Tom I'm glad you made this video even if it is 3 years old at this point. I have a lot of respect for you as a musician and your opinion. I am looking at upgrading from my 2 chan interface to a 4ch interface. I really like the fact it has all 4 inputs on the front. A big concern for me is latency. I like the fact its not bus powered.
Okay, old vid,, not the latest product it's five years old todsay, but still out for sale at a good price for what it is (allthougfh it aint budget gear). I wanted to comment here to remind something, tascam (previously teac) have been designing audio in/out and recording gear since the neolithic times. I got this brand new a few months ago )i'm more of a producer in a dawless invironment i got this to add 8 outs to my synclavier REGEN) without even looking anywhere else than Tascam, i'm 46 and when it's about those kinds of things (and utility or "caracter" mixers) i always went for either fostex or tascam, my oldest tascm unit is a T38 (8 track tape recorder). These guys know theyre job, it's maybe not considered a mega heavy pro brand because units stay "small" and are oriented towards the home studist, so some people would call it "prosumer" stuff allthough they have been doing this before most of the other geezers were even born, and if they dont make hudge things, or add stupid gadget or preamps that will dumbly be powered by 5 volts (lol ridiculous), but they arer sturdy, durable, very well made, and do what they are supposed to do with the best quality and experience you'll ever get for the cost... If you are not a big pro with a big studio asnd the bux that go with that, imo tascam is the way to go for those types of tools, weATHER IT BE NEW STUFF, OR COOL VINTAGE GEAR (mixers and tape recorders mainly).
Sounds great! Thanks for the brilliant review. Just three questions.. Is the conversion in this unit good? Is the headphone output good and clear? Does the monitoring sound good through the main monitors? Thank you 😊
I think you are mistaken about there being Reverb per channel. Reverb can only be applied to AUX1Bus, and cannot be applied to any other channels, nor inputs, nor to AUX2, 3, or 4 Buses. That is my understanding from reading the reference manual. For example, look at the block diagram near the end of the reference manual. So one could not set a different reverb for mic1 and mic2. You could send mic1 and mic2 to Aux1 and apply the same reverb to both. Reverb can only be applied to AUX1Bus. But you are correct that eq and compression can be applied per input channel, which is nice.
The DSP mixer might be what gives this the edge over some of the other interfaces I'm looking at. Having that control for (near) latency free monitor mixes for tracking is really awesome.
Thank you very much for the review! I just noticed that the main reason because I'm here is that I would like to find out how well does the Hi-Z input perform! Did you have a chance to try it? I heard it to be a bit muffled
Thanks for nice explanation on 201i. Is this sound toy has ‘loop back’ function to do livestream? I own 102i and not able to connect to OBS. Kindly help me.
Do the line inputs bypass the mic preamps? Tascam say yes and point me to the block diagram on P37 of the manual, but then people on the Tascam forum say no and point to the same diagram! Can anyone clarify? Someone also suggested the diagram shows that phantom power can also be applied to the instrument and line input as well as the mic input, which could be dangerous to some gear. I also have another question. Is it easy to use this interface with Logic (using the IO tool) to route a stereo bus audio out of say line output 3/4 and back in to line input 3/4 for processing with my external compressors etc? One guy i know says he's not got it to work. Do you simply tell Logic which channels to use or is there some config in the Tascam software too that needs to be addressed? Thanks
Honestly, the only unit of about this size with that many I/O is the Metric Halo 2882 which is easily 3 times the price for the older firewire version. Sure those aren't MH pres or converters but this is really awesome. I can now use my old m-audio 2626 pres in stand-alone mode as well! Over 60dbs of gain for this puppy, not too shabby. I was a paper-weight until now, so that's awesome!
Haha funny, the m-audio 2626 work around is exactly y i started looking at this unit. I hated m audio for dropping support for my firewire unit, but now im a tascam fan boy i guess.
