Digidesigns Pro Tools Bundles

Thinking of setting up a Pro Tools digital audio home recording studio? Well a great way to get that up and running easily and cheaply is with one of Digidesigns Pro Tools Bundles.There's four of them altogether, two have the standard Mbox 2 and two have the Mbox 2 Pro. I'll list them all hear and give a detailed points of the differences that are in each bundle.First, all four bundles have these five main components in common:•    Mbox interface    •    Pro Tools LE 7 Software     •    Studio monitors    •    microphone    •    Ignition Pack (bunch of software) The bundles are named;    1.    Digidisign Pro Tools Mbox 2 Bundle    2.    Digidisign Pro Tools Mbox 2 Pro Bundle    3.    Digidisign Pro Tools Mbox 2 Factory Bundle    4.    Digidisign Pro Tools Mbox 2 Pro Factory BundleThe first difference:Bundles 1 and 3 have the Mbox 2 and bundles 2 and 4 have the Mbox 2 Pro.  The regular Mbox 2 uses USB port connectivity and the Mbox 2 Pro is FireWire. Some people will argue that the latest USB technology may be even faster than FireWire, while this may be true for some applications but not for recording music. For recording audio FireWire is faster than USB, which will give you slight audible delay called latency. I often do use a USB Mbox and redirect the monitoring to a mixer which can bypass the latency problem but it won't even be there with the FIreWire boxes.The second difference:Next are the studio monitors. The 2 lower priced bundles 1 and 3 (same bundles that have the USB Mbox 2) come with a pair of Fostex PMO.4 Powered Studio Monitors. These are slightly inferior to the M-Audio BX5a Active Studio Monitors that come with the slightly more expensive 2 and 4 bundles.The third difference:The microphone with bundles 1 and 3 is the Audio-Technica AT2020 Cardioid Condenser Microphone. A decent mic and good for digital recording. Bundles 2 and 4 come with an AKG Perception 200 Condenser Mic which has a bigger diaphragm and frequency range than the Audio-Technica.There are some other differences like the Ignition Pack. Even though all the bundles come with it, the 2 higher priced bundle packs have a few more goodies like the IK Multimedia T-RackS EQ plug-in. This is an excellent EQ and mastering tool which alone sells for about $300. Still, they all include some excellent software like Reason, Ableton Live, Sampletank, and Amplitube.So, for someone who wants to get recording on Pro Tools right away with everything you need and more, then one of these Digidesigns Pro Tools Bundles is for you.Almost forgot... they all come with a mic stand and cords!