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maxonz « Good stuff »
Published on 03/18/11 at 19:27What characteristics have motivated your choice?
I needed an audio interface with stereo input for entering the output of a mixer, but also an interface to record from time to time to play guitar and bass (equivalent to a TonePort), I So I opted for this model
With which instruments or systems (console, preamp, DTD ...) do you use it with?
To record my group, I am returning the output of a mixer over, and I record what comes directly from the table. For my personal records, I use it with an electric guitar (Yamaha AES620) and an active bass (Ibanez SR 700)
For what purpose?
Record myself and my group, to play without having to use a huge amp too and to play quietly to play headphones, without latency. (No latency if it plugs directly into the headphone output)
What is your config (Motherboard / CPU / Ram / Disk ,...)?
Now I am running a MacBook Pro 2011 with Ableton Live 8, but before that I was under Windows which was not very powerful Windows that had 3-4 years, and it worked fine too, depending on use, but generally with ASIO and Ableton, it runs pretty good, the power has little to do with it in the end
UTILIZATION
The drivers are stable?
No crash for 3 months now and I've had several recording sessions. Daily use, pops in early use, but some settings in the buffers and asio and here we go!
What latency you get?
If you go through the large loop and we do TascamAbletonEntry Monitoring Tascam, we had a latency of a good second (both with my old PC, as with the Mac setup question I guess). On the other hand, we may very well plug in the guitar direct, activate the integrated guitar preamp (and yes, super good quality and more, maybe just a little low level noise, but it depends on taste) and get directly to the output of the Tascam headphone, and there is absolutely no latency, as on a normal amp.
GETTING STARTED
The installation is done it without problems?
A little laborious to install drivers on Windows, but it can go anyway
The manual is clear and sufficient?
It is very big (80-100 pages, A4), that's all I can say I did not open it...
OVERALL OPINION
For how long have you been using it?
Since January 2011 (3 Months) daily as an external sound card. It is an excellent sound card, from the integrated Realtek chipset for my old windows or in relation to the sound card in the MacBook Pro 2011, the quality is far superior, is in deep bass, treble sounds so good, excellent, nothing to say about that!
Did you try many other models before getting this one?
I just had the little home Toneport line 6 (GX). The Toneport is a plastic toy compared to this metal case and macif. While the software in line 6 is very comprehensive, on the hardware level, we feel the difference ... Toneport GX the box must have weighed about 100 grams, the Tascam weighs almost 1kg and above, you can type on it, throw it, the case is indestructible (except the buttons seem a bit "plastic").
What thing do you like most/least about it?
+
- Robust
- Sound card quality
- Input / Output MIDI
- Phantom Power
- Integrated preamp for guitars
- No latency direct mode
-
- Installing a bit difficult
- Sizzling guitar preamp when pushed a little (this is may be also my active bass preamp)
- Buttons wide gap with the robustness of the box (buttons not resistant)
- Connecting via USB 2 (Firwire, 3 or even USB Thunderbolt were favorites ...)
What is your opinion about the value for the price?
Just unbeatable! Maybe the Mackie ONYX home can compete, but it does not offer so many functions and connections.
Knowing what you know now, would you make the same choice?
I would choose a Tascam again, but with more inputs, a model for a hair above the price can record my entire group together (multi) better. But for the use of the musician who wants to record on Sunday and wants to have a quality sound on his computer, yes, it's really great!
I needed an audio interface with stereo input for entering the output of a mixer, but also an interface to record from time to time to play guitar and bass (equivalent to a TonePort), I So I opted for this model
With which instruments or systems (console, preamp, DTD ...) do you use it with?
To record my group, I am returning the output of a mixer over, and I record what comes directly from the table. For my personal records, I use it with an electric guitar (Yamaha AES620) and an active bass (Ibanez SR 700)
For what purpose?
Record myself and my group, to play without having to use a huge amp too and to play quietly to play headphones, without latency. (No latency if it plugs directly into the headphone output)
What is your config (Motherboard / CPU / Ram / Disk ,...)?
Now I am running a MacBook Pro 2011 with Ableton Live 8, but before that I was under Windows which was not very powerful Windows that had 3-4 years, and it worked fine too, depending on use, but generally with ASIO and Ableton, it runs pretty good, the power has little to do with it in the end
UTILIZATION
The drivers are stable?
No crash for 3 months now and I've had several recording sessions. Daily use, pops in early use, but some settings in the buffers and asio and here we go!
What latency you get?
If you go through the large loop and we do TascamAbletonEntry Monitoring Tascam, we had a latency of a good second (both with my old PC, as with the Mac setup question I guess). On the other hand, we may very well plug in the guitar direct, activate the integrated guitar preamp (and yes, super good quality and more, maybe just a little low level noise, but it depends on taste) and get directly to the output of the Tascam headphone, and there is absolutely no latency, as on a normal amp.
GETTING STARTED
The installation is done it without problems?
A little laborious to install drivers on Windows, but it can go anyway
The manual is clear and sufficient?
It is very big (80-100 pages, A4), that's all I can say I did not open it...
OVERALL OPINION
For how long have you been using it?
Since January 2011 (3 Months) daily as an external sound card. It is an excellent sound card, from the integrated Realtek chipset for my old windows or in relation to the sound card in the MacBook Pro 2011, the quality is far superior, is in deep bass, treble sounds so good, excellent, nothing to say about that!
Did you try many other models before getting this one?
I just had the little home Toneport line 6 (GX). The Toneport is a plastic toy compared to this metal case and macif. While the software in line 6 is very comprehensive, on the hardware level, we feel the difference ... Toneport GX the box must have weighed about 100 grams, the Tascam weighs almost 1kg and above, you can type on it, throw it, the case is indestructible (except the buttons seem a bit "plastic").
What thing do you like most/least about it?
+
- Robust
- Sound card quality
- Input / Output MIDI
- Phantom Power
- Integrated preamp for guitars
- No latency direct mode
-
- Installing a bit difficult
- Sizzling guitar preamp when pushed a little (this is may be also my active bass preamp
)- Buttons wide gap with the robustness of the box (buttons not resistant)
- Connecting via USB 2 (Firwire, 3 or even USB Thunderbolt were favorites ...)
What is your opinion about the value for the price?
Just unbeatable! Maybe the Mackie ONYX home can compete, but it does not offer so many functions and connections.
Knowing what you know now, would you make the same choice?
I would choose a Tascam again, but with more inputs, a model for a hair above the price can record my entire group together (multi) better. But for the use of the musician who wants to record on Sunday and wants to have a quality sound on his computer, yes, it's really great!