That is great. Wordclock SYNC, Midi and ADAT. I have the old US2000 and a 1641, both have been bullet proof. Tascam always come up with the goods. Thank you Tom. Very thorough. You give the most detailed explanations.
Great review! I'm trying to find a interface with Onboard DSP that will work without the software running. Is that possible with this one? Can you set it with the software and then it still works as just hardware?
very good review Tom of this unit but i thought you would present the Control software a lil bit more to show the routing capabilities N various Cuemix options ....maybe you could do that in the future....
when switched to standby instead of on are all of the led's off? this is a pet peev of mine I hate obnoxious led's being on when they don't need to be.
Spotted it for my iPad, cool review, Tom! Can I route iPad apps using Tascam mixer? Like have Gadget as main DAW, while driving midi to non interapp/auv3 synth app, that output to Tascam channels and I pickup their sound into separate within Gadget? Can Tascam mixer route physically what Audiobus does? TNX!
Thanx Tom for a great review. You know, I don’t have an iPad Pro but a regular 9.7 a couple of years old. Do you think it would still record well and be able to use a software amp sim with little to no latency?The IPad is my newest gadget and probably more powerful than my old i3 processor laptop. I’m a bit scared to invest in the interface if the iPad will be the weak link. Thank you.
How would you compare this interface with your main interface ? As far as the quality of the signal for guitars ? I am between a presonus mobile 192 and this tascam now :) Thank you for this great review !
Nice review! I saw this interface a few days ago and I regreted not seeing it before... I bought a few months ago a focusrite scarlett 8i6, I'm very happy with it but the amount of options on the tascam it would have been great
Hey Tom, great review - I just bought one! I am having trouble with my new audio interface the Tascam 208i. I want to send the output of channels 3&4 of my tascam into my eurorack clock so I can sync it with my daw. I don't want to hear output 3&4 through my master monitors. I only want outputs 1&2 (monitor out) to route to my monitors. How can I set this up so that outputs 3&4 on the back of the 208i do not route to the monitors (plugged into output 1&2 (monitor out)? The routing is confusing the hell out of me...
I've had the 208i for a few months now, just started having issues with the headphone jacks and monitor outputs. Any ideas of how to fix the crackling/popping issue? I've tried just about everything from USB cable, stereo cables/adapters/amps, routing/bit rate/uninstall/reinstall.... Running Studio One 4 Artist with 208i + 8p Dyna A+B on Ryzen 5 3600 16gb ram
Tom Quayle hey tom, I’m the topic of nick. Is there anyway to get the backing track that you played over in the “minor blues” jam with nick? Thanks I’m advance man
Tom, does the 102i have all the features and capabilities of the 208i but with less I/Os? I just don't think I need that many. If the smaller unit isnt losing other capabilities, it might be better for me-the home guitar player recorder
Would you consider doing an instructional how to video for the complete beginner? I bought a Tascam 102i intending to use it with audacity and I'm clueless. The manual seems confusing, audacity works fine when I use my inbuilt computer mic (but quality is obviously awful) plug in the Tascam and nothing works... or if someone has already done a tutorial (even a paid tutorial is fine) that I haven't found yet, please let me know! Thank you
This is great information and I purchased one! How about doing a tutorial video on how to set it on Windows and with different microphones. 👍👍😎 ~Maverick
Love this interface, blew my Scarlett 8i6 right out of use. Only complaint is can't reference through different monitor setups on the interface itself, have to go through the software :/
The behringer UMC 1820 has a total of 10 line outputs plus spdif and adat outputs addable to that, all for the price right now of around 300 us dollars, i bought mine for less than 200 during a holiday sale lat year. It has handled every single mixing and recording task i have thrown at it.
I just bought the 102i and there seems to be a problem with the drivers of Tascam. I have to raise the buffer size to 1048 samples in order to be able to hear sound from my DAW Cubase 5 and doing so it introduces a noticable latency when recording guitar. My previous interface was Lexicon Lambda and although much older it didn't have such problems. Any help from anyone? I have also ASIO4ALL but it drops out.Thanks from Greece!
