View other reviews for this product:
Published on 10/31/11 at 00:11
The TASCAM US 2000 is a pretty more souped up version of the popular US 1641. The appeal of these Tascam interfaces hits the same spot with everyone every time. They offer so many channels for such a rock bottom price that you just cannot pass it up! Right? One thing that the Tascam US 2000 is strangely lacking however, is MIDI. I am not quite sure how it did not make it on there, but if you take one look at the interface, in typical Tascam fashion, this company seemed to not waste any space. In fact, I am quite certain the people over there are neurotically obsessed with making the interface look as busy as possible, because that is certainly the impression that the US 2000 gave to me! Unlike the 1641, most of the microphone inputs are located on the back, which may make more sense in many applications.
UTILIZATION
What I did find incredibly joyous about the US 2000 however, was its method of monitoring for headphones. On a budget interface, you would only expect to see a knob that controls the ratio of monitoring sound coming from the computer verses the combined inputs. However, the US 2000 generously allows the user to set both volumes separately, which means that fiddling with knobs to strike the perfect balance between volume and ratio is a thing of the past! This is unlike the younger cousin, the 1641, which I am consistently bothered by on a day to day basis. I also find the meters very useful for maintaining balance when recording.
GETTING STARTED
The drivers for the US 2000 are a dream and run incredibly smoothly. Thus, this audio interface is just like any other proper interface. Works. No questions. No need to explain.
OVERALL OPINION
The preamps on this are a little bit better than that of the 1641's I have observed. They seems to have a little more excitement and energy. However, that is not even the main draw. To be truthful, the lack of midi makes syncing latencies when doing midi a little bit frustrating, and that is why even with all of its improvements I cannot truly recommend the 2000 over the 1641 or the 1800.
UTILIZATION
What I did find incredibly joyous about the US 2000 however, was its method of monitoring for headphones. On a budget interface, you would only expect to see a knob that controls the ratio of monitoring sound coming from the computer verses the combined inputs. However, the US 2000 generously allows the user to set both volumes separately, which means that fiddling with knobs to strike the perfect balance between volume and ratio is a thing of the past! This is unlike the younger cousin, the 1641, which I am consistently bothered by on a day to day basis. I also find the meters very useful for maintaining balance when recording.
GETTING STARTED
The drivers for the US 2000 are a dream and run incredibly smoothly. Thus, this audio interface is just like any other proper interface. Works. No questions. No need to explain.
OVERALL OPINION
The preamps on this are a little bit better than that of the 1641's I have observed. They seems to have a little more excitement and energy. However, that is not even the main draw. To be truthful, the lack of midi makes syncing latencies when doing midi a little bit frustrating, and that is why even with all of its improvements I cannot truly recommend the 2000 over the 1641 or the 1800.