Avid’s revival of the classic Mbox line, the MBOX Studio caught everyone’s attention. But does it deliver? We decided to find out by sending units to three of the Experts Team and getting three independent opinions…

Julian takes a detailed look followed by Steve DeMott and William Wittman each sharing their opinions. Over to Julian.

When Avid announced the MBOX Studio my first thought was that the original mBox cast a long shadow. That was an important product which left big boots to fill. Whatever the new MBOX was, it had better be good.

The second thought I had was that times have changed since the original launched in 2002. At that time this category of interface was new and its appeal was buoyed by the fact that you needed Digidesign hardware to access Pro Tools. Neither of these are the case in 2022. So if Avid decided to revisit mbox, what is it and who is it for?

First Impressions

When I finally got hands on with a unit, my first impression was just how substantial it is. It’s a long way from the chuck-it-in-your-bag compactness of its predecessors. That being said it was perfect for a short trip visiting family in which I managed to set up a studio away from home using my laptop and the new MBOX. The construction is very sturdy steel with proper nutted connectors on the back and the large dual encoders are pleasingly sturdy. The buttons are the squidgy rubberised type and helpful illumination and colour is used throughout, with the MBOX Studio looking very attention grabbing in a darkened studio.

Physically the $899 MBOX Studio is far removed from its namesake but it is still a USB interface which is targeted at the Pro Tools user. However its capabilities go much further than the mBox of 2002.

To overview the connections, its data connection is a single USB C, the included USB C cable comes with a USB A adaptor. Power is via an included 12V DC adaptor, this isn’t a bus powered interface. The 4 built in mic/line inputs are the same variable impedance design as found in the Carbon. There are 4 additional line inputs and the possibility of ADAT expansion which gives enough inputs for a basic live band session and with two independent headphone mixes via two headphone outs and the potential to add more headphone mixes via additional headphone amps routed via the remaining audio outputs the inclusion of a built in talkback mic doesn’t seen as overkill as it might on an mbox. There is a lot more flexibility built in to these audio connections, spdif is available on RCA or by switching the opticals from ADAY to spdif. Line in/outs can be repurposed as FX loops with Hi Z operation enabling use with guitar pedals. Old school MIDI is present on proper DIN connections and on the front you’ll find a Hi Z output for re-amping.

Guitar Options

This takes us to some of the MBOX Studio’s more interesting features. The MBOX Studio has lots of guitar-specific features. The 4 mic preamps feature instrument inputs and both mic and inst inputs have switchable impedance settings for tonal variation. I’ve already mentioned the Hi Z FX loops which allow proper matching when using guitar pedals. Reamping via the dedicated front panel connection is one of the stand out features for me as I’ve always been a fan of capturing a DI performance of guitars and monitoring via amp sim plugins, having the option of replacing or augmenting them with real amps later. This method is really practical for band tracking sessions where time is at a premium and the space is limited or when isolation options for keeping drums and guitar amps separate are few. I’ll return to this when we look at the built in DSP.

Continuing with the guitar-centric features, the MBOX Studio has a built in tuner, accessed via a dedicated button. Pressing this opens a tuner window on screen but also changes the top panel into a tuner display. Tuning of acoustic instruments is possible via the built in talkback mic too. Neat.

Another feature which can be launched via a dedicated button is MBOX Control, this control software is central to the power of this new interface. I’m surprised by just how useful something as simple as having a dedicated button to launch it is. This software is where you access the DSP built into this interface.

Built In DSP

When I heard the first details of MBOX Studio I wondered whether DSP referred to HDX style DSP as found in Carbon. A ‘Carbon Mini’ like this would be nice but is quite a long way from an Mbox, and would probably be over twice the price of this new mbox.

The use of DSP in the MBOX Studio is more like the use of DSP in interfaces like the RME UFX or MOTU’s 1248. While it does host some processing in DSP (EQ, Reverb and Delay) the principal benefit of the DSP is the DSP powered mixer which, using MBOX Control, offers low latency monitoring and comprehensive routing options. There’s too much to say about MBOX Control to cover everything here but if you have any experience of any digital mixing console you’ll be at home in MBOX Control. The interface shows the available outputs as tiles at the bottom of the UI. The inputs are across the top and the 8 internal busses, to which you can route signals from software, are across the middle. Once you understand that, clicking any of the outputs on the bottom row flips the other faders to show the mix for that output, indicating this change by changing the colour of the fader caps you’ll find it powerful and easy to use. This near zero latency monitoring path through the MBOX Studio’s DSP mixer does preclude the use of plugins while tracking as is possible with HDX or Carbon, but the built in DSP provides channel EQ and reverb and delay, based on D Verb and Mod Delay respectively.

