Tascam US122L USB 2.0 Audio Interface User Reviews at zZounds

"Good value for your money, if you can get over the driver glitches." submitted August 10, 2007

By a customer from gmail.com

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Musical Background: Amateur/hobbyist

Music Style: Folk/Filk/Country

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Sound: This is simply a ADC/DAC -- it seems to render exactly what it gets, faithfully. It provides 46V of phantom power, at 2.6mA. I purchased the TNT bundle, with the LD-74 condenser microphone. I find it to be extremely responsive to my singing, much more than any dynamic microphone I've ever worked with. The rendition as it comes in to the software is very good. Feature: It does exactly what it claims to do. Two microphone ports, two line-in ports (one of which is switchable to guitar), one headphone port, one line-out port, two MIDI ports (one in, one out), and USB 2.0. There is no way to put phantom power on one microphone port but not the other, but I don't use ribbon microphones so this is not a problem for me. The MIDI in/out were the original reason I bought this, and it performs very well with minimal latency. Ease of Use: I'm using this product with a MacBook Pro and OS X Tiger 10.4.10 (initially 10.4.8). I had to update the firmware in the device to 1.02, and the driver as well. Finding the correct driver and correct firmware is more difficult than it should be. As well, the included version of Cubase LE is for PowerPC-based Macs only -- it will not work on Intel-based Macs, period. It is necessary to become familiar with Audio MIDI Setup in order to use this device. It acts as an "aggregate device", which means that its input and output are consolidated into a single device interface (unlike Apple's standard driver design). It /requires/ its own driver, and will not work with any standard USB audio interface drivers. It took a lot of trial and error to figure out how the controls worked. The manual didn't appear to have the information that I needed on how to set it up, though I will admit that I didn't look at it too thoroughly. The individual channel level knobs have LEDs next to them on the top, with standard green/yellow/red semantics -- though without a more analog level meter, it's difficult to get a sense of how well the levels are set. You MUST pay attention to clipping information in your application. Also, I have experienced (very sporadic) freezes on driver-load when plugging it in, both with and without a music application open. I wish the specs were available so that an external, more-maintained driver could be written. Quality: On the US-122L unit itself, there are no cosmetic issues. It appears to be well-finished. The LD-74 has a minor cosmetic blemish in the exterior shell over the transducer. I don't intend to use a condenser mic in public, so it's not too much hassle for me; as well, I cover it with a foam windscreen so it's not even visible to me in the studio. Value: I cannot speak to other items -- but I have not had any complaints about its value. Manufacturer Support: Finding the driver update was difficult, though I have not attempted to contact them outside of their website. I have had no issues to require warranty service. The Wow Factor: The color scheme matches my (burnished aluminum) MacBook Pro almost precisely. Technically, this does exactly what I want and need it to do. Overall: I expect that I will be satisfied with this for my (relatively modest) needs for quite some time. The features I'd want in an upgrade would be more simultaneous tracks recording at once, but that would also require a much more capable piece of software.

15 of 16 people (93.75%) found this review helpful. Did you?

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"If you dont own it get it!!" submitted June 30, 2007

By a customer from yahoo.com

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Musical Background: Actice Musician

Music Style: Death/Black Metal, Experamental Metal

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Sound: The sound is good for what I payed for it. I run the cubase program. I got the upgrade on the cubase web site. and it was money well spent. great program for recording at home. I also enjoy how I can get real time monitering out of this thang with all the effect to. Feature: I have yet to try the midi on this interface. but I can say that the line in/instrument input are good quality. I suggest getting a good mic for the vocal/ instrument recording. I was using a mic i picked up for 65.00 dollars and the sound was muffled. but I went out and spent 130 on a better mic. and my bass comes through very well and it captures the classic clank from my ampeg stack very well. Ease of Use: Very strait forward. A retarded monkey could get this thang down. Quality: It is very good quality for the 140 i spent on it. way better then the M-audio that i was using. Value: very good for home recording use Manufacturer Support: havent used it but I heard it can be alittle on the poor side at times. The Wow Factor: I love it! I do alot of home recording on my bass. and I havent found better within its price range. And the Cubase is a god sent. if you dont have this program get it!! Overall: Over all it is very nice. And I fill it will give me many good recordings till Tascam comes out with a better version it its price range. but it will have to be very good because I am happy with the one I have.

25 of 28 people (89.29%) found this review helpful. Did you?

