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Tascam US-800 as standalone mic preamp with monitoring
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev
    image

    http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=tascam%20us-800&_sacat=0&_clu=2&_fcid=168&_localstpos&_stpos&gbr=1


    Can be pretty useful if you run many 48v powered mikes and need to monitor sound (it has two outputs and form factor is quite good).
    You can run it in standalone mode. And even use any cheap digital recorder, as it also output signal in digital.
  • 25 Replies sorted by
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev
    Small addition. you can look at http://www.harmonicdog.com/

    http://forum.harmonicdog.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=656

    They cite that iPad is able to record all 8 tracks from this thing.
    As I understand, latest iPhones must also work.

    P.S. Of course, you need external battery with 5V output.
  • JspatzJspatz
    I wonder if it can be USB powered. If so, I have an unused tap on my xpal 18000.
  • alcomposeralcomposer
    Wonder if this works with those Chinese tablets that you have been posting??? (nice combination)!
  • AriaAria
    Tascam has an entire line that goes from small ultra portable USB powered Pres. The US800 has a 5v input and seems that standalone mode is powered from that input and not the USB input. This is what the manual says about Stand Alone Mode:

    When this unit is not connected to a
    computer by a USB cable and the unit’s power
    is ON (the included TASCAM PS-P520 AC
    adaptor is connected), the unit will operate in
    stand-alone mode. In this mode, you can use
    this unit as a microphone preamp without
    using a computer.

    Settings for stand-alone
    mode
    In stand-alone mode, input signals pass
    through the digital mixer, which is set to fixed
    values, and then the output selectors before
    being output from the output jacks.
    Mixer

    The mixer settings are fixed at the following
    values.
    Faders: All set at 0 dB
    •
    Pan: Odd channels are set to the left
    •
    channel and even channels are set to the
    right
    Mute: All OFF
    •
    Solo: All OFF
    •
    Stereo link: OFF
    •

    There is no on/off switch on the unit.
  • alcomposeralcomposer
    @Aria
    Most of the Motu units have 'amazing' stand-alone modes (off topic though)... but notable...
  • AriaAria
    MOTU is a very solid company. I've used their units over the last 20 years. They strive to make very clean preamps in their products. I also have 64 and 32 channel Tascam Mixers. Both solid companies for low cost quality gear. Built well and lasts.
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev
    Yep, it works via 5V only.

    @alcomposer

    I think it works perfectly with iPod Touch (latest). It is not very pricey.
    Check my link and ask developers how many tracks it'll run.
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev
    @Aria
    If you want to talk about MOTU, it is best to make separate topic, as no one will find it here.
  • alcomposeralcomposer
    @VK
    Thanks for the heads up on this one VK! Sounds like a real winner (pun intended!).
  • alcomposeralcomposer
    @Vitaliy_Kiselev
    Emailed developer... only works currently with iPad 1 & 2. Only asked about iPod Touch- don't know about iPhone...
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev
    @alcomposer

    Sad,can you PM me their email and response.
    I want to talk and convice to make version for iPod.
  • alcomposeralcomposer
    Great idea... done.
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev
    My undertanding is that iPods don't have USB host ability. This is why.

    Btw $99 price has it's reasons.
    Main reason - this unit has one of the worse drivers in the world :-)
    You can go to their site and get PDF for drivers update.
    Interesting read.
    "We have big memory leak that could cause instant reboot of your Windows 7. This is normal. Try to reboot your PC regularly before any unit usage."
    "We also have other big memory leak, and you can just browse or watch movie and memory will still leak, so stop working like this and reboot your PC regularly."
    "Also our drivers do not recognize unit after each reboot. And any power on/off cycle of the unit can cause instant reboot of your PC"

    I think someone must find this drivers authors and do something bad with them.