Please note, the lowest overall latency is over 7ms! What makes this sound card unusable for live ... It actually has an input latency of 1.3ms but more than 6.5ms at the output! I returned the sound card because the drivers are not efficient enough.
What a stupid statement makes it unusable for life? Really do you know what 7.5 milliseconds are. That's the time sound travels in a few feet so if you're a few feet away from your monitors there's your latency already. Nobody would hier der den alive settings with it is actually a great of audio compared to professional studio engineers period live Mixer guys are below is in the hacking order. They work with the crappiest gear and have the worst years.
I got one about 3 weeks ago, and i agree it is an amazing interface for the cost! My round trip is at 5 ms, the lowest i seen on a Tascam interface. I got this to replace my Us 1800.
Is this line of interfaces really USB Audio Class compliant? If it is, it's great news! If it's not, it's a no-go.Tascam don't have a good track record in regards to their own driver quality. USB Audio Class compliance is an industry standard which allows the interface to be used without specialised drivers, which in turn allows it to be used under Linux. This is the reason I had to abandon otherwise very capable Tascam US-366 and US-2000. Their drivers for Windows were obviously not up to professional level, as US-366 started to crackle in self-oscillating manner under heavy load, which couldn't be really stopped by switching buffer size (which is a standard way) and required a complete hardware reset (USB reconnection). Surprisingly, even amazingly affordable Behringer UMC204HD allowed for smaller latency, didn't have this driver problem and is class-compliant, so works smooth under Linux.
I've had this working flawlessly with my iPad Pro and Hackintosh without any driver installations, so I'm assuming the class compliant description is accurate.
If you was reviewing by a car would you drive it ? You mention nothing about it's performance it's mic pres etc you should have done much better than that Tom!
Tom I'm glad you made this video even if it is 3 years old at this point. I have a lot of respect for you as a musician and your opinion. I am looking at upgrading from my 2 chan interface to a 4ch interface. I really like the fact it has all 4 inputs on the front. A big concern for me is latency. I like the fact its not bus powered.
Okay, old vid,, not the latest product it's five years old todsay, but still out for sale at a good price for what it is (allthougfh it aint budget gear). I wanted to comment here to remind something, tascam (previously teac) have been designing audio in/out and recording gear since the neolithic times. I got this brand new a few months ago )i'm more of a producer in a dawless invironment i got this to add 8 outs to my synclavier REGEN) without even looking anywhere else than Tascam, i'm 46 and when it's about those kinds of things (and utility or "caracter" mixers) i always went for either fostex or tascam, my oldest tascm unit is a T38 (8 track tape recorder). These guys know theyre job, it's maybe not considered a mega heavy pro brand because units stay "small" and are oriented towards the home studist, so some people would call it "prosumer" stuff allthough they have been doing this before most of the other geezers were even born, and if they dont make hudge things, or add stupid gadget or preamps that will dumbly be powered by 5 volts (lol ridiculous), but they arer sturdy, durable, very well made, and do what they are supposed to do with the best quality and experience you'll ever get for the cost... If you are not a big pro with a big studio asnd the bux that go with that, imo tascam is the way to go for those types of tools, weATHER IT BE NEW STUFF, OR COOL VINTAGE GEAR (mixers and tape recorders mainly).
Sounds great! Thanks for the brilliant review.
Just three questions..
Is the conversion in this unit good?
Is the headphone output good and clear?
Does the monitoring sound good through the main monitors?
Thank you 😊
I really appreciate the way you explain the features of gear like this where many of us are nieve. Cheers brother.
I think you are mistaken about there being Reverb per channel. Reverb can only be applied to AUX1Bus, and cannot be applied to any other channels, nor inputs, nor to AUX2, 3, or 4 Buses. That is my understanding from reading the reference manual. For example, look at the block diagram near the end of the reference manual. So one could not set a different reverb for mic1 and mic2. You could send mic1 and mic2 to Aux1 and apply the same reverb to both. Reverb can only be applied to AUX1Bus.