The mixer is the principal reason for the DSP being implemented in MBOX Studio and it does an excellent job. The EQ is nice to have, though I expected dynamics as well. Delay and reverb are useful but considering the wealth of guitar related features in MBOX Studio, I was disappointed that there was no amp modelling available in DSP like in the Eleven Rack. Even if only for monitoring. I assume this is because the DSP can’t accommodate it but If it could host even some of Avid’s Eleven it would have a huge impact on the tracking experience.

Other features of MBOX Control worth mentioning include the use of the four big, round user-definable buttons on the top panel of the hardware which can be used to trigger user defined actions in MBOX Control, a total of 8 actions can be triggered because you can define one for press and one for press and hold for each button. Loopback is available. At present it routes audio from Internal 7-8 to ADAT input 7-8 for routing to a DAW. One of my favourite features is Expression Pedal MIDI mode which allows use of an expression pedal connected to one of the two pedal inputs to control anything from the BlackShiny Wah plugin in Pro Tools through to filter cutoff in Xpand! 2.

Bluetooth And Standalone Use

Bluetooth in and out is available on the hardware, this is good time to mention that because so much of the MBOX Studio’s features are realised in DSP, they persist in their last used state when used without a computer. This means that the MBOX Studio can be used as a monitor controller, not just when used as an interface with a computer, something it does extremely well, with two sets of analogue monitors, with linkable levels, digital out, two sets of headphones, and hardware button for talkback, mono check, dim and mute. Because the settings persist you can use the MBOX as a standalone monitor controller. You can even use the MBOX Studio as additional preamps because of this DSP routing, if you have a friend with an MBOX Studio you could plug yours into theirs via ADAT to build a bigger system.

Back to Bluetooth, Bluetooth input is available and fully routable. Handy for client phones, reference tracks and the like. Bluetooth output was cooler than I had anticipated. Avid talk about being able to route out to your car if its close enough for mix checks but I found routing to a bluetooth speaker in the next room far more useful, allowing a quick ‘grot box’ check from another room, meaning you could do the ‘check the mix from outside the control room door’ trick without having to move from the mix position. This could also be useful for remote playback or talkback if you’re tracking in an adjoining room when your artists have taken off their headphones.

Included Software

The MBOX Studio comes with a selection of bundled software including some nice Plugin Alliance plugins and more, including an intriguing plugin ‘Vibe Box’ from Baby Audio which has a UI which mimics the top panel of the MBOX Studio, briefly exciting me at the prospect that this specially produced plugin allowed plugin control from the top panel. Unfortunately, while it looks like the MBOX, turning the encoders on the MBOX doesn’t control the plugin. The bundle also includes a year’s subscription for Pro Tools Studio.

There’s a lot more to say about MBOX Studio. Like any product which involves software is a work in progress and one of the biggest features which is coming but is yet to be implemented is a version of Pro Tools which allows Pro Tools features to be assigned to the four user buttons. That is potentially going to be very cool. On the subject of software control, I’d like to see a Euconised version of MBOX Control, or even a version which can run on tablets. I find the DSP mixer so useful I’d like to be able to access it in more ways.

Sound

I haven’t yet mentioned sound. The preamps I was already familiar with from Carbon. They sound very good, are whisper quiet, something which couldn’t be said of the mBox 2 preamps, and while I don’t personally use different impedance settings on my mics, I do use them on DI inputs. It’s good to see them here. I’ve been using the MBOX Studio side by side with a Carbon and differences in audio quality haven’t crossed my mind once.

The Monitor Controller features are excellent and even in spite of the MBOX Studio’s large size and my uncompromising attitude to desk space, I’d use it as a monitor controller even when using my Carbon. Bluetooth is a winner with me and the use of colour on the hardware is informative and genuinely helpful, rather than just being flashy.

The unit itself is extremely solid, though I’m disappointed that the plastic end cheeks are a little lightweight compared to the rest of the unit, if I were keeping it (and better at woodwork)  I’d consider making some replacement hardwood end cheeks, it would be simple enough and it would look awesome.

I’m nit picking here but I’d prefer a different arrangement of headphone sockets and knobs as having the two headphone jacks in between two level knobs makes it impossible to use right angled jacks neatly.

Expert Panel - Hit or Miss?

In every Expert review we ask three of our team of contributors to give their first impressions of the product. We ask them to give the product a hit or miss, based on factors such as originality, innovation, usefulness, quality and value for money. For each hit the products gets an Expert Award. One hit and it gets our bronze award, two hits gets silver and for a hit from all three of the panel it gets a coveted gold award. Of course if there’s three misses, there’s no award.

Julian Rodgers

I’ve changed my opinion of the MBOX Studio from initially a little disappointed because in spite of the guitar focus there was no amp modelling, to impressed because of the flexibility offered by the combination of IO and the DSP mixer. The important thing about this change of opinion is that it happened after getting hands on with the unit and using it to do some recording. It’s an interface which has depth to it and will continue to be rewarding.

