Hi Guys, I was thinking of buying either the Tascam US-800 or the 600. For some reason the 800 is cheaper. I was just wondering does anyone know of any driver problems for either of these on a Windows Vista 64 bit OS (which is what I have).

Just any other information/ reviews on these products would be good! Thanks

No experience with Vista, i do have the 800 and it runs smooth on XP. Most of the complaints i have heard regarding Tascam involve Win 7, but i imagine that might also include Vista.

Don't know about Vista, but my US-800 runs fine on Windows 7 (but had to download drivers from the web site, not using the disk that came with it).

That is good to know John, I am planning an OS upgrade this next year.

I'm still a bit confused as to why this is so much cheaper than the US-600 even though it has more inputs? I plan to use it with Cubase LE5 (provided) or the latest version of Reaper, what do you guys use it with?

Thanks

Adam

It seems to be a sale item. I bought mine for $99 recently as did several others here, compliments of Mr Silvertones heads up!

I think a lot of equipment is in the surplus stage right now due to economy, and when a company has newer model released (or coming soon) they have to move all the previous model or end up eating the production cost.

Related-
M-Audio BX8a Deluxe monitors had a new redesign (now called BX8a D2) and those BX5a and BX8a deluxe monitors are down to $149 and $249 per pair! Much lower than last year.

They claim the new model goes 2Hz lower in the specs. All other specs match up.
New model = $499

Funny thing is I've reports that say the BX8a Deluxe (last years model) had an actual response going 6Hz below what the specs said. So maybe these new ones go even lower.. who knows, but they have to move the old models now..so demand goes up for the new ones.

I have the 600 running with Vista, no problems

US-800 is again at $99 at Musician's Friend.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/computer-...-midi-interface

I've had a couple go arounds with both audio and midi tracking/mixing with this device.

Pros:

1. The mic preamps seem pretty danged clean. Much cleaner than I expected for $99. I would say they are better than on my PreSonus FireBox. Unfortunately I can't do a shoot-out between the devices. Don't expect loads of gain with dynamic mics. I have an ElectroVoice PL80a (designed for stage use, unidirectional, etc.) and have to crank the pre-amp input knob to 100% for close-mic'ing a classical guitar. I know, not an ideal mic for the situation, but I 'run what I brung'. Still a nice clean signal but I would have liked perhaps another 5-10 dB of gain.
2. While connected to the computer, the device can function like a mixer, don't need your DAW software open to set mic levels.
3. It is 6 mic or line inputs, with phantom power, for $99 - almost unheard of.

Cons:

1. You MUST wait until your PC is completely booted, before powering up the unit - otherwise Win 7 will not see the device.
2. You MUST reset the latency on the unit's GUI each and every time you use it - hassle.
3. I was at the middle of a 3 hour recording marathon (that's a marathon for me, don't have the kind of time I used to for this stuff) and Win 7 decides that it no longer recognizes the device - right in the middle of a tracking session. Crackles, then just plain stoppage of the DAW software. Had to exit all the way out of DAW software then reboot Win7, turn on the unit, reset latency to my desired setting, etc.
4. TASCAM customer support takes over a day to reply to inquiries. The unoffical but only existing tascam message board/forum is a pay-for service - can you believe that? It's a small fee, but still, you would think Tascam could host something like this without charging customers. They choose not to host any user-contributed help and allow an outside entity to do this.

Hi,

I'm running BIAB with Win7 and Tascam 600 (more expensive than Tascam 800 !!).
Jamming with BIAB 2012 (5 instances of Amplitude and more), grabbing with Cubase 5....no latency, no glitches, everything OK. I power Tascam 600 BEFORE booting the Laptop.