Thanks Craig. I think both would be good choices. I am still leaning towards the Tascam simply because I don't think I'd need six inputs. At this price point I know I'm not going to get perfection but it's good to see that good quality products are available at the lower end of the market! 
 
Cheers 
YC

This link shows some (a Japanese company)tests of the Tascam UH-7000, that I just found on Gearslutz.
http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/img/avw/docs/644/196/html/44.png.html
 
I don't know how to tell how good news the tests are. Some of it looks very good. Any feedback will help. Especially on the large spikes! LOL
Is it likely that the new I/O units will have similar results? When you mention new drivers for the next generation of I/O, do you mean these 2X2, 4X4 and 16X08?
According the various places selling/offering the 16X08, it "does have DSP". Did that get left behind on the cutting room floor? January shows up as the "available date" for the 16X08 and Craig has only mentioned testing the smaller two units. Any chance you'll get that one earlier, Craig?
 
This thread is teaching me a lot, and also reminding me what I have no clue about, technically. I'm hoping to absorb some osmotically, so please do carry on.
Michael
 
 
 

pentimentosound
This link shows some (a Japanese company)tests of the Tascam UH-7000, that I just found on Gearslutz.
http://av.watch.impress.co.jp/img/avw/docs/644/196/html/44.png.html
 
I don't know how to tell how good news the tests are. Some of it looks very good. Any feedback will help. Especially on the large spikes! LOL
Is it likely that the new I/O units will have similar results? When you mention new drivers for the next generation of I/O, do you mean these 2X2, 4X4 and 16X08?
According the various places selling/offering the 16X08, it "does have DSP". Did that get left behind on the cutting room floor? January shows up as the "available date" for the 16X08 and Craig has only mentioned testing the smaller two units. Any chance you'll get that one earlier, Craig?

I'm sure I'll get a 16x08 when it becomes available but I don't know much about it yet.
 
This article will help you understand specs by explaining what the "large spikes" are (they're the test signals used as part of the measurement process) and includes audio analysis of the 2x2 and 4x4. FYI I haven't tested the 16x08 so don't know the extent of the DSP. The lack of DSP was referring specifically to the 2x2 and 4x4; the previous equivalents (US-322 and US-366) did have DSP.
 
Anyway, I can draw a few conclusions from the UH-7000 tests...

• The 2x2 and 4x4 preamps must indeed be derived from the UH-7000 because the specs are pretty much identical...very notable given the price point.
• Noise levels are really, really low. In my tests o the 2x2 and 4x4 I cranked up the gain to give a "real-world" indication of noise as opposed to the input noise, and it was still below -110 dB. The performance seems very much like the UH-7000.
• THD+noise shows the most prominent distortion components as 3rd and 5th harmonic distortion. Both distortion products are 100 dB below the output, so that's essentially inaudible (remember, dither is around-85 dB and this is anothet 15 dB below that). This is the same as with the 2x2 and 4x4. So the bottom line is distortion would be masked by dither noise.
• Intermod distortion shows three distortion components, one below -100 dB and two below -110. Again, very low.
• The crosstalk spec is phenomenal, the best by far I've seen in any of the dozens of interfaces I've tested. IIRC correctly the priciest Avid MBox Pro 3rd gen interface comes the closest. This is no doubt due to TASCAM using separate power supplies for the left and right channels, although that alone wouldn't be enough - I'm going to assume the circuit board layout is part of why this spec is so low. 

Overall, rating the performance as "excellent" is certainly justified by the numbers. My only complaint about the UH-7000 is it doesn't have a direct input for guitar.

yellowcake64
Thanks Craig. I think both would be good choices. I am still leaning towards the Tascam simply because I don't think I'd need six inputs. At this price point I know I'm not going to get perfection but it's good to see that good quality products are available at the lower end of the market! 
 

Please see the previous post for where to find hard data. It may not be perfection, but the performance at that price point is solid to say the least. Interestingly, I switched over to the 4x4 from the V-Studio interface primarily because it eliminated a particular type of crash, but now I've become a fan of the mic preamps as well. I sing through a dynamic mic and narrate through a condenser, and it handles both really well. 
 
If you do get the TASCAM, make sure you grab the latest firmware and driver updates.

Craig: Concerning the 16X08.... It appears the first 8 channels are on XLR only into the preamps. I need 16 line ins. Any work around for that? Right now, it's looking like the new MOTU 16A might be the best way to go for my needs.
 

rodreb
Craig: Concerning the 16X08.... It appears the first 8 channels are on XLR only into the preamps. I need 16 line ins. Any work around for that? 

Sorry, no. It's eight mic and eight TRS line inputs; the only workaround would be a hardware mod, which seems a little drastic 

Too bad. It looks like an interesting unit. Unfortunately, I've got too many preamps that would require line in's to make that configuration work.
 

So now we wait, though you, Craig, will probably have a 16X08 to test/check out before any reviews start showing up online. Yes?
Michael

On my wish list is a good keyboard controller with deep Sonar integration, much like Nektar has done with reason and Ableton... indeed, there are many controllers with great Ableton integration and it is the single biggest frustration I have with Sonar...
 
Or maybe the Bakers just need to assign someone to come up with really good Sonar templates for all the existing keyboards or at least some of them... this would be great and much quicker.  The Nektar panorama keyboard is a beautiful kit...and they're working on an 88 key version which will make it the ONLY awesome 88 key unit with state of the art screens/design... X3/4 should be part of this...

I just got a new PC, reloading everything last night when I went to download the driver for my Tascam 1800 I noticed a new driver. I've installed but won't have a chance to check it out until this weekend...has anyone tried the new driver? Have they fixed the latency issue?