Which audio interface should I buy - Tascam/M-Audio/..

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b0ne123

New member
Hello everyone,
Which audio interface would you recommend. I have my eyes on a Tascam US122 / US144 MKII or a M-Audio M-Track (Plus), maybe even the Focusrite 2/2. Or is there any other audio interface around that price you would recommend me to buy? It needs to have 48v phantom power and also shouldn't make too much static background noise.

Im going to use it with my mxl 2006 condenser microphone.
 
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Tascam gets a lot of good reviews around here. My understanding is, Tascam performs well and most really like the pres in them. Plus, they have been doing this a long time and at many levels. I don't use any of those products, so I am not biased.

Do a search on the site and you will see more information on the various interfaces. I don't think you can go wrong on any of them. But you do want to focus on, who has the best drivers, customer support. I think that will be the area that would sway you one way or another. Check each manufactures sites for product support, updates. That will give you some information how well it is and will be supported.
 
Thank you for you answers. is there any noticeable static background noise difference within those interfaces i mentioned?
 
b0ne123 said:
Thank you for you answers. is there any noticeable static background noise difference within those interfaces i mentioned?
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I think if there were, you would find it in the reviews pretty quick. The ones you are looking at wouldn't survive if there was high noise level. Let the thread get a bit more inputs, but I would say from your list, you will not have any major issues over all.
 
Thanks, it's good to know that all of my mentioned interfaces don't have any major downsides. Ill wait for a bit more input in this thread and then just buy the most recommended
 
b0ne123 said:
Thanks, it's good to know that all of my mentioned interfaces don't have any major downsides. Ill wait for a bit more input in this thread and then just buy the most recommended
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I´m in the same situation as you. I´ve been doing a lot of reading on the net.

Now I´m really inclined to go with a focusrite. They´ve got really good reviews on their mic preamps.

Now i´m in a kind of decision about Firewire X USB

And the interfaces would be these ones, ´cause they are inside 3 hundred bills budget:

Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 Firewire Audio Interface

x

Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 6 In/6 Out USB 2.0 Audio Interface With Two Focusrite Mic Preamps
 
Lord Target said:
I´m in the same situation as you. I´ve been doing a lot of reading on the net.

Now I´m really inclined to go with a focusrite. They´ve got really good reviews on their mic preamps.

Now i´m in a kind of decision about Firewire X USB

And the interfaces would be these ones, ´cause they are inside 3 hundred bills budget:

Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 Firewire Audio Interface

x

Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 6 In/6 Out USB 2.0 Audio Interface With Two Focusrite Mic Preamps
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I would say they primary reason to pick USB over Firewire is USB is better supported and can pretty much go anywhere with little to no concerns for connectivity. Some people like firewire over USB.
 
The answer when choosing between firewire (saffire 24) and usb 2.0 (scarlett 6i6) is how many audio tracks are going to be recording simultaneously.
 
Hello again,

I have read that the tascam interface software make your cpu usage go way too high, is that true and still a relevant problem?

But if it is, then I made my decision and wan't to buy the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 now because it has a good driver support and seems to be the overall best (low budget) interface for my needs, but I have some newbie questions before i buy it.

-Will I (be able?) to hear the pc audio and my microphone audio with the headphone jack?
-Is it possible to disable hearing the pc audio within the headphone jack by software?
-Is the latency low enough so I can use the interface as a dedicated soundcard to watch videos etc. on my pc with it (I mean just the normal everyday usage)? Im thinking of connecting the line outputs directly to my studio monitors which leads me to my next question
-Which cable should I use to connect the line outputs to my studio monitors?
-Will the interface be powered off by itself when im shutting down my computer?

and last but not least, here is what i understand how this interface works, please correct me if im wrong:
The audio data is transfered through the usb cable from the interface to the pc and the other way around, so I can recieve audio signals from my pc and send my microphone signals to the pc through usb.


whoah so much confusion. I hope you can help me with those questions, atleast im glad I finally made my decision
 
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b0ne123 said:
Hello again,

I have read that the tascam interface software make your cpu usage go way too high, is that true and still a relevant problem?

But if it is, then I made my decision and wan't to buy the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 now because it has a good driver support and seems to be the overall best (low budget) interface for my needs, but I have some newbie questions before i buy it.

-Will I (be able?) to hear the pc audio and my microphone audio with the headphone jack?
-Is it possible to disable hearing the pc audio within the headphone jack by software?
-Is the latency low enough so I can use the interface as a dedicated soundcard to watch videos etc. on my pc with it (I mean just the normal everyday usage)? Im thinking of connecting the line outputs directly to my studio monitors which leads me to my next question
-Which cable should I use to connect the line outputs to my studio monitors?
-Will the interface be powered off by itself when im shutting down my computer?

and last but not least, here is what i understand how this interface works, please correct me if im wrong:
The audio data is transfered through the usb cable from the interface to the pc and the other way around, so I can recieve audio signals from my pc and send my microphone signals to the pc through usb.


whoah so much confusion. I hope you can help me with those questions, atleast im glad I finally made my decision
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I think for new people, this is confusing. But let me try to explain without going into technobable. I don't have the Scarlett, but most, if not all interfaces allow for monitoring (USB and Firewire) and even to be able to record wet (with effects) that is why latency is important.

