DIGIDESIGN DIGI 002 RACK PRO DJ MID PRO TOOLS PLATFORM

NOTE THIS AUCTION IS FOR THE RACK ONLY, NO SOFTWARE INCLUDED, SOLD AS IS PICTURED, TESTED/WORKING GREAT!

Continuing its line of project-studio-level recording systems, Digidesign follows up the Digi 002 with a rack version called, simply enough, the Digi 002 Rack. But with this release, the project part of that ever-popular compound term project studio is slowly becoming irrelevant. In both hardware and software, the Digi 002 Rack moves Digidesign's midlevel Pro Tools LE platform very close to the pro ranks in nearly every way.

The Digi 002 Rack is a Pro Tools LE-based FireWire interface that supports the latest Mac OS X operating system and Windows XP. The name Digi 002 Rack is somewhat of a misnomer: The original 002 is a Pro Tools LE mixing control surface and interface combination that also functions as a stand-alone digital mixer. Most of the real estate that makes up the 002 — faders, rotary controls, navigational buttons, scribble strips and so forth — is absent from the rack version. It also has no stand-alone functionality. In this sense, it's more like a modernized version of Digidesign's wildly popular Digi 001 interface.

What the rack unit does share with the Digi 002 is its audio specifications, input and output layout, and volume and monitoring controls. It operates at as high as 24-bit, 96kHz audio resolution and connects to a computer via a single IEEE 1394 FireWire cable. Also, like the original 002, it includes four high-quality mic preamps; eight total analog inputs and outputs; and MIDI, ADAT and S/PDIF I/O. On the software side of things, the Digi 002 Rack includes Pro Tools LE version 6.1 running on Mac OS X (specifically, version 10.2.4) and Windows XP. Aside from being a simple upgrade to meet the modern age, Pro Tools LE 6.1 is a significant overhaul in both look and feature set that still retains the comfortable functionality of previous LE versions.

One of the beauties of the Digi 002 Rack is its portability and easy setup, thanks in large part to the robust FireWire technology that alleviates the need for PCI cards for connection to a computer. In other words, the Digi 002 Rack can run on laptops, as well as desktops (more detail on this to come). Digidesign's USB-based Mbox is an even more portable system, but it is comparatively limited in terms of fidelity and breadth of I/O options. In contrast, the 002 Rack is mobile, great-sounding and packed with I/O, making it a truly professional recording system. To prove the point, I used the 002 Rack on a six-week album project in Nashville. Thanks to some fortunate and not so fortunate situations, I was able to put the 002 Rack through a range of real-world production tests.