X1 64bit and Tascam US1800 Opinions Needed

Hi Gang...

Well... I'm still trying to turn my gifted Mac Pro into my Sonar DAW and it looks as tho I will finally have the money for the big three... X2, Windows 7 Ultimate, and an interface...

With the impending demise I would like to go with a USB device, and while looking I found that Tascam has this one (US-1800) with 14 analog inputs (8 with mic pre and 6 line/instrument only) for only $299 street! That so beats everyone else's price that I'm a bit scared...

Does anyone have any opinions about the Tascam gear? The last piece of tascam gear I owned was back in the 3340 days.... Wait I take that back. I do have a tascam DAT recorder that may/not work....

They offer 64bit drivers... so I'm wondering... Are the converters decent? Does the driver work well? Can you daisy more than one? (future)... do they behave well with Sonar?

I've still got a few days before I have the cash and will be looking to purchase... and I do have quite a few mic pre's already so I can use/not use theirs and simply use it as all line in (as I do now with my SSL/Soundscape Mixtreme 192 16 track)...

But the price is so low that I wonder...........

Anyone have any experience with their interfaces of this sort? I could really use some opinions and advice...

Much thanks...
Keni

I have it, on X1d 64 and the 64bit drivers work flawlessly.

ASIO latency on my Asus i7 laptop is imperceptible with Zeta 2.

ASIO does not allow more than one interface at a time and there is no chaining available.

However:

I also have the US-1641, identical forerunner with different cosmetics and I have run both at the same time using ASIO4All. But the tracks of the two are delayed and must  be manually re-alligned afterwards.
 
I have a good selection of pres on mixers and Edirol interfaces and the Tascam's pres are on a par with the latest Mackie pres. Connecting a Neumann TLM103, I hear the microphone noise above the pre's noise.
 
The US1800 is redesigned. There is no green signal LED because the threshold switches on the US122 and 144 click on guitar, so that problem is solved. And they have taken out the transformer and put the switching supplies on a separate board, far from the pres.
 
The gain, but also the attenuation range of the pres, is wide, allowing me to use my weak-output Shure SM7b and high-output TLM103 with no problems.
 
In my experience, Tascam's quoted specifications have always been conservative.
 
The computer-direct fader is linear over the whole range.
 
All-in-all, a great unit.
 
I removed the 19" mounting brackets and put it in a standard laptop sleeve together with my laptop in my rucksack.
 
 

Just a small comment,I have a Tascam us1641,Good unit,  But relies on the computer for much of the actual processing,I now moved up to a MOTU 828MK3,which really cuts the load on the computer,and the nice feature it can be used as a stand alone live mixer.(processing internaly )
 
I still have the Tascam and leave it hooked up to a 2 computer just for drums.if you can go for the MOTU or Avid...in the long run it's cheaper....if not you'll just keep upgrading your computer and jamming it up .
 
Just one other point about MOTU,you can daisy chain up to 5 units,as you know that ASIO will only reconize 1 unit driver...so with the tascam and many other units you would have to sell and re purchase a larger unit.I have always found this a loosing option.
 
Big Plus even on smaller Motu units they all can run at 96k,and do not have to run on ASIO driver,,take a look before you buy the tascam.
I also use a 2 channel edirol/rolland interface for a laptop.very handy.
 
Gary

Thanks Guyz....

That makes things a little easier. I too can't understand why they are blowing these out at such a low price... and I'm so broke that I haven't been able to buy even a stereo interface for my new Mac Pro (running Windows) but some cash has just come my way and I'm trying to stretch it.... I currently have two workstations. One is an old P4 running Sonar 5 with 32 i/o (two Soundscape Mixtreme cards under win2k)... Not a lot of power but it can handle that many i/o if/when I ever need it. My main DAW is a Vista32 core2duo with a single SSL/Soundscape Mixtreme 192 which has 16 i/o... enuf for most small bands' basics.... Again not a lot ow power but X1 runs well there for the most part.