But you are correct that eq and compression can be applied per input channel, which is nice.
Awesome video, i wish i had found this when i picked up my interface. I got it around the time you released this too.
The DSP mixer might be what gives this the edge over some of the other interfaces I'm looking at. Having that control for (near) latency free monitor mixes for tracking is really awesome.
You're so underrated it ain't even right. High quality content, informative... More please!
Thanks for the video Tom. I recently purchased the 208I and Series 8P Dyna for a total of 12 inputs. How is your unit enduring these days? Thanks
Thank you very much for the review! I just noticed that the main reason because I'm here is that I would like to find out how well does the Hi-Z input perform! Did you have a chance to try it? I heard it to be a bit muffled
It also allows one to mix for multiple loudspeaker systems. I love that review. Best regards there.
Thanks for nice explanation on 201i. Is this sound toy has ‘loop back’ function to do livestream? I own 102i and not able to connect to OBS. Kindly help me.
Honestly, this seems exactly what I'm looking for! Thanks for the little review Tom
Are the drivers okay?
asking for the world
Thanks for the video I really like Tascam they are the leaders in the industry.
I dont understand why they dont have an adat out! I want to add send/recive through adat! Unfortunate miss!
Do the line inputs bypass the mic preamps? Tascam say yes and point me to the block diagram on P37 of the manual, but then people on the Tascam forum say no and point to the same diagram! Can anyone clarify? Someone also suggested the diagram shows that phantom power can also be applied to the instrument and line input as well as the mic input, which could be dangerous to some gear. I also have another question. Is it easy to use this interface with Logic (using the IO tool) to route a stereo bus audio out of say line output 3/4 and back in to line input 3/4 for processing with my external compressors etc? One guy i know says he's not got it to work. Do you simply tell Logic which channels to use or is there some config in the Tascam software too that needs to be addressed? Thanks
Tom love this Tascam. Looking to purchase. What DAW are you using on your iPad?
Honestly, the only unit of about this size with that many I/O is the Metric Halo 2882 which is easily 3 times the price for the older firewire version. Sure those aren't MH pres or converters but this is really awesome. I can now use my old m-audio 2626 pres in stand-alone mode as well! Over 60dbs of gain for this puppy, not too shabby. I was a paper-weight until now, so that's awesome!
Haha funny, the m-audio 2626 work around is exactly y i started looking at this unit. I hated m audio for dropping support for my firewire unit, but now im a tascam fan boy i guess.
That is great. Wordclock SYNC, Midi and ADAT. I have the old US2000 and a 1641, both have been bullet proof. Tascam always come up with the goods. Thank you Tom. Very thorough. You give the most detailed explanations.
Is it good today us2000 drivers with win10? Thanx
@@LARESISTENZA yes. I find an older version works best not the latest. I'd have to look which version when I'm home.
@@andyracksthecams News 4 me?
Looking to buy myself a new set of headphones for tracking and mixing with this interface, should I go with 80 or 250 ohms headphones?
Great review! I'm trying to find a interface with Onboard DSP that will work without the software running. Is that possible with this one? Can you set it with the software and then it still works as just hardware?
Hi, is this still cool in 2024? How do you feel about, still using it?
Thank you Sir!
very good review Tom of this unit but i thought you would present the Control software a lil bit more to show the routing capabilities N various Cuemix options ....maybe you could do that in the future....
when switched to standby instead of on are all of the led's off? this is a pet peev of mine I hate obnoxious led's being on when they don't need to be.
could you please provide the specs regarding the Dynamic range of the converters? I couldn't find it anywhere! Thank you:)
Spotted it for my iPad, cool review, Tom! Can I route iPad apps using Tascam mixer? Like have Gadget as main DAW, while driving midi to non interapp/auv3 synth app, that output to Tascam channels and I pickup their sound into separate within Gadget? Can Tascam mixer route physically what Audiobus does? TNX!
