Grounding Post is for grounding turntables
and other types of DJ equipment to Mbox 2 Pro.
Mic/Line 1 and 2
Each analog source input channel (Input 1 and
Input 2) provides Mic (XLR) and Line (TRS) in-
put on combination jacks. On the front panel,
the input signal is adjusted by the Gain control
for each channel and the source (Mic/Line, or
DI) is chosen using the Source selectors.
To hear audio recorded into a Pro Tools session, By default, Headphone B output mirrors the
you will need to connect headphones or an ex- Pro Tools channel 1–2 output being heard in the
ternal sound system (such as powered monitors Headphone A output. Whenever a discrete cue
or a home stereo) to the Mbox 2 Pro. Sound mix is required for overdubbing, Headphone B
from the Mbox 2 Pro cannot be played through output can be switched to monitor output chan-
your computer’s speakers or your computer’s nels 3–4.
sound output.
Do not use the front panel headphone out-
puts for anything but headphones. If you
use a headphone distribution amp or cue
Connecting Headphones system, use any of the six available Line
On the front panel of the Mbox 2 Pro are two Out channels on the back panel. See “Addi-
1/4-inch headphone connectors, each with an tional Analog Outputs” on page 36.
associated level control, labelled A and B. Con-
To connect headphones for mix monitoring:
nect up to two sets of headphones for mixing
and tracking. Connect headphones with a 1/4-inch stereo
connector (or adapter) to the Headphone A jack.
Headphone level (A, B)
To connect headphones for selectable monitoring:
Connect headphones with a 1/4-inch stereo
connector (or adapter) to the Headphone B jack.
Headphone jacks and controls on front of Mbox 2 Pro For information on using signal routing,
sends, and bussing to create submixes for
Headphone A monitors the Pro Tools main mix
monitoring (cue mixes), see the Pro Tools
outputs (output channels 1–2).
Reference Guide (Help > Pro Tools Reference
Guide).
If you have a CD, DVD, DAT or other device that Each Mic/Line In section on the back panel pro-
accepts S/PDIF connections, connect it to the vides combination jacks that accept XLR or TRS
S/PDIF In and S/PDIF Out RCA ports on the back connectors for Inputs 1 and 2.
of Mbox 2 Pro.
XLR For XLR microphone cables.
When recording from Pro Tools to a digital
Line For 1/4-inch Tip-Ring-Sleeve (TRS) cables
device, make sure the Pro Tools Clock
from keyboards, mixers, and other line sources.
Source setting is set correctly. For more in-
formation, see “Digital Input and Output” If you are using a microphone with a
on page 41. 1/4-inch connector, use the front panel DI
inputs.
This section describes the analog inputs avail- Input 1 and 2 also provide a front panel DI in-
able on Mbox 2 Pro. For information about con- put.
necting specific audio sources, see “Connecting
DI For 1/4-inch Tip-Sleeve cables from guitar,
a Microphone” on page 38, and “Connecting
bass, microphones, or similar sources.
Instruments to the Mbox 2 Pro” on page 40.
Aux In
Aux In connectors are provided for Line and
Phono sources. These inputs appear as Analog
In (3–4) in Pro Tools:
XLR connector
Using a Mic that Has an XLR
Connector
Pad
DI Mic
LED LED
Input 1 Source selector and LEDs Input 1 Pad
Input 1
4 On the front of the Mbox 2 Pro, turn the Connecting a 1/4-inch microphone cable to the Input 1
Monitor control to the desired level. DI connector
3 On the front of the Mbox 2 Pro, carefully turn To use a guitar with Mbox 2 Pro:
the Gain control to the right to increase the in-
1 On the front of the Mbox 2 Pro, plug your gui-
put level of your microphone signal.
tar cable into one of the DI inputs.
4 On the front of the Mbox 2 Pro, turn the
Monitor control to the desired level. Input 1 DI
Connecting Instruments to
the Mbox 2 Pro Connecting guitar to the Input 1 DI connector
Mbox 2 Pro provides three input types (DI, Line 2 On the front of the Mbox 2 Pro, set the source
and Aux In) that correspond to the different sig- to DI by pressing the Mic/DI switch until the DI
nal strengths output by different types of instru- LED is lit.
ments and other equipment. 3 On the front of the Mbox 2 Pro, turn the
Monitor control to the desired level.
