Tascam US-122 or Echo gina G3

S

slinkymassive

New member
Hi there,

I am a singer songwriter, currently using my computer mic & mixcraft software. I know I am so far down the bottom of the quality recording line its unreal.

Want to purchase some bits to get the show on the road. I plan to buy a Studio projects B1 mic, which has been highly recommended.

Then I am torn between the Tascam US-122 & echo gina G3. I know the G3 has built in pre-amps and lots of usefull bits. Does anyone have a cheaper alternative with similar spec, i think the Tascam does!

Also do I need to change my PC sound card, or can that wait. If i do any suggestions on a cheap buy.

To be honest little confused, as everyone I speak to says i need different bits of kit.

Thanks
 
Well, the Echo is a PCI based soundcard, right? That means it will replace the soundcard you have in your computer. The US-122 is a USB soundcard, so when you are using it, you don't need your computer's onboard soundcard, either.

I own the US-122 and think it's a nice all-in-one sort of unit for basic home recording and laptop-based mobile recording. The mic preamps and a/d converters are decent enough to make good recordings and the unit itself is sturdy and has all the connections you need for monitoring, headphones, midi, etc. The fact that it comes bundled with Cubase LE, a solid piece of software in its own right, makes it a steal at under $200.

I have no experience with the Gina card, though Echo has a good reputation and I suspect their products are solid. You might want to look at other PCI cards and FireWire cards, as well. The M-Audio Delta 1010lt has two mic preamps (I don't know about the quality of these pres) and is widely used by members of this board. The Presonus FireBox might also be one to consider.

The advantage of USB and FireWire interfaces are that they are portable and can be used with laptops, if desired.
 
scrubs said:
The advantage of USB and FireWire interfaces are that they are portable and can be used with laptops, if desired.
Click to expand...

Another advantage to USB or FireWire is that PCI is legacy technology that's already being phased out in favor of PCI Express (PCIe) which isn't compatible with PCI cards. It's not quite time to try to dump your PCI hardware on eBay for whatever you can get out of it, but it doesn't seem like a good idea to go out and spend a lot of money on new PCI cards, either.
 
US-122 is solid

Just wanted to second the above opinion about the Tascam US-122. Very solidly built, highly functional, and very quiet, in my experience. I'm running it through an Apple PowerBook G4 via USB, using the included Cubase software. I've plugged guitars, bass and keyboards into the Tascam, as well as SM57's and 58's, and an MXL 2003 condensor mic requiring the unit's phantom power. For vox I like to add a tube pre-amp to the chain in order to add warmth, but other than that the US-122 has so far given me all the functionality, flexibility and reliability I've needed for 1 or 2 tracks at a time. And since it's USB powered, I can record anywhere with the laptop. You can hear songs recorded on this rig at songramp.com/BobWire.
 
I just picked up the tascam. Have yet to get a recording because for some reason I just cant figure the program "cubase" out. I havent messed with it that much but seems like it takes a little much to get a midi recording and then play it. Does anyone know how cubase is compared to "reason" on this topic. I am getting reason soon. I will let you know how the tascam works out when i get it a recording.
 
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