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"A good interface, if you don't need much" submitted November 30, 2008

By a customer from comcast.net

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Musical Background: Semi-Pro Musician

Music Style: Progressive Rock, Industrial

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Sound: Mic preamps are pretty much transparent. Very little floor noise. That's pretty much what you want in an interface. Feature: Two channels isn't very much. It's great if your doing solo stuff or recording one instrument, like a keyboard, in stereo. Phantom power is nice, and it's built with a very good design. Simple, but it works. Ease of Use: Takes about ten minutes to get the knobs and buttons figured out and then it's just your preference. Drivers were a little troublesome to install - had to do it online. Quality: VERY solidly built. This thing feels like it will last. All metal body, low profile knobs, tight connections... I can't see this thing breaking if you take decent care of it. The knobs are very nice if you want to slip this thing into a backpack or something. Value: Pretty good value. Lots more features for not much more money. If you jump to $200, you can get 6-8 channels, (with a mic preamp for each), effects, pan settings, etc. Manufacturer Support: N/A The Wow Factor: Oh yeah. This box is sexy all right. pff. well, the design is very reserved, so it looks good i guess. Won't stand out in a room of equipment. Overall: It's a good product if you don't need more than two channels. Keep in mind that someday you might want to expand... I'd recommend spending $200 or so and getting something with a few more features, but if this is all you need, it's a great interface. It has worked very well for me.

16 of 19 people (84.21%) found this review helpful. Did you?

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"for an amature-good, not for serious engineers." submitted January 6, 2007

By a customer from yahoo.com

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Musical Background: recording engineer, vocalist, lyricist, producer, IBO

Music Style: Hip Hop, R&B, Reggae, Latin Reggaeton, Dance Music, Techno, and Slow Music.

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Sound: for loud voices this product is not any good it sounds muffled, as far as low voices its pretty good the mic output volume, and mixer are confusing. Feature: has a guitar input and is also a midi controller. Ease of Use: very simple, when istalling you have to unplug and replug your usb , have someone help you with that so you can click next, the update is not good it tweaks the latency when recording Quality: not the best but way better than the m-audio fastrack usb Value: if buying the tnt bundle-pretty good value, yet i would have rather got a usb mixer, and a better quality mic Manufacturer Support: the support was okay all they advised me to do was update the firmware..that only made my problem worse. The Wow Factor: nice look it would go good with an xbox 360 Overall: maybe another mic would do better ..the interface itself is a 9 giving that its a midi controller, and has a guitar input but if just using for vocals look into something else. this product is good for an amature

7 of 8 people (87.5%) found this review helpful. Did you?

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"Perfect for demos." submitted April 12, 2008

By a customer from gmail.com

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Musical Background: musician/recording engineer

Music Style: Rock

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Sound: Very clean sound. It works great with Cubase. Feature: It's a simple USB interface. It would be nice if it could have more than 2 inputs. But still well worth the value. Ease of Use: It took some time learning to use it with Cubase and getting it configured properly. but it is well worth the time. Quality: low profile buttons/controls are nice so they dont get caught on cables etc. Value: Bang for the Buck is unmatched. Manufacturer Support: N/A The Wow Factor: It's silver... Overall: If it were lost I would get it again or if I had more money to spend I might get a similar product in a better class so I can record more than 2 tracks at a time.

5 of 7 people (71.43%) found this review helpful. Did you?

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"Great Value in a Interface..." submitted February 23, 2008

By a customer from windstream.net

Overall

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Musical Background: Beginning Producer, Engineering Student

Music Style: Hip Hop, Pop, and Grunge

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Sound: Sound is really about as good as you can get in a simple interface...with that being said, I do believe that there are a few products that could offer a little more options if your willing to pay a little more. Feature: Ummm...the product came bundled with Cubase LE and Gigastudio LE. I've used Cubase before and it's a nice addition. Gigastudio on the otherhand is ridiculous. I wasn't even going to install until I saw soom of the video on youtube declaring it as a great tool. But when I loaded it up, my compuuter showed a blank blue screen and it shut off. Ease of Use: Very simple to use...when I was searching for an interface, I was worried about the drivers not working right, but this product worked right out of the box. Quality: I mean as long as you don't throw it to the ground and step on it a few times it should make it just find. Value: Value is the best quality about this machine. For $120 you get two balanced in's and two phantom powered XLR's, midi in's and out's, and direct monitoring. Along with 24-bit recording... Manufacturer Support: I haven't used the support, yet... The Wow Factor: I don't think it's as "sheek" as the fast-track pro or a few others but it's an interface, not a new car. If it gets the job and it doesn't look absolutely ridiculous, who cares... Overall: I think the 122 will last me for a while, I do hip-hop and use only one track at a time. I figure I'll keep it until I'm ready to bring in the MOTU unit.

1 of 2 people (50%) found this review helpful. Did you?

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"Good product let down by poor drivers and no support" submitted April 13, 2007

By a customer from hotmail.com

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Musical Background: Active Musician

Music Style: Most, mainly rock though

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Sound: The selling point for me was the instrument Hi-Z input but as others have stated, the quality does appear to be somewhat muffled. I've experienced the same thing with instrument mics not sounding as alive as they should. Feature: Lots of features for the price, midi, 2 analogue, Hi-Z switch, Phantom power, USB-2. Ease of Use: Plugged it in to my iMac, fire up Garageband (haven't even tried Cubase LE that's included, judging by other reviews here it may not work on the Intel Mac) or Logic and everything just works. However, try to reduce the latency to a decent level and the driver throws up errors all over the system log files when running on USB-2. Try the same on USB-1 and Logic throws up errors. VERY POORLY WRITTEN DRIVERS!!! And the newer (1.02) driver was even worse! Value: Value for money would be much higher if it actually did everything it was supposed to. Manufacturer Support: Don't respond to e-mails, not even multiple e-mails. I mailed them about the driver problem with explicit error messages from the system logs, even did my own research on the issue and followed up the original UNANSWERED mail with further details but still nothing several months later. Basically Tascam don't care what customers think of their products and I'll never buy another in my life!

