tascam 144MKII

[simchaleh]

Hey there,
i need some advice, im looking to get a tascam 144 http://www.zzounds.com/a--3745/item--TASUS144 and i just realized that there is also a seemingly newer edition, the 144mkII http://www.zzounds.com/a--3745/item--TASUS144MKII
in general tweak advices not to get brand new product, is this included? is the 144mkII better or worse the origional 144
also they are the same cost price what has been upgraded
can someone shed some clarity here?
Thnx

[Tweak]

I'd go with the newer one. Its not avail;able yet though. The newer one looks to have a better case and controls and its drivers will have a longer life as they are likely to be updated several more years. You also get Cubase LE4, which is the current version. Look like they are updating their whole line to a new dark grey aluminum look.

http://www.tascam.com/catalogue;47,15.html

[simchaleh]

thnk u tweak.
can u advise me if this is a good selection for my situation.
im running a slightly weak system :

win xp professional with sp2
pc intel t2300 @ 1.66Ghz,
1.67 Ghz, 0.99 GB ram

after a lot of reading (especially ur guide) i couldnt decide btween the tascam 144, or the emu 0202 or edirol ua25 ex. they all seem to be in the same ball park but since im not aware with either of them and dont understand the specs so well i cant figure out wich one to pick. wich one has better pre-amps etc.

also as u can see im trying to put together my first studio, and theres just way to much selection out there it makes my head spin . can u advise me what is the preffered mic selection for low budget/good quality. for acoustic guitars, flutes, african hand drums, vocals.
hows the mxl 990/991 pair.

[Tweak]

I can't comment on your computer. If its a laptop, I would be worried. .99 GB Ram? Could be trouble.

Do you have USB 2.0? This is not something you want to gloss over. I'd not get the emu. If you have USB 2.0 the Tascam might be the way to go. If you have Firewire, consider those interfaces. You are not ready to buy till you understand these issues.

On mics, you need to get real specific with a budget. Or else just read the many great posts here in the Mic forum. Every popular mic has been reviewed and compared.

[simchaleh]

my budget is around $150,give or take $50

im looking for good mic for recording woodwinds, hand drums, and acoustic string instruments, and some vocals.\
i was considering the mxl 990/991. because of the range of possibility with them both, but im thinking maybe its worth putting in a bit more and getting just one good mic that can be used for my flutes,hand drums,and strings vocals together..\/?

[Tweak]

Well, all of those require a different mic, ideally.

For $230 I'd go with a Rode NT1a

http://www.zzounds.com/a--3745/item--RODNT1A/sid--SCf3

I would also consider the AKG Perception 220
http://www.zzounds.com/a--3745/item--AKGPERCEPTION220


Going to MXL, which i have never tried, they have a few budget bundles you might find interesting:

http://www.zzounds.com/a--3745/item--MSE550551RPK/sid--showroom

http://www.zzounds.com/a--3745/item--MSE440441PK/sid--showroom

[simchaleh]

great advice,
thanks for all the help

[cmreal04]

I just bought the 144-MKII and really like it, but I'm not surprised, I always liked my old tascam 122. Besides the new, more professional look, they went back to the higher set knobs like the original. The version before this they flattened the knobs, which might have been a plus for portability, but not so for use. I'm also a big fan of smooth rotary knobs like these. That was always a personal gripe of mine with my firebox, not being able to make fine volume adjustments, especially when using headphones to sample.

Right now I have my headphones ( 1/4 inch jack in front) A turntable pre-amp running thru line in left / right for a technics turntable, and monitors connected thru the rca outs in the back.


Overall I'm very pleased with the unit and the sound.

CM

[Rick Levine]

musiciansfriend.com is running a special where you get the 144MKII and the 990/991 as a package for $199. That saves about $30 on the mics. I know Liz has gotten good results with the 991. I bought one used, but haven't had a chance to try it out yet other than to make sure it words. I haven't used the 990.

[tloke_322]

I am looking at picking up this unit to to record mostly vocals and acoustic instruments with the occasional electrified instrument. I have a fairly powerful PC with Vista 32-bit and an M-Audio Nova condenser mic. I seem to remember people complaining about popping sounds or latency issues when using the older 144(or maybe it was the 122). Have these problems been solved by Tascam or could someone with little recording experience, like myself, work around them?

[cmreal04]

I'm not sure but I don't think that was a Tascam problem. The 144 and the 122 don't come with a power supply, so they require your computer power them via usb. I think less "powerful" computers couldn't handle the additional strain of powering the units along with everything else...

CM

[Altyman]

Hi!

I am also looking for a USB 2.0 interface. I have a lenovo laptop (2.4 GHZ, 4 Gb ram, Vista 32 bits) with no firewire connectivity. The EMU 0404 and the Tascam Us-144 mkII were the two models I was looking at until I read you (Tweak) would buy the Tascam over the EMU. The thing is that the EMU has a 6 softwares bundles, which I thought would make it more interesting than the tascam (which comes with Cubase LE4 only). Also, EMU can be externally powered. I was told this was not to be over-looked when purchasing an interface. Is that true? What are the other advantages of the Tascam?

Thank you!

[Ranuu]

keep in mind the Tascam units are *all* only 32 bit compatible. So if you move on to a new computer, or try to hook it up to a friend's with windows or linux 64 bit, you'll be out of luck :-/

[Tweak]

keep in mind the Tascam units are *all* only 32 bit compatible. So if you move on to a new computer, or try to hook it up to a friend's with windows or linux 64 bit, you'll be out of luck :-/

Some of the new Tascam interfaces are 64bit Vista compatible.

http://www.tascam.com/products/us-144mk ... 18,19.html

[Ranuu]

Wow, thanks for *that* tip, Mr. Tweak! Maybe I'll rethink the 1641!

122MKII didn't work oob, guess I should have looked harder before returning it ><

[jossif]

I just got my 144 mk II. As there are no drivers for win 7 64 bit, I had to go with vista ones. And it just sucked, every application crashed, including firefox, some audio programs wouldn't even work (fl studio, mixcraft). So I got the older drivers for 64bit vista, and it seemed to help a bit. Works pretty smooth on fl studio now, and no noticeable latency or weird buzz noises. Will give more info when I have more time to fiddle around with it.

[Ranuu]

so sorry, just after tweak posted that, I was going to come back and warn that they have 64 bit drivers, but not for windows 7 (which is much more stable than vista anyway) but you can use legacy drivers. Everyone says they suck, and are slow - I'm now using DI to a 1/4 to mini adapter straight into my mobo. Only 16 bit, but 96kHz sample rate, which is more than most budget interfaces will allow, and its super cheap to get started. I have a pretty good motherboard (ASUS P5Q Pro) so i don't know if your's is worth trying, but I have latencies less than 5ms with effects on (line in, and headphones out)

I can only do 2 tracks at a time like this, but with latencies at under 5ms, i don't care much at all, I can overdub to me heart's content!