DI Input (Front Panel) Instruments such as elec-
tric guitar or electric bass that usually have a 4 On the front of the Mbox 2 Pro, carefully turn
lower level of output than line level instruments the Gain control to the right to increase the in-
use the front panel DI (“Direct Inject”) input. put level of your guitar.
To use a keyboard or mixer with Mbox 2 Pro: To use the Phono inputs:
1 Plug your keyboard, mixer, or other audio 1 Plug your turntable, mixer, or similar outputs
source into either the Input 1 or Input 2 Line into the Aux In Phono inputs (L and R).
(TRS) inputs on your Mbox 2 Pro. If your source
2 If appropriate, connect your turntable to the
is stereo (such as a stereo keyboard or the stereo
Mbox 2 Pro grounding post. This is necessary
output from a mixer), connect the left channel
with some preamps and other DJ equipment to
(often the white plug) to Input 1, and right
help keep the signals free of (unwanted) hum
channel (often the red plug) to Input 2.
and buzz.
If your keyboard has unbalanced outputs, 3 On the front panel of Mbox 2 Pro, press the
use the Mbox 2’s DI inputs. Refer to your Aux In Source select switch as needed so the
keyboard’s documentation Phono LED is on (lit). The switch should be in
its “in” position.
2 On the front of the Mbox 2 Pro, set the Source
to Mic by pressing the Mic/DI switch until the
Mic LED is lit. Digital Input and Output
3 On the front of the Mbox 2 Pro, turn the Mbox 2 Pro provides two channels of S/PDIF
Monitor control to the desired level. digital input and output on the back panel. This
lets you record signals from digital devices into
4 Set your instrument’s volume to its optimal
Pro Tools, and send digital audio from Pro Tools
level. For example, the optimal level for most
to other digital devices.
keyboards is between 80% and 100% of maxi-
mum volume.
S/PDIF
5 On the front of the Mbox 2 Pro, carefully turn In
the Gain control to the right to increase the in-
put level of your keyboard.
Refer to this section whenever you plan to use Setting the Clock Source to S/PDIF is the only
S/PDIF input on Mbox 2 Pro. way to utilize S/PDIF input. Doing so lets you
record or monitor up to six discrete input chan-
The following requirement only applies to nels (the four analog input channels, plus the
using S/PDIF input to record or monitor dig- two channels of S/PDIF input).
ital signals through Pro Tools LE and
Mbox 2 Pro. Selecting any other Clock Source (Internal,
or Word Clock) disables S/PDIF input.
Mbox 2 Pro does not support external sync S/PDIF output remains available.
at 88.2 and 96 kHz sample rates.
2 Connect the MIDI IN of your MIDI device or Using high-quality, 75 ohm BNC cables (not
controller to the MIDI OUT port on the back of included) connect the Mbox 2 Pro Word Clock
Mbox 2 Pro. In and Out connectors to the appropriate ports
on the other Word clock-capable devices in your
MIDI studio.
In Out
5 Click OK.
Patch Select button Patch Select button MIDI patch name files (.midnam) can be
(Edit window) (Mix window) edited in any text editor, or you can use
Patch Select button third-party patch librarian and editor soft-
ware to create your own custom patch
names.
Some MIDI Interfaces will not properly load To define an instrument with MIDI Studio Setup:
or unload their drivers unless you quit and
1 Choose Setup > MIDI > MIDI Studio.
re-launch Pro Tools. Check the documenta-
tion that came with your MIDI interface for 2 Click Create.
more information.
3 In the Instrument Name field, type the name
The Instrument list contains all the currently If you do not enter an instrument name, the
defined instruments. Selecting an instrument in Instrument Name field will automatically
the list displays that instrument’s properties in inherit information from the Manufacturer
the Properties section of the window. and Model pop-up menu.
Input Port
1 Verify the MIDI Device name in the MIDI Stu- The Patch Select dialog is populated with patch
dio Setup window (see “MIDI Studio Setup” on names and the Patch Name Bank pop-up menu
page 49). appears in the upper left hand corner of the win-
2 Verify the Instrument or MIDI track output is dow.
correctly assigned to the MIDI device.
