An (almost) quick question on 'US-' range interfaces....

[MikeyTen4]

Hey, hows it goin. I'm currently lookin at gettin some gear together with a mind to set up a small home studio. I've been 'DJing' for near on 10 years now, I have some small level of production experience, and I have friends who have years of production experience behind them, but this is the first time I've been in a position to realistically look at buying my own set-up. Too much cash spent on records in the past I guess!

Anyway, I need some advice on a few pieces I'm looking at, and one is a Tascam Midi/Audio Interface. Or 3 to be precise. They are the US-122, US-224, and US-428. (probably one of the later since I'd like the hands-on properties of faders preferably)

Basically I'm lookin at producing Drum & Bass and Breakbeat primarily. I'm running Cubase SX 2 on a Vaio 2.8GHz laptop. With this in mind I wont be doing a lot of live recording such as vocals or instruments, and most of my studio will be software based, not outboard synths and samplers. BUT I do want to have the midi in/outs for availability, and my decks are probably gonna be routed through the interface as audio for recording purposes.

SO.... my not-so-quick question is DO LATENCY PROBLEMS COMMONLY OCCUR WITH USB BASED INTERFACES??? These are all USB 1.1 based units, and answering this question could probably answer a few other questions for me along the way. I am looking at a USB 2.0 device (Behringer BCA2000) as an alternative, but obviously want to find out what I can about these devices too. So please, throw your input this way....

Cheers
Mikey

[crosstudio]

i had the us-428 and i liked it. i now have the tascam fw-1884. the underlying software of which is all made by frontier design group.

since all you are doing is a stereo track at a time, you won't have any trouble with 24bit-48khz recording using the us-428. the faders on the 428 and midi interface make the unit worth the price.

the direct-outs make it so you can hear what you are recording in real time with no latency.

the only drawback to the us-428 is that it has NO PHANTOM POWER on the gain staging.

having said that, i now have an edirol fa-101 and it is Really Good not just regular good, but it has no faders and such, its just a little red box with 2 pre-amps and 6 line-ins; however, i have used it to playback my sonar mixes during band practice and to record band rehearsals, and it has been rock solid and the preamps on it are pretty ok too.

-slw sr.

[thane1200]

Originally Posted by MikeyTen4

Hey, hows it goin. I'm currently lookin at gettin some gear together with a mind to set up a small home studio. I've been 'DJing' for near on 10 years now, I have some small level of production experience, and I have friends who have years of production experience behind them, but this is the first time I've been in a position to realistically look at buying my own set-up. Too much cash spent on records in the past I guess!

Anyway, I need some advice on a few pieces I'm looking at, and one is a Tascam Midi/Audio Interface. Or 3 to be precise. They are the US-122, US-224, and US-428. (probably one of the later since I'd like the hands-on properties of faders preferably)

Basically I'm lookin at producing Drum & Bass and Breakbeat primarily. I'm running Cubase SX 2 on a Vaio 2.8GHz laptop. With this in mind I wont be doing a lot of live recording such as vocals or instruments, and most of my studio will be software based, not outboard synths and samplers. BUT I do want to have the midi in/outs for availability, and my decks are probably gonna be routed through the interface as audio for recording purposes.

SO.... my not-so-quick question is DO LATENCY PROBLEMS COMMONLY OCCUR WITH USB BASED INTERFACES??? These are all USB 1.1 based units, and answering this question could probably answer a few other questions for me along the way. I am looking at a USB 2.0 device (Behringer BCA2000) as an alternative, but obviously want to find out what I can about these devices too. So please, throw your input this way....

Cheers
Mikey

A man after my own heart.....What up Mikey?! I also produce breakbeat, DJ, and am considering buying the TASCAM 428