    So, try to check such document regularly, otherwise you could find something like this in the future:
    "Sometimes during recording session software can accidently format your system drive. This is ok. Try to backup regularly. "
  • alcomposeralcomposer
    Wow... what a &%%($*(#\

    Not to ram a point home- but this is why we all just LOVE your work VK! Great hardware is always let down by the smallest link in the chain.. (most commonly firmware!) :-(

    >I think someone must find this drivers authors and do something bad with them.
    Be careful - P-V has global reach... this could just happen!

    (so please - go easy on these guys... just a stern talking to)
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev
    @alcomposer

    Normally this happens because it is managers who decide datas and allocation of resources.

    So, you have one intern working on fixing some old products (here I mean 2-3 months old)
    And all the guys are busy working on new, wonderful and, without doubt, improved products.
  • alcomposeralcomposer
    >And all the guys are busy working on new, wonderful and, without doubt, improved products.
    That have a few firmware issues- but don't worry they will get fixed 'really' soon by intern.

    Catch 42.
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev
    Any non-asio audio played through the 800 would never leave memory (I had the 800 set as the default playback device in the Sound control panel). Every mp3, flash video, dvd, and game would leave their audio buffer in system memory even after closing the program. I confirmed this by setting up Foobar to use asio while Windows Media Player would use Windows' audio; every mp3 I played in Foobar would disappear from RAM after it was done playing, while Windows Media Player grew more and more bloated with every song, and wouldn't relinquish hundreds of megabytes after I closed it. This was also the case with VLC Player being used for flash video and dvds, Firefox and Chrome, and every game I tested. Same result when using Ableton Live vs any non-asio program.

    Cheap driver authors from India will never hurt your products :-)
  • alcomposeralcomposer
    @VK

    To its credit the 800 is core-audio compliant on OS X- so no drivers needed, (built into OSX) also haven't found any issues regarding the 800 and OS X...

    (some good news- especially for the idea with the iPad- should not have any issues!)
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev
    May be driver programmers had been Mac users?
    And this had been just their part in the endless war :-)
  • alcomposeralcomposer
    Personally I have owned lots of gear that was 'OS X Core-Audio Compliant', (but use mainly a Motu Traveler 3 now). My thoughts are that most gear that is out of the box OS X compliant is buggy with Windows... maybe because to make it compliant with OSX they sacrifice windows stability.

    So now- I use mac and have Motu that uses its own drivers anyway! Go figure... ;-D
    However Motu do a good job with updates...

    As to the endless war... I thought that Windows bought 40%ish of Apple back when Steve first returned... remember the developer conference that Steve was booed at? So all the same really- Unless you use Linux...

    Back to the point: I am looking at this and the DR-100 MKii... see which one works best for me... (will see what the post Christmas sales for iPad's are... ;D )
  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev
    Yep. Otherwise this thing at $99 it very good.
    But Windows drivers are fucking failure.
    And memory leaks under Windows can't be related to any Mac compliancy.
  • alcomposeralcomposer
    Thank you @VK for taking away any thoughts of guilt that I may have had for bad Windows drivers in my FA-101 and this device!

    While working on a project ages ago I plugged my old FA-101 into an XP machine an it nearly killed it!? :-(

    Lazy developers!

    >Otherwise this thing at $99 it very good
    (have to convince myself to go iPad) :-(
    (was holding off)
  • DUCKDUCK
    Any reason one would regret using this little guy through SPDIF to avoid the windows driver issues?

    Do Microsoft generic drivers provide any support in Windows 7?

    Or is this best just left as a pass? I don't really need that many inputs, and Sound Professionals had the Tascam DR-40 for 150 bucks the other day...
  • fetzufetzu

    I can vouch for the US-800's quality; I have used it in my studio to pick up vocals and instruments for a while, and was (almost) fully satisfied with it. Although, as VK pointed out, the windows drivers are a complete failure and will most likely turn your machine into a BSOD fest.

  • Vitaliy_KiselevVitaliy_Kiselev

    I also have one, but don't have time to set separate machine and check how it works. :-)

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