jake-owa
Banned
That's actually very cool looking. I like the additional control strips.
I wonder how the pres sound.
I guess that's TASCAM's answer to the Digi 002.
I wonder how the pres sound.
I guess that's TASCAM's answer to the Digi 002.
A Reel Person
It's Too Funky in Here!!!
Okay, I don't know anything about Digi,...
but that Tascam 1884 is like the US-428 on STEROIDS. Whew!
It's pretty advanced, huh? It'll be the thing to have, if you're into 'puter recording, and all that gadgety stuff. Tascam has really put it all together, this time out. Really advanced! Gotta say, it's a cool looking & powerful unit, but probably not for me.
Great color PDF. Thanx!
but that Tascam 1884 is like the US-428 on STEROIDS. Whew!
It's pretty advanced, huh? It'll be the thing to have, if you're into 'puter recording, and all that gadgety stuff. Tascam has really put it all together, this time out. Really advanced! Gotta say, it's a cool looking & powerful unit, but probably not for me.
Great color PDF. Thanx!
SPINSTERWUN
Active member
I think that the FW-1844 with its additional expander packs makes it an excellent option to two cascaded DM-24s.
D
DaveM
Member
I've been lurking for a while and I found this at zzsounds. Thought I would check this forum and see what's up with it. It really is everything that I'm looking for and the price seems to be good too.
SPINSTERWUN
Active member
I think I'm going pick up 24 tracks of PW-1844. 
G
gdoubleyou
New member
SPINSTERWUN
Active member
Yes, the Yamaha unit is a nice piece, but....... it seems as if it can not touch the Tascam unit.
It is not expandable (you're limited to just 8 faders)
The faders aren't motorized
It doesn't have a connection for WORD CLOCK
It doesn't have the proper amount of outs for a surround sound setup
It doesn't have MIDI IN or MIDI OUT.
It doesn't even have an headphone OUT.
Etc.....
Peace...
spin
It is not expandable (you're limited to just 8 faders)
The faders aren't motorized
It doesn't have a connection for WORD CLOCK
It doesn't have the proper amount of outs for a surround sound setup
It doesn't have MIDI IN or MIDI OUT.
It doesn't even have an headphone OUT.
Etc.....
Peace...
spin
D
ds21
New member
SPINSTERWUN said:Yes, the Yamaha unit is a nice piece, but....... it seems as if it can not touch the Tascam unit.
It is not expandable (you're limited to just 8 faders)
The faders aren't motorized
It doesn't have a connection for WORD CLOCK
It doesn't have the proper amount of outs for a surround sound setup
It doesn't have MIDI IN or MIDI OUT.
It doesn't even have an headphone OUT.
Etc.....
Peace...
spin
It is expandable as in adding more inputs, up to 16 more (tascam is not)
Does have Motorized faders
Does have MIDI
maybe they'll came out with an mLAN addaptor for WORD CLOCK
I'm still trying to decide too!
SPINSTERWUN
Active member
I'm not sure if Sonar 3.0 will recognize the FE-8's?
http://www.tascam.com/pdf/products/computer_recording/fw1884/fw1884_sonar_note_1_00.pdf
http://www.tascam.com/pdf/products/computer_recording/fw1884/fw1884_sonar_note_1_00.pdf
H
Hornplayer
New member
I bought it. Here an updated review
***I posted this review before, but here is an update to it***
Well I'm a new user of the TASCAM FW-1884 control surface, so I guess I'll share some thoughts with everyone on the unit. I've had the unit for 2 weeks, and have had quite a bit time to form some personal opinions on it.
First my equipment:
Pentium IV 1.8 GHZ processor ASUS mobo
1 GIG of memory
2 80 GIG hard drives 7200rpm each
This computer has served me well. Solely dedicated to audio, and tweaked accordingly.
SONAR 2.2 and SOUNDFORGE 5.0f application software
The control surface can act as 3 units, either separately or together.
1. Control surface to control application software inside a DAW. (like SONAR)
2. Stand alone mixer with 18 inputs and 2 outputs. (actually up to 8 outputs, so surround can be mixed, but I do not use it for that.) 8 analog, 8 adat digital lightpipe, 2 SPDIF
3. A 4 in 4 out MIDI controller
I obsoleted the following equipment in my studio:
MOTU XT Express 8 in 8 out MIDI controller
PRESONUS Digimax 8 channel mic pre-amp
****I decided to keep this, even though it's a bit of overkill in the studio*****
1 48 point patchbay
MOTU 2804 MKII sound card.