The data does travel through the USB and there is more processing overhead for USB than Firewire, but that plays less of a role today than a few years back. Sound is processed through the interface's DSP. All sound can be routed through your interface. For my music workstation I have all internal sound disabled at the BIOS level.

If your USB powers off at shutdown, then your interface will shutdown with it (some newer model laptops keep USB hot for charging purposes, so you may need to check)

Since your optimal sound will be from your interface, the monitors will be connected from the interface outputs. I would recommend active monitors so you can get volume as those little interfaces are not going to have much output power.

You should get everything you need through the interface. There are two types of connectors you can plug into the interface, the three pronged XLR (best for microphones) or a quarter inch (there are two types here, pay attention to what you are plugging in. Your instructions will let you know what the difference is.

I hope that helps and look forward to you posting your music soon in the MP3 clinic.
 
Thank you that really helped alot for my understanding. I have one last question though.

Can I or is it even suggested to use the ASIO4ALL driver when im using an interface like the tascam US-122 MKII or the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2?
Do I need the original driver/software too when I've installed ASIO4ALL, because if not the original audio driver/software would be obsolote, is this correct?

I am asking this because ive read alot of bad things about the tascam driver, which is why i tend to buy the focusrite
 
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b0ne123 said:
Thank you that really helped alot for my understanding. I have one last question though.

Can I or is it even suggested to use the ASIO4ALL driver when im using an interface like the tascam US-122 MKII or the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2?
Do I need the original driver/software too when I've installed ASIO4ALL, because if not the original audio driver/software would be obsolote, is this correct?

I am asking this because ive read alot of bad things about the tascam driver, which is why i tend to buy the focusrite
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Well, take the reviews in an aggregate. Some people write reviews because they don't know what they are doing and then blame the hardware. if there are 100 reviews and 5 are bad, you can probably ignore the bad (as a general rule).

The ASIO4ALL is a HACK for those interfaces that don't have a true ASIO driver. Here is what I speculate:

The ASIO is a standard for audio processing that bypasses much of the OS to improve performance (The OS level sound processing has a different focus). This driver reduces the overhead of routing (probably written in C or Assembler, a low level language) to remove any unnecessary OS overhead (dedicated purpose driver). So, each interface will have its own ASIO driver to improve performance. (Actually many manufacturers farm this out to a vendor, doing drivers requires computer engineering, not application development)

So, no, ASIO4ALL is a bad alternative. You can look up what that is doing, but get one with its own ASIO driver. TASCAM's drivers should be good. This is what they do for a living, so bad drivers would hurt their business. There might be some early adjustments to a driver which would give it bad reviews, but you can look at the driver version history to see if it was corrected. Example, you read reviews written in March about an issue, latest driver was released in June, check to see if that issue was fixed in the update list. There should be a driver for your OS.

But I have hard time believing a company that makes it money off a focused area would not quickly address issues.

I hope I answered your question.
 
Yes thank you very much DM60, now i understand the driver thing better. I was just asking cause I need much of my cpu power throughout the day, but if the tascam driver is (or should be) also fine, than everything is alright :D

€: bought the tascam us-144 MKII. If the interface will arrive this week, i can make a small review for it if you like :)
 
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DM60 said:
This is statement is not a reason.
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Between those 2 interfaces? I would beg the differ because the Scarlett 6i6 is a 6 in 6 out device (love the name,) while the saffire Pro 24 is 16 in 8 out device. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's kind of significant for that price point, dont-cha-think? The Scarlett USB equivalent to the saffire pro 24 would be the 18i8 priced roughly $100 more - though you do get 4 pre amps with that model.
 
Hello,
I just received the tascam us-144mkII and i still have a problem with the static background noise. I uploaded a test file. the interesting thing is what happens after i turn of the 48v phantom power after a few seconds. please help me, what can I do to get rid of this problem
 

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That background noise sounds like preamp gain. (A certain amount of that is normal). To decrease the noise you must turn your input level down and get a louder input signal, by either playing louder or moving the mic closer to the guitar.

The other option, is to get a better mic and preamp, that will create less noise at higher gain.

What mic are you using?

I can tell you from experience, Focusrite pre's are plenty clean and quiet to get a pro recording,(cant vouch for Tascam) but you sound like you have other issues here causing the problem.

You've either got a noisy mic, noisy preamp, weak signal.

Sooo, sorry, but you may have all three.
 
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