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The most popular TASCAM 4-channel USB audio interface has been updated with better audio specs and a fresh new look for the US-144mkII. The US-144mkII starts with two great-quality XLR microphone preamps with phantom power for condenser microphones. There's also a pair of balanced line inputs and a guitar-level in for direct recording of electric guitar or bass. A pair of S/PDIF digital inputs and outputs is also included, for a total of four inputs and outputs at up to 96kHz/24-bit audio quality.
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Technical Details
- Bus-powered USB 2.0 audio interface- (2) XLR microphone inputs with phantom power
- (2) 1/4 inch balanced line inputs
- Up to 96kHz/24-bit audio resolution
- Mac and Windows drivers included
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By J. Nichols
The sound quality is very good. However, the interface crashes at random intervals throughout the day. On a fresh install of Windows XP SP3, I frequently got the Blue-Screen-of-Death blaming tascusb2.sys. There was no warning. Computer could be on for hours before doing it, or not. I haven't been able to discern a pattern as to when it happens -- it happens most often when I listen to music, but sometimes it will crash when I'm doing nothing at all with it.
Installing the newest drivers from the Tascam Website actually made my system crash more often than the old drivers. The interface also takes 20% of CPU power to run on a Core 2 Quad Laptop, even when I'm doing nothing with it. The Interface actually crashed my PC once while I was writing this review.
Appearantly, this is a problem that existed with the previous model of the US-144 as well. Google it; there are dozens of reports online of people having the same issues as me, and hundreds of reports regarding Tascam's worthless customer support, even here on Amazon. The instruction manual is also littered with typos.
Even when it does output sound, you can't use it in a production environment due to very high latency. If you set the latency to anything other than the highest setting, you will get all kinds of crackling and skipping, even when just listening to music in Winamp or Windows Media Player. It often doesn't get properly recognized in Cubase 5. Recording is nearly impossible.
Support is unhelpful, telling me to disable my anti virus and firewall(not an option due to security concerns, but even when I did do it for an hour, my system crashed again), and outright lying to me, saying that Mac users don't have issues with the Tascam Audio Interface, when even the reviewer above me has problems getting it to work on his Mac.
Bottom line: When the thing works, it outputs some nice, clear sound for the price. Unfortunately it's nearly unusable due to constant crashing, latency issues and worthless support. Stay away until they put out some new drivers, which they have been promising for nearly two years.
Jamal Nichols
By Stan G (Vermont, USA)
In September, Tascam "officially" certified all of its audio interfaces for use in Snow Leopard, saying the devices were "fully functional" in the operating system. They lied. Neither the Tascam US-122l nor the Tascam US-122MKII is fully functional in Snow Leopard.
I bought the Tascam US-122l based on Tascam's "certification." I have a mid-2009 iMac (not the brand new version) and am running Snow Leopard. After receiving the interface I downloaded the most up-to-date drivers and firmware. However, the interface was not recognized as a in/out sound device in either Snow Leopard's "system preferences" or its "Audio MIDI Setup." I called Tascam customer support and talked to a very friendly and informative representative who basically told me that there was nothing that I could do about it, and that a driver might (eventually) be released that offers full support. I asked if the US-122MKII was fully functional in Snow Leopard (it had been released right after I bought the US-122l), and he said that on his computer it showed up in both system preferences and audio midi setup. Based on this information, I bought the US-122MKII, only to come across the same exact problem.
IMPORTANT: Both audio interfaces are fully functional in the audio programs I have (Ableton Live, GarageBand, Audacity). If all you want to use the interface for is audio in-out for such programs, you won't have any problems. However, if you want to be able to use the interface as your computer's main soundcard (ie:, to output all sound through the interface) you should not buy either interface for use in Snow Leopard. This ability is a big plus: for example, your iTunes music will likely sound much better coming through an audio interface than straight from your onboard sound card. Additionally, the ability to output all your sound through your interface means that you can keep your speaker cables connected to your interface at all times, without having to switch back to your computer after you've finished recording.
I don't know if there are any audio interfaces out there that are fully functional with Snow Leopard yet, but Tascam's are NOT and the company should not be claiming that they are.
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