*****I have subsequently taken the MOTU sound card completely off the system. Bad conflicts between it and the FW-1884. This has not seemed to be a problem. The FW-1884 is the primary (only) sound card on the system, and is recognized by Windows 2000 Pro as such, so no other sound card is needed.
I have had no trouble with any playback selected so far, including links off the web.*****
So the unit does a lot.
I have used it to control SONAR 2.2. I REALLY like it for mix down. It controls 8 audio and/or MIDI channels simultaneously. If you have more channels, you have to hit the bank button to switch to the next bank of 8 faders. Haven't found this to be a draw back yet, because I usually mix down the drum kit first, and bounce it to one track, then bass, then instruments, then vocal, so I have enough faders to handle the mix job.
A side box of 8 more faders is going to become available shortly, so you could control 16 channels at one time. I'm going to wait on that until I'm sure I have a need to control 16 channels at one time.
*****Spin brought up that Sonar 3.0 may not support the outboard additional 8 channel sliders. I checked with Cakewalk. They say they will be writing another software interface template for it, and it will be available shortly. I don't know what shortly means, but they are aware that the current template does not do the job. The additional 8 fader unit is not quite out yet, so I'm sure Cakewalk is not too concerned until the units hit the street.*****
It cuts down on mouse work easily by half or more.
The transport controls work the same as SONAR, except they are faster and easier to get at. Play, Rewind, Fast Forward, and Record, are very straight forward.
*****automation on the unit has a glitch. I arm a track for auto mation record,(fader for volum control) which works fine through the unit, but when I hit record on the unit the unit does not start recording. I have to go to the tool bar and select the transport menu, and click on record automation for it to start recording. I can record but it has to be initiated off the mouse command, not the control surface. I think the template has a programming glitch. I'll get with Cakewalk support on that.******
The jog/shuttle wheel is very nice for precise placement of NOW TIME for any editing you may want to do. Much faster to be very accurate with cursor placement as opposed to the mouse.
*****Once I got used to the time selection, and loop selection, I was very impressed at how fast it is. Great way to work in Sonar.****
It controls only one effect I know of so far, and that is the SONAR FXEQ.
****This is a bit of a draw back. I haven't been real happy with using the unit for effects. I still find myself in the track view using the mouse.*****,
but it controls the AUX send gain up to 8 AUX Busses. NOW TIME, LOOPING, and MARKERS can all be set with one touch of a button. ENTER is the F7 key, and accepts any request from SONAR the same as the keyboard enter key does.
That's about all I've tried on the SONAR control side. There is more to look at, especially programming additional keys, but I haven't gone there yet.
****Programming additional keys is a snap. The real problem is what keys to program. (ie defining how you personally want to work with the unit.)*****
Stand alone mode:
Works fine as a stand alone mixer. Works just as you would expect an analog mixer to work, except there are no channel EQ's. So if you have a need for EQ during playback, this doesn't have it.
*****I have a mini PA set up that I use for mid field monitoring work, (as opposed to near field monitoring), and have to use the 31 band graphic eq for control of sound. A minor drawback.*****
Also, remember that the unit is connected to the computer via firewire at all times, so it uses the default setting from anything you try to play back off the computer. I had to change the Media Player 9 setting to output to the MOTU sound card, which is patched to the input of the FW-1884 so the faders will control the channel volume. Otherwise the unit thinks it is monitoring, and will only allow control off the monitor volume control.
*****The above is all obsolete now for me. The FW-1884 is the only sound card on my system. I does split the signal within the board to control it seperatelywith the master fader, and a monitor knob.*****
Otherwise an adequate mixer, but no aux or eq on the channels when used in standalone mixer mode..
MIDI controller
Controls my keyboard, and Roland JV1080, both for recording and playback. Works just as any MIDI controller would work, with the added advantage of controlling volume and Velocity via the faders. Pretty cool.
I haven't had a whole lot of time to mess with this yet, so there will be more discoveries in the future I'm sure.
****I've done a little more work with this, and the above stands. It is an adequate midi controller.*****
Impressions.
