Tascam US-122

When i first purchased the Tascam US-122, I was expecting it to work extremely well with my computer which is running windows 7. The price of the product attracted my attention as it looked like a solid mic pre-amp for my home studio recordings.

UTILIZATION

The tascam US-122 is compatible with almost every single daw the industry has to offer. It allows you to record to Mono channel condensor mics and it also includes Phantom power. THe product also offers jacks for you to plug in your guitar. I found that the customer support was horrible for this device.

GETTING STARTED

There was one major issue that i found with this product and that was regarding a static noise coming through my speakrers through direct monitoring through the interface itself. I thought that my computer was too slow but i was wrong. I did some research on the internet and i realized that it seems to be a latency issue with the product. Not just my interface but many other simliar models of Tascam have simliar problems. I believe this to be a compatibility issue.

OVERALL OPINION

THe recording quality this product offers is superb but the static noice that you get in your headphones through direct monitoring gets very annoying. I would not recommend anyone to buy this and would recommend them to buy either an m-audio interface or a steinberg interface as an alternative

The Tascam US-122 is one of the few usb audio-midi combination interfaces on the market. It features two xlr inputs, two line level inputs, direct input monitoring, and a stereo line-level output with level control. It is compatible with both Mac and Windows systems, although due to its age, is not officially supported by the newest operating systems.

This is a great portable interface that can do a little of everything. I mainly used it with my live laptop setup to play synths and keyboards, which is perfect with this unit, since it can process MIDI and audio at the same time. I've also used it to record guitars and microphones on the fly.

UTILIZATION

The drivers on Tascam audio interfaces, in general, can be problematic. Sometimes they work seamlessly, but sometimes they just don't work on certain operating systems or computer setups. I've owned three different Tascam audio interfaces, and each one has different drivers that seem to work the best on different setups. Unfortunately, the US-122 did not function with my new Mac OS 1.7 laptop, but it has worked fine for me on Windows XP laptops. Since this model is discontinued, there will likely never be updated drivers to better support newer operating systems.

The US-122 can record and playback two channels at once (stereo). I've used it with SONAR almost exclusively, and I've had no problems on my Windows systems. The drivers are not as low latency as some of the newer interfaces out there, but it was certainly fast enough for playing live keyboards for live shows.

GETTING STARTED

General setup is fairly easy: Install the drivers from the Tascam website or an included cd, plug in the interface via usb, and start using it through a DAW or standalone soft synthesizer. One of the advantages of this interface is that it is simple to use, especially with MIDI. All of the routing goes though one interface, so it is fairly easy to setup.

OVERALL OPINION

Overall, this is a versatile, portable audio interface that can be useful for many different applications. It may be a bit dated, but if you can find a good deal on this unit used, and you own an older operating system, this interface may be perfect. I owned this interface for several years, and it has served me well.

I purchased this unit from http://www.GearTree.com for $180 including free shipping. all I had to do was call for a lower price. I purchased the unit because I needed a portable easy to use audio interface for demo recording.

I love the fact that this unit comes with phantom power, 2 XLR inputs, and is powered bu the USB connection. These features make portability a snap - use on your laptop and bring it home for power editing on your PC. It works equally well on a Mac.

I prefer faders for audio volume, but cost and space likely caused Tascam to include knobs instead. No big deal.

Quality is rugged duty, and the unit has rubber feet that allow it to stay put. Knobs are plastic and might be vulnerable if handled roughly.

Great piece of recording equipment, affordable. You can't beat this deal - especially the price I got from http://www.GearTree.com.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I acquired this unit from "savedbytechnology.com", after trying equivalent M-Audio box. The M-Audio box was not sensitive enough to pick my Markley Humbucker pickup on my acoustic guitar.

The device works pretty well as advertised, though the laptop I'm running it off of doesn't like Cubasis VST or Gigastudio, both of which are included the Tascam. I'm told it may have something to do with the Hyperthreading processor I have. (Dell 5150 with 3.06 HT P4, 512 meg ram, 80 Gig hard drive). As a result, I'm using N-Track version 4, without any difficulty. This unit works very well if you want to do some home recording, and do multitrack recording. Cost: $267 CAD.



Pros: The device is easy to use, and the USB works well, though it should be all on its own bus, not sharing one with devices like printers, PDA's and so on.

The level controls work well, and one could even hook this device up to a power amp while at the same time, record what you are playing. This device also is small: carrying it around is not difficulty.

The US122 also has a guitar tuner, which works very well: so far none of my other laptop based tuners work as well as this one does.

Cons: There is a lag between the input and output, so it takes a bit of fiddling around to get the buffer sizes right to reduce the lag time. I think that the exact buffer size will depend on the machine that you are using. Note: this is not for use with a machine that doesn't have some horsepower to it.

A word of warning: when swapping mics and other inputs, make sure that you turn down all level controls to zero, and power off the phantom mic power. Otherwise, if the connector slides over the contacts inside the plug in such a way as to short the plug, you could blow the channel. This mixer is not like an analogue mixer: it is not forgiving of sloppy work with cables and attaching or disconnecting inputs.

Finally, the Hyperthreading processor may not like the packaged software such as Cubasis VST and Gigastudio 24. I use N-Track, and the software works pretty well right out of the box.

One can't deny the quality and sturdiness of the US-122. It is in a cast aluminium case, so it is light, and also well protected in the case. The volume knobs feel flimsy, but some other people have checked this and found that the volume controls are actually quite good.

Bottom line: if you are doing your own home studio recordings, this device along with the right software will do just fine. It also helps that you deal with a reputable distributor, and in this case, that means "savedbytechology.com"

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com