One for Craig sort of: Tascam interfaces

Hi Craig 
I read on a post recently that you really rate the new Tascam USB interfaces (US-2x2 and US-4x4) having had a chance to test them a bit.
 
I'm on the verge of buying a new interface and I'd really appreciate your view on how these stand up against similar products in the same price bracket like the Focusrite Scarlett range? Four inputs - as in the US-4x4 - would really suit me. I was looking at the Scarlett 6i6 but you've got me thinking about the Tascam products. Here in the UK the 6i6 and the US-4x4 are similarly priced at around £200. I'd really appreciate your (or anyone elses for that matter) thoughts on how the two products fare up head to head. Of course I realise at this price point there's always going to be some compromise but both ranges seem well specced and of high quality.
 
Cheers 
YC

Most people here know me, and realize that I'm going to present the reality of a situation to the best of my abilities. I don't need this job, I love this job...but I'm not going to compromise my reputation over it. However, others who aren't as familiar with my work might think "Dude works for Gibson Brands, they own TASCAM, he's not going to say anything negative." So, I decided to do two blog posts, one of them about latency and one about audio specs, using the TASCAM interfaces as examples.
 
The audio specs are taken from the RightMark analyzer. I endeavored to show real-world specs, and also, shed some light on how specs can be manipulated. For example, I measured the mic pre signal-to-noise and it was -130 dB. Wow! Fantastic! Unbelievable!! Except it was unbelievable, because the gain was only turned up a fifth of the way - not much of a preamp, eh?  
 
So then I turned the gain up to around 2/3, and ran another test. The salient point here is that the noise was still under -110 dB under real-world conditions of recording a quiet vocalist. That's a big deal. The lack of intermodulation distortion is exceptional, as is the lack of THD. 
 
I would never say anything negative about Focusrite, I know a lot of the people there. They are sincere, dedicated, and make fine products. But I will say that they are "the team to beat" and the US-2x2 is in direct competition with the 2i2. TASCAM knew they had to hit a home run, and IMHO, they did. The biggest advantages I see for the US-2x2 are 5-pin MIDI I/O (the 2i2 doesn't have MIDI I/O), maximum gain of +57 dB (suitable for most ribbons and low levels with dynamic mics) compared to only +46 dB for the 2i2, zero-latency monitoring done with a crossfader knob instead of a switch, discrete component mic pres stolen (I mean, borrowed) from TASCAM's UH-7000 interface, and iOS compatibility (with Apple's Camera kit). TASCAM claims the output can handle a maximum +20 dBu, and the instrument input impedance is 1 megohm, which is the value I would choose. I couldn't find equivalent specs for the Focusrite so can't compare them.
 
However if portability is of the essence, the 2i2 weighs 1.3 pounds while the US-2x2 weighs 2.43 pounds. Also, let's face it - those LED rings around the 2i2's Gain knobs do look cool 
 
Check out the article on latency and the article on specs, then circle back if you have any questions. I'm very impressed with the TASCAM units; frankly they're more than I expected. MIDI is important to me, as is sufficient mic pre gain coupled with extremely low noise. (BTW neither unit has digital I/O so that's not a factor here.)

FYI compared to the 2x2 the 4x4 has two headphone outs, which can be very useful.

If you mean record the output from one application into another, there's no mixer applet to do it within the box. The testing I did used loopback to measure the chain from input to output, but that was done with physical patch cords. I think you'd need to move up from the US-2x2/2i2 world to get that kind of control...something like RME's TotalMix or Focusrite's MixControl would do the job.
 
However, it depends on what you want to do. There are Windows equivalents of Soundflower for the Mac that can handle many (most?) loopback situations. 

I LOVE the glow rings. I set it to orange on the peaks and back off til always green. It seems to be the perfect level......for me. I am gonna try the 4x4(got one used) and compare. I plan on keeping both, as I am not a big fan of my other portable "tool", the Line 6 Sonic Port......

Excellent beginner's guide, Craig.  A common sense approach to understanding the basics of preamps and what the various terms mean.  And very little math, yet it all makes sense.
 
 

The Focusrite 2i2 measures 46.5 volts at cable end.
The 4x4 hasn't shipped yet...

My TASCAM does 46V as well. I have an early production unit, so I asked only because I wanted to make sure nothing had changed. When I first reviewed the Focusrite USB interfaces they were typically producing about +34V (FireWire ones didn't have this problem). I alerted them to this and was hoping it would be fixed, and apparently it has. Thanks for checking!

charlyg
Maybe someone else could chime in with the Tascam 4x4 measurement?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkXy12xVnRs
 

Got my 4x4 today. Having an issue with Audacity not seeing it, but it seems to be fine everywhere else. latency about the same, maybe a tad better than the 2i2.

charlyg
Got my 4x4 today. Having an issue with Audacity not seeing it, but it seems to be fine everywhere else. latency about the same, maybe a tad better than the 2i2.

Make sure you download the latest firmware and drivers. BTW a heads-up - someone posted a thread in here about horrible problems with the US-4x4 and how when he switched among different applications like SONAR and Media Player there would be a rushing kind of sound and delay. He thought this was a "bug" but it's not a bug, if you switch sample rates without switching rates in the 4x4 control panel, the 4x4 will switch automatically but it takes several seconds to do this so don't be surprised if this happens to you. 

Hello Craig...don't know if you'll see this or not, but wondering if

Thunderbolt PCI express card for PC

I found this card [link=http://www.frys.com/search?to=99&sqxts=1&cat=&sort=price%20asc&from=0&query_string=thunderbolt+pci+card&search_type=regular&fq=p10099997%2050.01*100]http://www.frys.com/searc...=p10099997%2050.01*100[/link]
at Fry's electronics...Wondering if this card and the Zoom TAC-25R
http://www.sweetwater.com...cWWF9mIUdBwaAgSu8P8HAQ would be a good pair for a low latency audio interface?
Or would it be any better than the Tascam US 20x20 USB 3.0 be just as good?
Any thoughts?
Thanks!

I sold my 4x4 and now have a Scarlett 18i8 I got used at a good price. The Tascam wasn't friendly with my multiple use computer. I had to uninstall and reinstall the audio driver many times when switching between streaming videos and using SONAR. The Focusrite has no such issues. I DO NOT LIKE the new Mix Control so I am using the Windows beta driver and it works fine. The other issue I had trouble sorting out was   had different sample rates for different projects. Once I get that all sorted out, things will be smoooooth.
 
Other than multiple uses, I would also highly recommend Tascam. I do have a soft spot for Focusrite stuff tho... I will admit to that.