Specifications
Chapter 7: Making Hardware Connections 43
4 Set your instrument’s volume to its optimal
level. For example, the optimal level for most
keyboards is between 80% and 100% of maxi-
mum volume.
5 On the front of the Mbox 2, carefully turn the
Gain control to the right to increase the input
level of your keyboard.
Digital Input and Output
Mbox 2 provides digital inputs and outputs for
S/PDIF format digital audio. The two channels
of S/PDIF digital input can be used in combina-
tion with the two analog inputs (for a total of
four simultaneous input channels).
Connecting Digital Devices
To connect a S/PDIF device to Mbox 2:
1 Use two 75-ohm coaxial cables with male RCA
connectors on both ends (purchased sepa-
rately).
2 Connect the device’s S/PDIF output to
Mbox 2’s S/PDIF input port, and the device’s
S/PDIF input to Mbox 2’s S/PDIF output port.
Using S/PDIF Input
To configure Pro Tools to record from a S/PDIF
device:
1 Choose Setups > Hardware Setup.
2 Choose S/PDIF from the Clock Source selector.
On the front panel, the S/PDIF LED lights to in-
dicate this setting.
3 Click OK.
4 On the recording track, choose the appropri-
ate stereo or mono S/PDIF source from the track
Input selector.
S/PDIF Mirroring
Pro Tools LE uses S/PDIF mirroring to automati-
cally “mirror” the audio that is sent to Line Out-
puts 1 and 2 on the S/PDIF RCA outputs. This is
useful, for example, if you are monitoring a mix
using your Line Outputs, and also recording the
same source to an external S/PDIF device.
MIDI Connections
The two MIDI ports on Mbox 2 let you take ad-
vantage of all the MIDI features of Pro Tools LE,
including recording and editing MIDI tracks.
If you need additional MIDI ports you can add a
compatible MIDI interface. USB MIDI interfaces
work effectively with Pro Tools systems on Win-
dows or Mac. Serial MIDI interfaces are sup-
ported on Windows systems only.
To configure Mbox 2 to record from a digital
source, choose Setups > Hardware Setup in
Pro Tools, then select S/PDIF in the Clock
Source.
Only USB MIDI interfaces are compatible
with Pro Tools systems for Mac OS X. Mo-
dem-to-serial port adapters and serial MIDI
devices are not supported.