Tascam US 122

James Wake
September 24, 2006

Rating: 9/10

I originally bought this based on the fact it was the cheapest USB sound card that did what i needed. However i quickly realised that it was possibly the best piece of kit i own. Having used the M-Box before i didn't expect much but in my opinion this does everything that the m-box 2 does for £190 less. The only problems i have found with it is that it won't work with Pro-tools which can complicate some situations but for someone like me who mainly works in cubase and logic it's really not a problem. I have been using this sound card since december now and i would recomend it to anybody looking for a usb sound card on a low budget. The only other problem i have found with it is that for large studio projects i can only record to 2 tracks at a time, but really thats the case with pretty much any usb sound card.

This card has proved to be an very worthwhile investment even when it comes to mixdown and mastering, it has been much more usful for audio playback than anything i've used previously.

Even the software provided has helped so much in my studio projects and work.

I would recomend it to anybody who needs a budget sound card but still wants the best, unless they want to use protools that is.

Adam Coltman
April 20, 2006

Rating: 6/10

I've been using the US-122 for over a year now and I've enjoyed immensely.

It feels at home in any setup thanks to it's sturdy design. The metal housing and thick rubber band around it's midriff are assuringly strong. The sockets and LEDs are all secure and asides from a little play in the knobs there is nothing to suggest poor quality manufacturing.

In the 'studio' the interface is a breeze. Everything works fine and sound quality is great. Setup your computer correctly and latency is not an issue - but if it does arise, the Direct Monitoring proves very worthy. I had one issue once with latency in a rather large cubase project between metronome and playback but at this price I can afford to be a little forgiving.

The only gripe I have is a major one. Tascam have a reputation for bad drivers and unfortunately the US-122 follows the same suit. My new computer fails to be compatible with the interface and after a lot of trawling through music forums I found alot of users with the same issue. After extensive discussion with Tascam they concluded a 'conflict' between the drivers and my hardware and refuse to accept that their drivers are poor and need updating.

In conclusion the US-122 is a bit of a gamble. For me on my old rig it worked flawlessly and was a pleasure. However clunky drivers (there are three seperate install processes!) can render the product absolutely useless... and with no chance of Tascam improving the situation (that I am aware of) for people on a budget there are cheaper alternatives available. However to my knowledge there are no other products which offer USB-powered 1/4", MIDI and XLR functions at this price level. So for some a gamble may be unavoidable.