Recording to your system drive is not recom- Windows systems can also support Mac
mended. Recording and playback on a system drives formatted with HFS+ system (also
drive may result in lower track counts or fewer commonly referred to as Mac OS Extended).
plug-ins. Refer to the Pro Tools Reference Guide for
more information (Help > Pro Tools Refer-
ence Guide).
Digidesign recommends qualified SCSI hard 1 Launch the Disk Utility application, located in
A qualified internal IDE/ATA/SATA drive may be Do not choose the “Case-Sensitive” format
used as a dedicated audio drive. option. Pro Tools will not operate properly
with case-sensitive formatted drives.
For complete information on track count with
internal drives, visit the Digidesign website at: 5 Type a name for the new volume.
www.digidesign.com/compatibility
6 If you plan to connect the drive to a Mac OS 9
computer, select Install Mac OS 9 Drivers.
7 Click Erase.
Formatting an Audio Drive
The drive appears on the Desktop with the new
Formatting Mac Audio Drives volume name.
Stereo audio tracks recorded with 16-bit resolution at 44.1 kHz (CD quality) require approximately
10 MB of hard disk space per minute. The same tracks recorded with 24-bit resolution require about
15 MB per minute.
Table 4 lists the required disk space for certain track numbers and track lengths, to help you estimate
your hard disk usage.
Table 4. Required hard drive space for audio tracks (44.1 kHz and 48 kHz sessions shown)
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting 59
Audio Interface Is Not Recognized
Common Issues
Problem
Pro Tools Won’t Launch
When you launch Pro Tools it does not recog-
nize an audio interface, or a connected audio in-
Problem
terface is not available.
When you double-click the Pro Tools applica-
tion or a Pro Tools session file, Pro Tools doesn’t Possible Solutions
launch, or displays an error message.
Turn off your computer and check to be sure
your cables are properly and securely connected
Possible Solutions to your computer and to your audio interface.
Check to be sure your computer has the re- Verify that your Hardware Setup dialog set-
quired amount of RAM to launch Pro Tools. tings are correct.
Try a complete restart. Turn off your audio in-
terfaces, computer peripherals and your com-
puter, and then turn them on again in the
Performance Factors
proper sequence.
If you tried to launch Pro Tools by double- There are several conditions that may adversely
clicking a Pro Tools session file, do the follow- affect the performance of Pro Tools. These in-
ing: clude:
• Close any error message. Network Connections Close any network con-
• Double-click the Pro Tools application. nections unless you are using them for network
• In Pro Tools, choose File > Open Session to interchange of audio data.
open the session.
Background Applications Any software utilities
Reinstall the Pro Tools application, using the that run in the background or generate disk ac-
Pro Tools Installer disc. tivity, such as virus protection, disk optimiza-
tion, or file savers, should be turned off or re-
moved.
Troubleshooting 61
Diagnostic Information
Note any DAE errors or other error codes you en-
counter. Diagonally, note the ability to repro-
duce the problem under different conditions,
for example, with another session, or after
changing settings (such as the Hardware Buffer
Size).
Resources
Whether you are new to Pro Tools or just start- Printed Getting Started with
ing out with your new system, we encourage Pro Tools Guide
you to read and utilize the many guides that
Pro Tools provides. There are also useful online The printed Getting Started with Pro Tools LE has
resources available, giving you everything from tutorials on using Pro Tools (such as recording
Pro Tools tips to Pro Tools answers. in a Pro Tools session, importing audio from a
CD, and creating an audio CD from a Pro Tools
session).
Resources 63
Documentation Installed Training and Education Study on your own using
Automatically with Pro Tools courses available online or find out how you can
learn in a classroom setting at a certified
When you install Pro Tools, you get useful PDF Pro Tools training center.
versions of many Pro Tools guides and
Read Mes. This documentation can be found in Products and Developers Learn about Digidesign
the following locations: products; download demo software or learn
about our Development Partners and their plug-
Mac Applications/Digidesign/Documentation ins, applications, and hardware.
Windows C:\Program Files\Digidesign\ News and Events Get the latest news from Digi-
Documentation design or sign up for a Pro Tools demo.
