i have used PT LE for about 8 years and it does all i could ask and then some. i think it sounds as good as one's recording skills (fantastic or horrible, depending...). there are still plenty of features i have not mastered.
well worth the money, IMHO, and i have never been limited by the software, per se...

The PTLE software is fine. It's the Mbox 2 mini that you will find limiting.

I would try to stretch to the Mbox 2 (not mini), or else to something in the M-Audio range that comes with PT M-Powered.

It's the Mbox 2 mini that you will find limiting.

how will the proper mbox treat me better? i intend on putting a condenser which requires phantom through the mic input. perhaps for recording drums i might put a mixer through the line input, by panning everything to the right and just joining main right output from the mixer and putting it through the line input that way?

thanks again

You've probably chosen the Mbox 2 Mini because it has the one mic input. Boswell, I think, was just pointing out that the unit is limited due to that fact.

Yes, you can use a mixer through the line ins, but you can't use both the mic input AND the line input on input 1.

It's not the most common Mbox unit for recording multitrack. I see more voice over people getting the Mini.

Does anyone know if there is any real difference between the mic pres of the different mBoxes? I would assume the 003 stuff is at least a bit better, but not as good as HD.
I don't think you should get too get too carried away with that kind of audiophile tweaking, all of this stuff sounds pretty good. To respond to your original question, I think the single best thing about ProTools is that the HD software in the big studios around the world works identically to the LE software that someone at home can afford. If you have the latest version, your home recording session will open up on a full-blown PT HD system & look & work exactly the same. The only functionality differences I know of are track count and what plug-ins will work, which probably aren't issues for you.

ahavill wrote: Does anyone know if there is any real difference between the mic pres of the different mBoxes? I would assume the 003 stuff is at least a bit better, but not as good as HD.

i'm interested in this also...
i have an mbox pro and a digi 002, and i'm not sure i see much of a difference, though i also use outboard pres. i have recorded with the mbox pres with success with a nice mic in a nice room.
i would love the black lion mod if it really would give me 4 great pres in the 002, as opposed to the functional but uninspiring ones... i wonder why they stopped putting focusrites in the mbox?
is the 003 an improvement?

ahavill wrote: Does anyone know if there is any real difference between the mic pres of the different mBoxes? I would assume the 003 stuff is at least a bit better, but not as good as HD.

The best that Digidesign ever did for pre-amps in their low-end range were the Focusrite-designed pres in the original Mbox. It all went a bit downhill from there. Not that the 00x range or the newer Mboxes are particularly bad, it's just that they haven't quite got the headroom or the punch in comparison with some other manufacturers' interfaces in a similar price bracket.

PT is a closed system that effectively stifles competition at the hardware level, so if you want PT, you are stuck with Digidesign or M-Audio interface hardware. That doesn't have to be the end of the story, however. I recently had the opportunity to use my DAV preamps and Alesis HD24XR to feed 8 ADAT channels into an 002R-based PT system. The improvement over the channels going directly into the 002R preamps was staggering, although admittedly were are talking about a couple of leagues up in equipment level and price.

Possibly the best way to get the permitted maximum of 18-channels into a PTLE system using external pre-amps and converters is to use an M-Audio LightBridge and M-Powered PT, although if you are wanting PT only for post processing, capturing tracks using different hardware and software and then importing the .wav files into PT for the post is a workable combination.

ok the help is great guys, appreciated.

on thomann on all the digi boxes it says that the package includes free upgrade to pro tools 8. anybody know how one avails of this? or does anyone know anything about pro tools 8?

PT8 is the latest version. Old stock will still be PT7 and hence the free upgrade. It's the least that customers should expect.

If you are worried about it, look for a distributer that has sufficient turnover to have PT8 packages in stock.