1. It's great for mixing in SONAR. MUCH faster than a mouse, and editing with the jog wheel is faster, and just as accurate as the mouse.
2. Recording and monitoring are very good. Zero latency with monitoring input, and play back while recording. I had no problems
3. Midi control is very good, but nothing more than a good midi interface would do. Not quite as versatile as the MOTU XT express, but adequate for me. Heavy MIDI users may have a different outlook on that.
4. It's adequate as a stand alone mixer, however, it doesn't have the channel control of even basic mixers, so if you need that you will be disappointed.
***My above impressions still stand*****
Goods:
Helps speed up the mixing process by eliminating the mouse work. Very nice
Replaced my big mixer giving me more desk space in the studio
AD/DA converters seem ok to my ears. No better or worse than my PRESONUS Digimax or the MOTU MKII.
Supports digital input/output, so I'm covered using my FOSTEX D-160 for remote recording, and then flying tracks to SONAR
Has analog inserts so you can use rack mounted gear to add to the recorded signal. (reverbs, compressors, eq units)
***This is nice becasue no outboard gear is obsoleted. In fact I will be adding a mic-pre soon.****
Neutrals:
MIDI control doesn't offer anything more than a good MIDI interface. In fact the programming of the input and output channels is a bit more limited than the MOTU XT Express
Stand alone mixer is adequate, but leaves a bit to be desired in the channel strip department
Not so goods:
I have had some audio drop outs. I will admit to maybe having some operator error here with buffer size and latency setups. I haven't played with this too much yet, so I mention it with that caveat.
****I found the source of the audio drop outs. It was a conflict between the FW-1884 amd the MOTU 2408 MKII. I eliminated the MOTU, and haven't had one glitch since. Unit is very fast with the firewire connection. So a problem solved here.*****
This is overall a very good unit. It is worth the $1300 bucks I paid for it, to me. It is not for newbies. (at least newbies without help) Signal flow and set up must be clearly understood, or it will give you fits. Particularly if you want to use it as a stand alone mixer as well as a control surface. The control surface was the easiest part to set up. The stand alone mixer, (working separate from the computer, even though the unit is hooked up to the computer at all times, (read signal routing)) was a bit tricky within the software applications on the DAW.
*****I will soften my caution here to newbies. I initially thought I could use 2 sound cards, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards. It is not a problem not being able to, and by using the unit as the only sound card on the system, signal flow is no more complex than with any other sound card, IMHO.*****
I'm still happy with the unit. Even happier as time goes by. It was a good studio addition for me.
***I posted this review before, but here is an update to it***
Well I'm a new user of the TASCAM FW-1884 control surface, so I guess I'll share some thoughts with everyone on the unit. I've had the unit for 2 weeks, and have had quite a bit time to form some personal opinions on it.
First my equipment:
Pentium IV 1.8 GHZ processor ASUS mobo
1 GIG of memory
2 80 GIG hard drives 7200rpm each
This computer has served me well. Solely dedicated to audio, and tweaked accordingly.
SONAR 2.2 and SOUNDFORGE 5.0f application software
The control surface can act as 3 units, either separately or together.
1. Control surface to control application software inside a DAW. (like SONAR)
2. Stand alone mixer with 18 inputs and 2 outputs. (actually up to 8 outputs, so surround can be mixed, but I do not use it for that.) 8 analog, 8 adat digital lightpipe, 2 SPDIF
3. A 4 in 4 out MIDI controller
I obsoleted the following equipment in my studio:
MOTU XT Express 8 in 8 out MIDI controller
PRESONUS Digimax 8 channel mic pre-amp
****I decided to keep this, even though it's a bit of overkill in the studio*****
1 48 point patchbay
MOTU 2804 MKII sound card.
*****I have subsequently taken the MOTU sound card completely off the system. Bad conflicts between it and the FW-1884. This has not seemed to be a problem. The FW-1884 is the primary (only) sound card on the system, and is recognized by Windows 2000 Pro as such, so no other sound card is needed.
I have had no trouble with any playback selected so far, including links off the web.*****
So the unit does a lot.
I have used it to control SONAR 2.2. I REALLY like it for mix down. It controls 8 audio and/or MIDI channels simultaneously. If you have more channels, you have to hit the bank button to switch to the next bank of 8 faders. Haven't found this to be a draw back yet, because I usually mix down the drum kit first, and bounce it to one track, then bass, then instruments, then vocal, so I have enough faders to handle the mix job.