To view or print PDF guides, you can use Pro Tools Accelerated Videos Watch the series of
Adobe Reader or Apple Preview (Mac only). free tutorial videos. Accelerated Videos are de-
signed to help you get up and running with
Read Me Files
Pro Tools and its plug-ins quickly.
These contain late-breaking information and
known issues pertaining to Pro Tools software Helpful Online Resources
and hardware configurations. Read Me files are
Once you get going, here are some helpful on-
installed in Documentation folder when you in-
line resources:
stall Pro Tools.
• Get useful information, help, and tips from
the worldwide community of Pro Tools users
at Digidesign User Conference (DUC). Go to:
About www.digidesign.com http://duc.digidesign.com
The Digidesign website (www.digidesign.com) • For questions about installation, visit
is your best online source for information to Digidesign’s online Answerbase. Go to:
help you get the most out of your Pro Tools sys- http://www.digidesign.com/answerbase
tem. The following are just a few of the services • If you can’t find your answer on the DUC or
and features available. Answerbase, contact Digidesign
Product Registration Register your purchase on- email support. Go to:
line. http://www.digidesign.com/tsr
A F
ASIO driver (Windows) 12 FireWire
audio drivers cable types 32
ASIO driver (Windows) 12 FireWire requirements 54
CoreAudio driver (Mac) 7 footswitch 33, 44
Audio MIDI Setup (AMS) (Macintosh) 45
authorizing Pro Tools LE G
Mac 6 gain
Windows 11 headphones 30
input 31
C
Cache Size 20 H
Clean Uninstall (Mac) 8 hard drives
Clock Source 21 drive formats 53
Internal setting 21 FireWire requirements 54
S/PDIF (digital) setting 21 formatting 54, 55
connecting Mbox 2 Pro formatting (Mac) 54
Mac 6 IDE/ATA requirements 54
CoreAudio driver (Mac) 7 maintenance 53, 56
CPU Usage Limit 17, 18 optimizing 56
partitioning 55
requirements 3
D SCSI requirements 54
DAE Playback Buffer Size 19 space requirements 58
DMA option (Windows), enabling 25 Hardware Buffer Size 16
drive formatting headphones
Mac 54 gain control 30
Windows 55 outputs A and B 30
drive maintenance 53
drive requirements 3 I
I/O Setup
E Windows 22
Energy Saver (Mac), turning off 23 IDE/ATA requirements 54
Ext Clock LED 30 Ignore Errors During Playback/Record option 19
indicators
peak level 31
phantom power 30
Index 65
input and output connectors 33 P
inputs partitioning hard drives 55
digital 33 Patch Select dialog
gain 31 Macintosh 48
installing Pro Tools LE Windows 52
Mac 5 peak indicators 31
Windows 9 phantom power 39
installing QuickTime (Windows) 11 indicator 30
when to use 31, 38
J Playback Engine
journaling (Mac), enabling 24 RTAS Processors setting 17
Plug-in Streaming Buffer 21
K Plug-in Streaming Buffer Size 20
key commands 4 plug-ins
multiprocessors 17
RTAS Processors setting 17
L
power
latency management settings (Windows) 25
Hardware Buffer Size 16
Power LED 30
Pro Tools
M demo session 8
Mbox 2 demo session (Windows) 13
back panel 32 removing (Windows) 8, 13
features 1 Pro Tools LE
front panel 30 capabilities 2
Mbox 2 Pro configuration (Windows) 16
connecting (Mac) 6 installing (Mac) 5
MIDI installing (Windows) 9
connections 42 processor performance (Mac) 23
requirements 3 Processor Scheduling performance (Windows) 27
setup (Macintosh) 45
setup (Windows) 49
Q
MIDI Studio Setup (MSS) (Windows) 49
QuickTime
Minimize Additional I/O Latency option 19
installing (Windows) 11
N R
network cards (Windows), disabling 27
removing Pro Tools
network connections 60 Windows 8, 13
RTAS Processors setting 17
O
optimizing hard drives 56
outputs
digital 33
Monitor outputs 33
T
technical support
product registration required 61
TRS 37
U
uninstalling Pro Tools
Windows 8, 13
User Account Control (UAC)
disabling 26
W
website 64
Index 67
www.digidesign.com