5 of 8 people (62.5%) found this review helpful. Did you?

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Tascam US122L Interface Customer Review submitted November 16, 2008

By a customer from fastmail.ca

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Features

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The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Pro media Engineer/Producer/musician

Music Style: All types

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Sound: DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT... I have had nothing but problems with this device. Completely baffling and unsolvable latency issue, random clicks and pops every 5 to 10 seconds, out of nowhere... This purchase has been a complete disaster. Before you jump to conclusions... I have upgraded the firmware, drivers and tried ever type of configuration possible (software and hardware) on 3 different computers using multiple software platform/DAW's. Absolutely NOTHING has worked. The item is unusable for any type of pro or even amateur work. Feature: If it worked, they would be good, Phantom power is a plus. Ease of Use: hardware interface is simple, support consol software is useless, only has a latency control that does nothing to solve the unit's main problem... random clicks and pops... Quality: again... this unit just seems to like making "clicking and popping" sounds at random. I'm about to smash it with a hammer... If you think I'm overreacting... try it for yourself and waste 150 bucks in the process. Value: waste of time & money... makes a good door stop but don't plan to do any work with it. Manufacturer Support: nothing online to address this item from tascam or in any forum I could dig up... beleve me, I have looked.

9 of 13 people (69.23%) found this review helpful. Did you?

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"A big bang in a little metal box!" submitted December 4, 2007

By a customer from techie.com

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Musical Background: Weekend Warrior

Music Style: Electronic, Rock Gospel

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Sound: If you have a decent mic... you DO NOT need to crank the preamp all the way up. The audio input and output are great, I've had some popping during recording but I don't think it's a problem with the unit. I've set it as the primary audio device and it works flawlessly. Direct guitar recording is great too. Feature: In it's class, this unit is hands down best in features. Software bundle is awesome! Phantom power to two plugs and the direct hardware monitoring are unmatched by it's competition. Ease of Use: Super easy to use! Installation was a snap and the controls are straight forward. It doesn't get easier than this. Install and go in minutes! Quality: Solid as a tank! Metal construction with flat dial knobs that won't get caught on cables and etc. Very rugged construction and portable. I've got a zip drive case for it just to lug it around. Value: A decent value for the money! Like I said; this has much better features than comparable products (Creative's EMU and etc.) but their support system is lacking. The software bundle is good and worth much of the purchase price. Manufacturer Support: Shame on you Tascam... I'm STILL waiting to hear from support; their support response is awful. Not good at all! I'd be happy with an auto response from their email support staff; at least I'd know they got it. The Wow Factor: Very sleek and nice looking, brushed metal finish and smooth rounded edges. Not really sexy but a nice looking addition to a home studio. Overall: All-in-all a good value and worth the price. A small learning curve and fast installation make this a great addition to my home studio.

2 of 5 people (40%) found this review helpful. Did you?

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"I Have A Question AND This Product Works Great!" submitted September 19, 2007

By a customer from hotmail.com

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Musical Background: Active Musician

Music Style: Rap

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Sound: The Sound Is Very good since i dont use a professional microphone im lookin' at the at2020 can anyone tell me if its nessecerry for the US-122L? Feature: the futures are pretty good thing is that you need to mic da level all da way but the sound is very good when your monitoring while recording. Ease of Use: it was easy.all i did was install da drivers and did all da on screen instructions and it worked perfectly fine. Quality: da quality is pretty good,doesnt look too cheap. Value: its a pretty good deal for the sound you get.i spent $169.99 on this product. Manufacturer Support: Never Needed Any Support The Wow Factor: For Anyone who wants to start a booth at home start with this and any karaoke mic but make sure you have a foam windscreen and an xlr cable to support the mic. Overall: The sound was pretty good im lookin forward to the at2020 still.I'm only 13 and this does the jobb for me perfect to hear what it sounds like chekk out my site http://www.soundclick.com/BL1Tzup and listen to the track "pain" best quality i've gotten from it so far.

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Tascam US122L USB 2.0 Audio/MIDI Interface

User Ratings

"Good value for your money, if you can get over the driver glitches." submitted August 10, 2007

"If you dont own it get it!!" submitted June 30, 2007

"A good interface, if you don't need much" submitted November 30, 2008

"for an amature-good, not for serious engineers." submitted January 6, 2007

"Perfect for demos." submitted April 12, 2008

"Great Value in a Interface..." submitted February 23, 2008

"Good product let down by poor drivers and no support" submitted April 13, 2007

Tascam US122L Interface Customer Review submitted November 16, 2008

"A big bang in a little metal box!" submitted December 4, 2007

"I Have A Question AND This Product Works Great!" submitted September 19, 2007