The new Mac Pro is dual Xeon Quad Cores and 16GB of RAM! I'm so frustrated not being able to get at that power....

So, the interface itself sounds like a good buy for me right now as it will still give me reasonable band recording capabilities for the price of a stereo interface....

I'm a bit confused about a few things tho. I typically use WDM as I've had good response with it and it's easier to adjust on the fly as a project's demands change... It was my understanding that ASIO drivers would allow multiple units, but only if they are identical.... Even a 1641 isn't an exact match to the 1800...

The latency issue sounds good as I'm sued to running at near 30ms during most of my work and only with certain needs adjust the situation so that I can run down below 10ms... Such as playing a VSTi... I can run at 1ms, but not with anything practical loaded so I use a quick 8ms or so and can usually manage.... So I think I'll be able to handle it's latency ok...

We'll see how it performs and if it's not as good as I expect, it will suffice until I can buy something more high-end...

Windows Ultimate/Pro/?........... As you can see, I'm trying to run dual quad processors and 16GB so I know I need at least Pro... As the cost difference is relatively small I just figure I might as well go the last few bucks and have Ultimate...

With my SSL/Soundscape gear I've always been able to run multiple units and even mixed devices... I was running two Mixtreme cards and a Mixpander (all Soundscape) simultaneously and cleanly....

I've heard good things about the MOTU gear as well but it would cost me more than twice as much to have 16 i/o (Tascam's is only 14 but that will do much of the time)... So I've considered them in the long run...

I really like the Focusrite pre's, but their 8 i/o interface is firewire and I'm trying not to lock into that standard as it appears to be falling from use... The Tascam is USB...

I've also considered the Presonus which now has a very nice USB 8 i/o device out but again this will cost too much for me right now. I like their' pre's as well for general use... Not designer but transparent and clean with a lot of range...

Thanks for all the responses. I think I can buy this with reasonable comfort now...

Keni

[edit]

I almost forgot to mention... My reason for not simply using the Mixtreme 192 interface (which I wish I could) is that the Soundscape line has essentially been terminated by SSL and tho there's some kind of 64 bit driver released as beta, it's been thus for years now with little chance of it changing and it's soooo hard to get/find! <sigh>... Oh and even more fundamental (tho I could manage a workaround) is that it is PCI and the Mach only has PCIe slots.... <sigh>...

[end edit]

I sometimes use a US1641 with W7 64 bit with no problems.  My R.T. latency is 15 mc. at 88200/24.  There are better interfaces out there if you want to spend some money but it is decent for the price. Like Cactus Music said it's good for recording live bands or real drums.

Thanks again everyone...

Beepster... Does Pro support multi-processor? (I have dual Xeon-Quads)

The latency doesn't sound great, but it should suffice for now.... Once I have this Mac up and running I'll target a better interface if I find it necessary... but at least I'll be able to work on my own projects more easily than I do now... I almost never use a latency setting faster than 8ms tho I can get down to 1ms....

Today's the day... I'm off to town to put money on my card so that I can start ordering things...

First will be my X2 pre-order (boxed version)
Second will be the interface (I can use it on an HP Quad, liquid colled which was also gifted to me)...

Then in another week or so I'll have enuf cash to get win7Pro and get the Mac Pro running the way I want... and switch the interface to the Mac!

Thanks again...
Keni

For me it will kick the meters up by a steady 50 to 300 ms depending on the computer. The weaker the machine the higher the reading.

Translation:  Poorly written driver


If ultimate performance at ultra low latency is important to you, I'd avoid this unit.
Round-trip latency is particularly high.
Otherwise, it's OK... nothing more/less.

Thanks Beepster...

I've had so many issues ordering things today that I lost an entire day of work... I misjudged how much cash to leave on my card and found myself short so I thought I'd get Win7 only to find all kinds of messages claiming that no version of win7 supports multi-processor... only a single with more than 4 cores.... So I ran into town a second time and placed more cash on my card only to be a bit hesitant about the 1800 because it lacks inserts (I like hardware compressors when I record)... so I searched into that more before finally giving in and buying the 1800... I almost bought the Focusrite scarlet as I'm not so much in need of the mic pre's, but it doesn't support Vista 64 which is all I have on my quad-core HP.... so this will be the temporary upgrade... From my core2duo to the quad with double the memory and 50% higher clock...

