Oh how the Pro Tools family has grown!

Just ten short years ago, if you said you had a “Pro Tools System,” it was enough to fully identify your capabilities to another person - you could edit audio. Well, ok, that may have be an over simplification, but that pretty much describes the vast majority of what the system was used for!

Over the years, the system has grown in both capabilities and use. It’s now one of the most advanced and dominant digital audio workstations in the industry. Rather than seeing one system with a few options, we see seven different products and a ton of add-on hardware and software. With so many options, it can be difficult to balance your needs with your budget.

In this article we will delve in to Pro Tools LE family of hardware and software products, give a simple explanation of the key features, and audio input/output configurations.

Pro Tools LE Software Pro Tools LE is the inexpensive system designed for home studio and portable studio situations. Pro Tools LE refers to the software included with the interfaces we’ll discuss individually. The LE software itself is virtually identical regardless of which interface you choose, so it deserves some discussion on its own. Pros: Inexpensive, easy to use, flexible enough to be used in almost every facet of audio production. Cons: Has limited track playback capability (32 standard, 48 with the addition of the Music Production Toolkit), relies on the host processor exclusively for power to operate plug-ins, may incur unsatisfactory levels of throughput latency during recording. Pro Tools LE Hardware Digidesign’s policy has always been to require a proprietary audio interface be connected in order to run Pro Tools. The line of LE interfaces available reflects different levels of need with size, portability, and cost are balanced against input and output quantity and type.

Digi003 The 003 is a mixer style form with the largest assortment of features. It features 8 faders and pan/send encoders for tactile control of the mixing functions in the software. More on that later. In terms of inputs and outputs, the 003 features 4 analog inputs for microphone or line level signal, 4 analog inputs for line level signal only, an 8 channel adat optical input, and a 2 channel s/pdif input. This assortment of inputs and outputs gives you the capability to record up to 18 simultaneous sources at once. Given that it’s the most full featured, it should come as no surprise that it’s also the most expensive. Pros: Has tactile control via touch-sensitive faders, has a variety of input formats, has enough inputs to record a full band, uses the firewire interface standard to connect to the computer, operates at sample rates up to 96kHz. Cons: It’s a bit bulky, therefore not extremely portable, it’s somewhat expensive compared to other options.

Digi003 Rack The 003 Rack is exactly the same as the 003 in terms of capabilities and input and output options. The only difference is that instead of being built in the form of a mixer with faders, the 003 Rack is a simple rack-mounted device. Pros: About half the price of the 003. Cons: Lacks tactile control of 003.

Mbox2 Pro This is the top of the Mbox family hierarchy. The MB2Pro is a more portable form factor than the 003. It’s combination of inputs is pretty great for such a small box. It has 6 inputs: 2 inputs for microphone or line level signal, 2 inputs for line level (or phono) signal only, and 2 channels of s/pdif. It has 8 outputs: 4 line level TRS, 2 unbalanced outputs via a single TRS stereo connector, and 2 channels of s/pdif. Pros: Uses the firewire interface standard to connect to the computer, operates at sample rates up to 96kHz, very portable, has a good mixture of input and output types. Cons: Lacks any tactile control, its price is a bit high compared to its features.

Mbox2 This actually the first of the second generation portable interfaces Digi introduced (the first being the “original Mbox”). Its form factor is smaller than the MB2Pro, but it doesn’t have the quantity of input and output options. It has 4 inputs and outputs: 2 for mic or line level and 2 s/pdif inputs. Pros: Inexpensive, smaller than the “Pro,” good “bang for the buck.” Cons: Uses USB 1.1 to connect to the computer, only operates at sample frequencies up to 48kHz.

Mbox2 Mini In answer to the demand for an ultraportable solution, Digidesign introduced the Mini. It’s the smallest interface offered with any sort of input. It has a single input for mic or line level signal and 2 outputs for stereo operation. This is really the most cost effective solution for anybody planning to do any recording. Pros: Very inexpensive, very portable, excellent value. Cons: Like the Mbox2, only uses USB 1.1 and operates up to 48kHz.

Mbox2 Micro This is portability at its most extreme and probably the closes we’ll ever get to operating Pro Tools without hardware at all. The Micro is little more than a USB headphone amplifier. It has no inputs and a simple 1/8” stereo headphone jack with a volume control. Pros: Extremely portable, great piece to have on hand for long plane trips when you need to get some work done. Cons: somewhat expensive. Add-ons These are the cool things you can add to a system to make them a little more fun to use.

Command|8 The command|8 looks and feels a lot like the 003. But unlike the 003, this is only a controller. This can be added to any of the LE systems and gives you the same type of tactile control as the 003. Pros: gives tactile control to whatever system you have, isn’t overly expensive. Cons: lacks some key features of the 003 such as scroll wheel.

C|24 The C|24 is the newest of the Digidesign control surface offerings. It is a 24 fader system and like the Command|8, it can be used with pretty much every Pro Tools system configuration. It does offer a great deal more than the Command|8 in terms of features, but its most striking advantage is the quantity of controls available. Pros: Offers a wide variety of controls and types, integrates well into any Pro Tools system. Cons: It’s expensive, It’s fairly large, it’s new and thus unproven.

Music Production Toolkit MPT is a software add-on that opens a number of features in the LE software and includes some nice plug-ins. The key features of MPT are the expansion from 32 “voices” to a 48 “track” capability and the full version of beat detective. The voice/track expansion can be difficult to understand at first, but if you consider that a mono track uses 1 voice while a stereo uses 2 voices, you can see the limitations in the 32 “voice” system. MPT allows for 48 “tracks” that can be mono or stereo. In effect, MPT expands LE’s playback capabilities by three times. In addition, LE’s beat detective will only work on a single track. That can be limiting when editing multitrack elements such as drums. MPT expands beat detective to its potential with multitrack capabilities. Coupled with some sweet plug-ins and this is a pretty cool bundle to have. Pros: Expands track count of LE, opens capabilities of beat detective, bundled with some nice plug-ins. Cons: Could be considered expensive, requires ilok to operate,

DV Toolkit 2 DVT is similar to MPT in that it adds key capabilities to your existing Pro Tools LE system. In this case, the features are centric to video production workflows. It still has the track count expansion as MPT, but not the beat detective expansion. Instead, timescale rulers for SMPTE timecode and feet|frames has been added as well as capabilities to use OMF type 2 files. If you’re in the video world, these are essential tools for working with video workstations. Pros: Expands track count, opens new ruler options, bundled with some videocentric plug-ins and essential workflow utility: Digitranslator. Cons: Expensive, requires ilok to operate.

Ilok The ilok is used to hold the authorizations for your plug-ins and add-ons. Many manufacturers use this type of authorization to prevent their software from being pirated, or used without buying the software. Since the ilok is a simple USB device, it can be carried from system to system should you find yourself working away from home and having plug-ins you own that you want to use in another location. Pros: Protects the manufacturers from piracy, makes plug-ins portable from system to system, is relatively simple to use. Cons: It’s fragile, it can be stolen, it can feel cumbersome on systems designed to be extremely portable. Well, there’s a rundown on the LE world. Don’t consider this a definitive description of this gear by any means, but rather a short explanation of many pieces. In the next installment, we’ll discuss the HD systems and how they go together. As you work through your own system or purchasing decision, keep in mind that Pro Tools is a common thread between all this hardware. One of the best parts of the Pro Tools world is that you can start small and expand as your needs and expertise grows. Now, get back to work!