God damn Tom! o_O
The quality...the setup... That's godly!
Haha! Thanks dude - hope you're good!
Could someone please tell me if this interface works with full compatibility, without any bugs, on a MacBook M1?
Marking this interfaces form muy buying lista. Thanks Tom!
Thanx Tom for a great review. You know, I don’t have an iPad Pro but a regular 9.7 a couple of years old. Do you think it would still record well and be able to use a software amp sim with little to no latency?The IPad is my newest gadget and probably more powerful than my old i3 processor laptop. I’m a bit scared to invest in the interface if the iPad will be the weak link. Thank you.
How would you compare this interface with your main interface ? As far as the quality of the signal for guitars ? I am between a presonus mobile 192 and this tascam now :) Thank you for this great review !
interesting question ;)
Excellent review Tom thanks. I just wanted to know how low the latency gets with these units if i plug the guitar directly to use with amp sims.
Nice review! I saw this interface a few days ago and I regreted not seeing it before... I bought a few months ago a focusrite scarlett 8i6, I'm very happy with it but the amount of options on the tascam it would have been great
Hey Tom, great review - I just bought one!
I am having trouble with my new audio interface the Tascam 208i. I want to send the output of channels 3&4 of my tascam into my eurorack clock so I can sync it with my daw. I don't want to hear output 3&4 through my master monitors. I only want outputs 1&2 (monitor out) to route to my monitors. How can I set this up so that outputs 3&4 on the back of the 208i do not route to the monitors (plugged into output 1&2 (monitor out)? The routing is confusing the hell out of me...
I've had the 208i for a few months now, just started having issues with the headphone jacks and monitor outputs. Any ideas of how to fix the crackling/popping issue? I've tried just about everything from USB cable, stereo cables/adapters/amps, routing/bit rate/uninstall/reinstall.... Running Studio One 4 Artist with 208i + 8p Dyna A+B on Ryzen 5 3600 16gb ram
Nick Jennison looks Outstanding.
And is very Talented.
Not sure what it has to do with this video - but you are definitely correct! He's an awesome human being in every way!
Tom Quayle hey tom, I’m the topic of nick. Is there anyway to get the backing track that you played over in the “minor blues” jam with nick? Thanks I’m advance man
@@CwGuitar01 That's Nick's track I'm afraid, so I'm not at liberty to hand it out.
Tom Quayle no worries man thanks
Does the DSP have EQ for the output channels, or only input ones?
Please, does Tascam plan tu add the loopback ? i have to buy a new audio interface and i need this option.
Thats a great recomendation - hmm, I may need one.
Tom, does the 102i have all the features and capabilities of the 208i but with less I/Os? I just don't think I need that many. If the smaller unit isnt losing other capabilities, it might be better for me-the home guitar player recorder
Hi Harlan. The 102i has no wordclock and only gives you one Adat input. Other than that it’s very similar.
can i monitor with effects - compressor EQ but record DRY at the same time?
Would you consider doing an instructional how to video for the complete beginner? I bought a Tascam 102i intending to use it with audacity and I'm clueless. The manual seems confusing, audacity works fine when I use my inbuilt computer mic (but quality is obviously awful) plug in the Tascam and nothing works... or if someone has already done a tutorial (even a paid tutorial is fine) that I haven't found yet, please let me know! Thank you
This is great information and I purchased one! How about doing a tutorial video on how to set it on Windows and with different microphones. 👍👍😎 ~Maverick
i miss your live streams dude
cool T-shirt though :)
They'll be back soon!
@@tomquayleguitar thanks man... great news
Thanks. Can the control software adjust EQ at the master out?
Could this be used with DaVinci Resolve Studio - Fairlight ?
Same Question here.
Update: Apparently it can just like any other USB interface.
I wonder if this can used for a live band set up? Then an Ipad could be used to control levels, Eq, and effects?