A side box of 8 more faders is going to become available shortly, so you could control 16 channels at one time. I'm going to wait on that until I'm sure I have a need to control 16 channels at one time.
*****Spin brought up that Sonar 3.0 may not support the outboard additional 8 channel sliders. I checked with Cakewalk. They say they will be writing another software interface template for it, and it will be available shortly. I don't know what shortly means, but they are aware that the current template does not do the job. The additional 8 fader unit is not quite out yet, so I'm sure Cakewalk is not too concerned until the units hit the street.*****
It cuts down on mouse work easily by half or more.
The transport controls work the same as SONAR, except they are faster and easier to get at. Play, Rewind, Fast Forward, and Record, are very straight forward.
*****automation on the unit has a glitch. I arm a track for auto mation record,(fader for volum control) which works fine through the unit, but when I hit record on the unit the unit does not start recording. I have to go to the tool bar and select the transport menu, and click on record automation for it to start recording. I can record but it has to be initiated off the mouse command, not the control surface. I think the template has a programming glitch. I'll get with Cakewalk support on that.******
The jog/shuttle wheel is very nice for precise placement of NOW TIME for any editing you may want to do. Much faster to be very accurate with cursor placement as opposed to the mouse.
*****Once I got used to the time selection, and loop selection, I was very impressed at how fast it is. Great way to work in Sonar.****
It controls only one effect I know of so far, and that is the SONAR FXEQ.
****This is a bit of a draw back. I haven't been real happy with using the unit for effects. I still find myself in the track view using the mouse.*****,
but it controls the AUX send gain up to 8 AUX Busses. NOW TIME, LOOPING, and MARKERS can all be set with one touch of a button. ENTER is the F7 key, and accepts any request from SONAR the same as the keyboard enter key does.
That's about all I've tried on the SONAR control side. There is more to look at, especially programming additional keys, but I haven't gone there yet.
****Programming additional keys is a snap. The real problem is what keys to program. (ie defining how you personally want to work with the unit.)*****
Stand alone mode:
Works fine as a stand alone mixer. Works just as you would expect an analog mixer to work, except there are no channel EQ's. So if you have a need for EQ during playback, this doesn't have it.
*****I have a mini PA set up that I use for mid field monitoring work, (as opposed to near field monitoring), and have to use the 31 band graphic eq for control of sound. A minor drawback.*****
Also, remember that the unit is connected to the computer via firewire at all times, so it uses the default setting from anything you try to play back off the computer. I had to change the Media Player 9 setting to output to the MOTU sound card, which is patched to the input of the FW-1884 so the faders will control the channel volume. Otherwise the unit thinks it is monitoring, and will only allow control off the monitor volume control.
*****The above is all obsolete now for me. The FW-1884 is the only sound card on my system. I does split the signal within the board to control it seperatelywith the master fader, and a monitor knob.*****
Otherwise an adequate mixer, but no aux or eq on the channels when used in standalone mixer mode..
MIDI controller
Controls my keyboard, and Roland JV1080, both for recording and playback. Works just as any MIDI controller would work, with the added advantage of controlling volume and Velocity via the faders. Pretty cool.
I haven't had a whole lot of time to mess with this yet, so there will be more discoveries in the future I'm sure.
****I've done a little more work with this, and the above stands. It is an adequate midi controller.*****
Impressions.
1. It's great for mixing in SONAR. MUCH faster than a mouse, and editing with the jog wheel is faster, and just as accurate as the mouse.
2. Recording and monitoring are very good. Zero latency with monitoring input, and play back while recording. I had no problems
3. Midi control is very good, but nothing more than a good midi interface would do. Not quite as versatile as the MOTU XT express, but adequate for me. Heavy MIDI users may have a different outlook on that.
4. It's adequate as a stand alone mixer, however, it doesn't have the channel control of even basic mixers, so if you need that you will be disappointed.
***My above impressions still stand*****
Goods:
Helps speed up the mixing process by eliminating the mouse work. Very nice
Replaced my big mixer giving me more desk space in the studio
AD/DA converters seem ok to my ears. No better or worse than my PRESONUS Digimax or the MOTU MKII.