So the positives are great sound and build quality and flexible IO. Monitor controller features make it a great centrepiece to a project studio. The DSP mixer is really powerful and there are some clever and useful extra features like the reamping and FX loops. The negatives would be the DSP which feels like a missed opportunity as if it had amp modelling built in and MBOX Control was controllable over Eucon from a tablet or S1 it would make a great product even better. I suspect that hosting amp modelling isn’t possible on this hardware but maybe Eucon is possible in the future. In spite of this potential for improvement it still has to be a HIT.

Steve DeMott

The first thing that impressed me about the new MBox Studio was the build quality. I was expecting a much lighter, smaller & (if I’m being honest) a more plastic, less metal, build. While large, it certainly exudes a sense of confidence in the build quality. In many ways it reminded me of an external remote control unit for a tape deck. 

In use, the hardware was straightforward & the software control was easy to navigate. I had one moment of confusion when trying to get reverb in the headphone mix. Most of the headphone mix process relied on a fader flip mentality for sending signal to the selected outputs, and I was looking for that for the reverb too. Julian was able to point me to the rotary controls in the mix window which controlled the sends & off I went.

One of the places where I felt Avid missed an opportunity was with the user control buttons. I would love to have the ability to assign transport control to those buttons. I’ve since learned that the ability to control aspects of Pro Tools from the user buttons is expected in a future Pro Tools update.

Another nicety was the talkback functionality with the built-in talkback mic. I wonder how many in the target audience will be running sessions large enough to require a talkback, but I appreciated it being available.

As someone whose primary instrument is guitar, I was also anxious to try out the reamp feature. So, I recorded a DI’d guitar direct into Pro Tools and then played it back out the front ¼” “reamp” output into my Boogie, mic’d the Boogie on input 2 and recorded the mic’d signal back into Pro Tools. It worked flawlessly. I was even surprised at how tight the timing was. I barely had to nudge the reamped signal to line up with the original. Now, I normally wouldn’t just record a dry DI’d guitar, but I do include it when recording guitarists as a 2nd track to either use with amp modelling plugins or for reamping later. So, this is a welcome feature.

Lastly, I will nitpick a little and point out that I felt the audio quality wasn’t quite as good as what I’m used to. I will also freely admit that my preferred interface/converter costs five times what the MBOX Studio costs…so I would expect there to be a difference. It’s still quite good, especially for the price point.

All in all, the MBOX Studio is a solid mid-tier entry for Avid & a very capable interface. It boasts useful features like a talkback mic, variable impedance inputs & outputs, and a reamp feature, all which make it very flexible. And, while it is intended for Pro Tools, it will work with whatever DAW you happen to prefer. Avid has a HIT on their hands with this one.

William Wittman

After a bit of time playing with the MBOX Studio I have to say that, on the whole, it’s an impressive device. I’ve been saying for a good while now that Avid was missing the boat by not offering ‘semi-pro’ level interfaces to replace the estimable 003, and this seems to be both a smart and worthy successor.

First off, the audio quality is excellent, easily rivalling any similarly priced competitors. I also found the number of ins and outs to be well chosen and I could easily see how, given the various options provided, it could be integrated into most project studio workflows with nothing found lacking in that department.

After a bit of ‘figuring it out’, I was easily able to configure my set up with a vocal mic, an instrument mic, a stereo synth coming in as line ins, and a send and return to either record from or reamp through my Kemper profiling amp. The inclusion of MIDI in and out is also most welcome and, again, smart on Avid’s part. One less ‘extra’ thing to fiddle with is always welcome. While I’m used to connecting my audio interface via Thunderbolt, I can’t say that I had any issues with the USB C connection to my Mac Studio M1 Mac. Everything worked smoothly.

I personally am not a fan of needing another layer of software mixer between me and Pro Tools, and in truth I had a quick look at that implementation to understand it but it isn’t something I’d plan on using. I want my regular choice of plug ins and routing, within Pro Tools, so that I’m always moving steadily forward toward a final mix, but I can certainly see how someone else would find the ability to monitor without latency and with the provided effects to be a very useful workflow. It’s just not for me.

Lastly, I found the addition of Bluetooth to be really clever. It’s an almost everyday occurrence that someone walks in and says “can I just play you this from my phone?” and this makes that super easy to accomplish. And of course this also provides the ability to ‘stream’ a mix to a Bluetooth speaker as a mix check if one is so inclined.

On the whole I think the MBOX Studio is an excellent piece of kit and most definitely a serious contender, and quite possibly the best choice, in its price range. HIT

Three hits from our review panel means the MBOX Studio gets an Expert’s Gold award!