Should I get EMU 1820 or Digidesign MBox?

Hello everyone,

I'm considering upgrading my Delta 44 to an emu 1820 or Mbox? I like the specs of both products. The Mbox is questionable because it's an USB 1.1 device. It won't have as much juice as a PCI unit but it's portable and come with some great plugins. I’m not that concerned about portability because I'm using a desktop but maybe somewhere down the line I’m jump to a laptop or an Apple desktop. Regardless of all the bad posting about the 1820, most of the reviews on this board and the media indicate this is a great unit. Has anyone used both of these products? Any input would be appreciated?

Thanks!

carlo3874

ORIGINAL: carlo3874

I like the specs of both products.

Not sure what you read spec-wise but the 1820 is all over the M-Box in converter quality,no contest.

The Mbox is questionable because it's an USB 1.1 device.

I'd say so.

it's portable and come with some great plugins.

The plugins are only compatible with the included PTLE,not Sonar.

somewhere down the line I’m jump to a laptop or an Apple desktop.

the 1820 is not compatible with Apple,but the M-Box is.I'd only get the M-Box if I were interested in running PTLE on a laptop,no other reason.For a Desktop solution for Sonar there are plenty of better choices including the 1820.

Thank you Alndln,

I have been told PCI has a faster data transfer rate than USB 1.1. There are too many options out there to choose from. I would like to simplify my setup. I hook my mic (Audio Technica AT2020 to record Taylot acoustic 110), guitar (Fender Mex Strat with Warmoth Neck & Fender Lace Sensor Pickups), and bass (Warwick Corvette Standard) to a Presonus TubePre into a Presonus Comp16 (sometimes through a Line 6 Pod 2 & Bass Pod) into my Delta 44 break box, monitoring through a pair of M-Audio Studiophile monitors, working entirely in Sonar 4 Studio. I'm a little concerned about signal degradation, going through several devices before the audio interface. I think I'm going to check out the 1820. I like the break box and heard enough good things about it. I'm still curious about the Mbox. Are there any success stories out there regarding the Mbox working with Sonar without any hitches?

ORIGINAL: carlo3874

I think I'm going to check out the 1820. I like the break box and heard enough good things about it.

Keep in mind that the 1820 get's it's power from your PC internally so it's pretty much married to your desktop.The M-Audio FW 410(FireWire) is a good solution for desktop and future portibility for laptops.And yes,avoid USB(especially 1.0/1.1)at all costs unless PTLE figures heavily in your plans.The converters and Mic Pre's(low end Focusrite)on the M-Box are average at best and should only be looked at as a cheap/entry way into PTLE,nothing more.Keep in mind that USB and FireWire both introduce more latencey v/s CPU usage,so unless portability weighs into your future plans PCI will perform much better,but at the moment EMU's ASIO drivers don't perform much better than a good FW unit(4-5ms at best)and is PCI bandwidth intensive,but sounds better than anything in it's price range.Weigh your options.

I would keep shopping. Like maybe Motu or the Lynx one.................JDW

I really like my Emu 1820, but sometimes I get really frustrated with the constant crashes. Occasionally I need to spend 20 minutes rebooting my computer, then all of a sudden Sonar starts without a problem for no apparent reason. That makes me hesitant to recommend the Emu 1820 to anyone. Even if it is a Sonar problem (the way Emu says), the upshot is the 1820 seems very touchy when used with Sonar 4, and the one who has to deal with the headaches is the user. And from the user's point of view, it doesn't matter who's "fault" it is.

yea, MBox's biggest point is PTLE. My friend got it, and it works great on his laptop for runnin PTLE, but if you have already invested in SONAR it would be much better to look around and look for a dedicated soundcard over a card bundled w/ software.