Supports digital input/output, so I'm covered using my FOSTEX D-160 for remote recording, and then flying tracks to SONAR
Has analog inserts so you can use rack mounted gear to add to the recorded signal. (reverbs, compressors, eq units)
***This is nice becasue no outboard gear is obsoleted. In fact I will be adding a mic-pre soon.****
Neutrals:
MIDI control doesn't offer anything more than a good MIDI interface. In fact the programming of the input and output channels is a bit more limited than the MOTU XT Express
Stand alone mixer is adequate, but leaves a bit to be desired in the channel strip department
Not so goods:
I have had some audio drop outs. I will admit to maybe having some operator error here with buffer size and latency setups. I haven't played with this too much yet, so I mention it with that caveat.
****I found the source of the audio drop outs. It was a conflict between the FW-1884 amd the MOTU 2408 MKII. I eliminated the MOTU, and haven't had one glitch since. Unit is very fast with the firewire connection. So a problem solved here.*****
This is overall a very good unit. It is worth the $1300 bucks I paid for it, to me. It is not for newbies. (at least newbies without help) Signal flow and set up must be clearly understood, or it will give you fits. Particularly if you want to use it as a stand alone mixer as well as a control surface. The control surface was the easiest part to set up. The stand alone mixer, (working separate from the computer, even though the unit is hooked up to the computer at all times, (read signal routing)) was a bit tricky within the software applications on the DAW.
*****I will soften my caution here to newbies. I initially thought I could use 2 sound cards, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards. It is not a problem not being able to, and by using the unit as the only sound card on the system, signal flow is no more complex than with any other sound card, IMHO.*****
I'm still happy with the unit. Even happier as time goes by. It was a good studio addition for me.
M
mtardif
New member
Awesome, just the thread I was hoping to read. Thanks!
SPINSTERWUN
Active member
Hornplayer........
Your review was RIGHT-ON-TIME!!!!!
You provided the answers to all of my queries.
Thanks
spin
Your review was RIGHT-ON-TIME!!!!!
You provided the answers to all of my queries.
Thanks
spin
H
Hornplayer
New member
That's what these forums are for
Glad I could be of a little help.
The FW-1884 is a good unit. Kudos to Frontier Designs and Tascam.
Glad I could be of a little help.
The FW-1884 is a good unit. Kudos to Frontier Designs and Tascam.
M
mtardif
New member
What's the $$$ amount for the extender units? I haven't been able to find them.
SPINSTERWUN
Active member
mtardif said:
The PE-8 Expander Surface goes for $999.99.
JR#97
New member
Nice review. I was really scoping hard and trying to justify getting one. But after reading your review, I think I'll save my money and continue to use my Fostex VM200 digital mixer that does most of that already does most of that stuff plus adds fx, eq, inserts, etc. I think my money would be better spent on some other gear/instruments. whew.... it never ends!!
Btw, are you looking at selling the Motu 2408?
Btw, are you looking at selling the Motu 2408?
F
flossyboy
New member
NICE POST HORN
Wonder how it would fair with Samplitude?
Think you could test it out for me???
Hit me up by email sugaty@aol.com and let me know if you would test it for me.
Thanks
Floss Me
Wonder how it would fair with Samplitude?
Think you could test it out for me???
Hit me up by email sugaty@aol.com and let me know if you would test it for me.
Thanks
Floss Me
T
tony moore
New member
insert q
GREAT thread!
i assume the inserts are only good at the point of tracking? or can you use them to insert outboard gear while mixing?
thanks for the review!
tony
GREAT thread!
i assume the inserts are only good at the point of tracking? or can you use them to insert outboard gear while mixing?
thanks for the review!
tony
H
Hornplayer
New member
Tony
The inserts can be used during tracking or mixing, because the board can be used as a stand alone mixer as well as a host software control surface.
However, because the board interfaces to the host software so well (in my case Sonar) I don't see much reason to use outboard gear for mixing. I use software for all effects, signal processing, and/or track wave editing.
I would think that during tracking is when the inserts would be used. Especially for compressors and limiters.
John
The inserts can be used during tracking or mixing, because the board can be used as a stand alone mixer as well as a host software control surface.
However, because the board interfaces to the host software so well (in my case Sonar) I don't see much reason to use outboard gear for mixing. I use software for all effects, signal processing, and/or track wave editing.
I would think that during tracking is when the inserts would be used. Especially for compressors and limiters.
John