Love this interface, blew my Scarlett 8i6 right out of use. Only complaint is can't reference through different monitor setups on the interface itself, have to go through the software :/
The behringer UMC 1820 has a total of 10 line outputs plus spdif and adat outputs addable to that, all for the price right now of around 300 us dollars, i bought mine for less than 200 during a holiday sale lat year. It has handled every single mixing and recording task i have thrown at it.
I just bought the 102i and there seems to be a problem with the drivers of Tascam. I have to raise the buffer size to 1048 samples in order to be able to hear sound from my DAW Cubase 5 and doing so it introduces a noticable latency when recording guitar. My previous interface was Lexicon Lambda and although much older it didn't have such problems. Any help from anyone? I have also ASIO4ALL but it drops out.Thanks from Greece!
Looking into buying this interface soon, did you fix your issue?
Excellent review 🙂
How much? And the 10i,how much?
Hey, i need a recording program that don't give viruses, please. Can someone please help me with recomendations!? I Thank you a lot for any help!
Stop using crack, get the original software
Price point price point. Price point? Price point, price point! Price point. But seriously, great review, Tom.
Please Play for us. You Play so Beautiful Guitar.
Please note, the lowest overall latency is over 7ms! What makes this sound card unusable for live ...
It actually has an input latency of 1.3ms but more than 6.5ms at the output!
I returned the sound card because the drivers are not efficient enough.
What a stupid statement makes it unusable for life? Really do you know what 7.5 milliseconds are. That's the time sound travels in a few feet so if you're a few feet away from your monitors there's your latency already. Nobody would hier der den alive settings with it is actually a great of audio compared to professional studio engineers period live Mixer guys are below is in the hacking order. They work with the crappiest gear and have the worst years.
This is quite useful information! Can the card send a reverb to the singer without delay by recording a dry signal in DAW?
I got one about 3 weeks ago, and i agree it is an amazing interface for the cost! My round trip is at 5 ms, the lowest i seen on a Tascam interface. I got this to replace my Us 1800.
Are you on PC or Mac? If you're on PC that's impressive!!
Let’s hope it’s better than their last range of high count I/O interfaces. The drivers for those where horrendous.
Hi Tom! Can you reply to my comment so that it would make my day? LOL love your playing; huge fan here
Josiah Hoo Thanks, Josiah!!! I appreciate the kind words.
@@tomquayleguitar Thank You!!! Woohoo!!
When advertised as “eight in“ it was unfortunate to just discover it’s really only FOUR when I needed to use 8 live Mics
Brow... your legatos are fantastic...
And a lot dificulty kklkk very good
I currently have no want or need for this product but if Mr Quayle likes it I have to have one!!!
🙄
I’ve always loved my tascam uh7000…terrible drivers though
Is this line of interfaces really USB Audio Class compliant? If it is, it's great news! If it's not, it's a no-go.Tascam don't have a good track record in regards to their own driver quality.
USB Audio Class compliance is an industry standard which allows the interface to be used without specialised drivers, which in turn allows it to be used under Linux. This is the reason I had to abandon otherwise very capable Tascam US-366 and US-2000. Their drivers for Windows were obviously not up to professional level, as US-366 started to crackle in self-oscillating manner under heavy load, which couldn't be really stopped by switching buffer size (which is a standard way) and required a complete hardware reset (USB reconnection). Surprisingly, even amazingly affordable Behringer UMC204HD allowed for smaller latency, didn't have this driver problem and is class-compliant, so works smooth under Linux.
I've had this working flawlessly with my iPad Pro and Hackintosh without any driver installations, so I'm assuming the class compliant description is accurate.
Nearly every audio interface is.
@@DroneCorpse Yeah, except several previous Tascam model lines.
Can it power a shure smb7
It has 58 db on the preamps
Shure is a dynamic. It does not use 48 V like a condenser.
If you was reviewing by a car would you drive it ? You mention nothing about it's performance it's mic pres etc you should have done much better than that Tom!
Ok but....Where is the spdif??????!!! What a fail...