One thing to keep in mind with the UH7000 is you cannot bypass the mic pre's. I was looking hard at this unit but that was a show stopper. I'm looking at a replacement for my Scarlett 2i4 and the Audient id22 gets really good reviews. The RME babyface also gets high praise and I've read that RME has the best driver support of any of the companies. SPL Crimson is another to look at.
 
 

200bpm
I second the UFX or any RME product for that matter.
 
Regarding the UH7000, I am intrigued by that for $400.  Would adding one of those to my UFX be an upgrade in sound quality?  I would use it for D/A conversion to main monitors and maybe headphones (although the UFX headphones are great.)  Does it have a facility to use an external clock, or should the UFX clock to the Tascam?
 
My UFX pres are all tied up with dedicated mics and I could use a couple more mic pres.
 
 
 
 

jpenchosky
One thing to keep in mind with the UH7000 is you cannot bypass the mic pre's. I was looking hard at this unit but that was a show stopper. I'm looking at a replacement for my Scarlett 2i4 and the Audient id22 gets really good reviews. The RME babyface also gets high praise and I've read that RME has the best driver support of any of the companies. SPL Crimson is another to look at.
 
 

200bpm
I second the UFX or any RME product for that matter.
 
Regarding the UH7000, I am intrigued by that for $400.  Would adding one of those to my UFX be an upgrade in sound quality?  I would use it for D/A conversion to main monitors and maybe headphones (although the UFX headphones are great.)  Does it have a facility to use an external clock, or should the UFX clock to the Tascam?
 
My UFX pres are all tied up with dedicated mics and I could use a couple more mic pres.
 
 
 
 

I would only use it with mic pres on the inputs.  I dont have any analog gear that would need to connect directly.
 
Still, for $400 for just its D/A, phone amp and monitoring section, and two high quality clean pres it is still a bargain even if you don't use the USB.

I agree, it's a great deal for $400. I have an excel spreadsheet at home comparing most of the features of the ones I was looking at. I can post it when I get home. Here are some compare notes between the UH7000 and iD22 I found.
 
UH7000

Good:

• On-board DSP effects. (iD22 has none).
• 20-dot LED level input meter. (iD22 has none).
• XLR balanced line outputs. (iD22 has TRS).
• Sampling rates up to 192kHz at 24-bit resolution. (iD22 = 96KHz).
  Bad:
  
• No dedicated master volume. Line output level can optionally be adjusted with the headphones level control.
• No ADAT.
• No inserts.
• No bypassing of preamps.
• No dedicated instrument input (DI).
• Only 1 stereo analogue out. (iD22 has 2). Re-ampers take note.------------------
  
  Audient iD22
  
  The "opposite" of the above, plus:
  
• Programmable F-keys.
• Physical buttons for most operations.
• Good ergonomic design having the tilted control face.
• Monitor controller

I use v studio  100 with windows 8.1 just fine very stable. what exactly is it not doing. maybe I can help

thornton
I use v studio  100 with windows 8.1 just fine very stable. what exactly is it not doing. maybe I can help

This is probably the best answer.  Why spend money if what you have will work?

+100 RME Babyface, some of the best money I've spent on audio gear. The drivers are rock solid, the mix software is top notch and the unit sounds amazing.

Another happy Focusrite Scarlett user here!!
 
Scarlett 18i6 and the MixControl software are working flawlessly with X3 and Platinum : )

200bpm

thornton
I use v studio  100 with windows 8.1 just fine very stable. what exactly is it not doing. maybe I can help

This is probably the best answer.  Why spend money if what you have will work?

haha...good question!

Another vote for Focusrite. I've had my Scarlett 18i20 for several months now. Rock solid performance, great sound and awesome tech support. Couldn't be happier. Good luck.

The DSP on the Tascam is pretty basic.  I guess it would be fine for adding some performance 'verb, But I tend to stay away from it.  I have top-notch digital fx from the TC Konnekt unit.  The 7000 sports a single knob for headphones and master vol.  If you switch it to control just headphones, your master vol. goes to unity.  Not ideal, but hardly a major problem if you are careful.  So I don't keep headphones plugged in unless I'm actually using them - both vols. stay under the knob.  Finally, line going through the preamps is hardly a major deal breaker.  I doubt if anyone can tell the difference without turning the vol. up to ridiculous amounts on a great system.  Ideally, again, you'd want separate ins, but there is no practical difference.  I plug my preamps (Warm, RND, and other transformer units) and synths through the line ins and it sounds excellent.
 
As to answer my own question as to why the price drop, I imagine Tascam is making some money even priced as is.  It is about right when you consider other "Premium" interfaces start about $600 for the extra features - ADAT, monitoring control, inserts.  The RME is $700.  I doubt if the 7000 is getting new drivers.  Craig says the new multi-input Tascams are getting in-house drivers while the 7000 had outside ones.  But if you just need the sound quality, you are covered.  I'm very happy w/ it.
 
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