...until I'm certain about buying windows for the mac's needs. I just found the following in Micorsoft's info system (after a day of searching):

Product functionality and graphics may vary based on your system configuration. Some features may require advanced or additional hardware.

PCs with multi-core processors:
Windows 7 was designed to work with today's multi-core processors. All 32-bit versions of Windows 7 can support up to 32 processor cores, while 64‑bit versions can support up to 256 processor cores.

PCs with multiple processors (CPUs):
Commercial servers, workstations, and other high-end PCs may have more than one physical processor. Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate allow for two physical processors, providing the best performance on these computers. Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, and Home Premium will recognize only one physical processor.

So if I read that correctly, I should be fine with Win7 Pro... what I found earlier was a lot of discussions from people who added the second processor later and either didn't have exact matches or had the stepping set differently on each... But no one that actually had it running... As this Mac came with the two, I'm gonna guess that they step the same and are identical... So I may buy it later this week or next (cash dependent)...

What an exhausting day!

Thanks for the help everybody! I'll post results as they happen...

Most important? I pre-ordered X2 for download and hard copy!


Keni

Hi Bob...

You may be right...

But I find most of the drivers poorly written in some fashion... It's learning to work with their' issues in the long run...

My Mixtreme drivers work great except that they force me to re-profile every time I change sample rate..... Gets to be a nuisance, but other than that they work great!

I installed a small Tascam for a student a number of months back... I think it was a 144? In any case, it works fine on her machine ever since so I'm not sure what problem you had but it may have been situation dependent...

In any case.... I've already ordered the 1800 as it will be fine to get this workstation up and running and somewhat band-ready. It's not the fastest so it's probably not the best for my personal use, but I should be ok for a while until I get the Mac running and have a better idea... The new Presonus VSL devices boast a 2.8ms-6ms latency.... Very attractive... But I've had many issues with many of their products on Windows platforms tho I did get them working fine... The Focusrite have the nicest sounding pre amp.... But neither of these companies support Vista64 which I'm blessed with on my HP liquid cooled machine... so it raised the anti another $100-$200 which I don't have right now.

The RME stuff is supposed to be excellent tho I've had no experience with them yet...

I think they're cheap for a few reasons... but that doesn't mean they don't work fine for many situations. I don't get a ton of band recording dates these days, but the 1800 is a safe buy to cover that immediately...

So sad that these companies all write ASIO drivers and little if any WDM as the ASIO are so restricted in so many ways...

We'll see.... Right now I'm focused on the issues regarding which version of Windows to buy for the Mac with it's dual-Quad processores and 16GB of RAM.... I'm just so itching to feel that running Sonar! ;-)

Thanks for sharing...

Keni

Thanks Bob...

As I mentioned earlier (I believe)... I used their' gear in the past but not really for quite some time tho I have more faith in them than many other companies...

I'm sorry you had so much trouble and I hope you can get your RME sometime very soon... Sometimes simply getting a DAW up and running can be daunting...

I've been very happy with my SSL/Soundscape Mixtreme stuff for more than 10 years and a number of computers... Too bad they require PCI.... My new machines only offer PCIe and while I'll bet there's a box to convert one to the other, I'm a bit shy of getting that to work! ;-)

So the 1800 will be a stab in the dark and very possibly only for a short time until I too can get something that solves whatever issue(s) arise...

With good positive thoughts that it will surprise me and work well here, I await it's delivery! ;-)

Keni

Thanks Alex...

It sounds as tho you had acombination of defective hardware and driver problem... I'm guessing that the driver works fine for win7... Here's hoping it works with Vista64 as well tho I'm planning to migrate it to the Mac under win7 pro within another week...

Keni