TASCAM US-1641

I've had this unit for about 2 months. It was one of the lower priced interfaces I had found with enough inputs to handle my drums and still have room to record other instruments.
I expected it to be cheap and fragile, but I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived. The case is metal and feels fairly solid. In fact, the knobs are the only part that doesn't feel solid, but that hasn't been an issue.

This interface connects via USB 2.0, which is nice since it's slightly faster than FireWire and therefore reduces latency, albeit to a small degree but every little bit helps. Unfortunately it can't be daisy-chained and I'd expect latency to increase through a USB hub. I've only got 3 ports on my notebook and 2 are already occupied, so I don't have much room to expand.

Lots of I/O.
8 xlrs ins
2 gain-adjustable 1/4" inputs
4 more 1/4" inputs with db pad switches in back
digital in and out
6 mono 1/4" outs
headphone out
MIDI in and out
All individually adjustable with proper software, although it uses 2 of the 1/4" outs as the master output. I would have liked to see 4 mono outs for monitoring and a main out for mastering. The output on the 1/4" outs is a little weak, so a headphone amp will be needed. Otherwise it provides a very clean, transparent sound.

AC powered, no wall-wart to battle with. Pretty basic, but well thought. Phantom power is available with 2 switches, one controlling xlr ins 1-4, the other 5-8.

Many sample and bit-rates are supposedly supported, but every program I've used has crashed when I change from the standard 44.1 kHz/24-bit setup.

The unit comes with Cubase LE, which is dreadful. I couldn't get it to recognize the interface beyond just a stereo input, though to be honest I didn't give it much effort. The control panel is simple and effective, though not as powerful as I would like.
Although it is possible to use it on it's own, it only works effectively when coupled with a computer. However, it seems to dislike most software and crashed just about everything I tried except for Adobe Audition, which runs magnificently. It absolutely will NOT work with ASIO4All. Latency goes through the roof and BSOD is unavoidable.

After finding software that it plays well with, I'm extremely satisfied with this unit. Low-latency (1 or 2 ms), clean signal, lots of ins and outs. Can't beat it for the price if you're willing to put some effort into working out the bugs.
It was a headache at first, so I would recommend looking into other options before buying this interface.
If it were destroyed or stolen I'd probably go with a full USB mixer for the convenience of physical routing and zero-latency monitoring. This unit had a lot of bugs at first, so a month ago I would not have wanted another one, but it works wonderfully now that I've got the right software.

Rackmount USB 2.0 Digital Audio Interface. 16 total inputs, 4 outputs with outputs 1 and 2 mirrored to Monitor Outputs. Clip indicators on channels 1-10, but no VU or level meters. It has hardware monitoring as well as a Mix knob so you can blend the incoming sounds with the playback sounds in your headphones or monitors.

Inputs 15 and 16 are actually on an SPDIF digital input, so unless you have a synth or preamp with digital outputs, you really only get 14 inputs. Inputs 9 and 10 are 1/4" with an impedence selector so you can plug a guitar or bass in directly without the use of a DI box.

48V Phantom Power can be enabled for inputs 1-4, and/or 5-8 via two pushbuttons.

You can find complete specs, pictures, and downloads here: http://www.tascam.com/products/us-1641;9,15,1056,14.html

My only gripes are the knobs feel flimsy and the indicator line is the same chrome as the knob itself so it can be hard to see, and guitar/bass inputs don't have that nice solid metal nut holding them to the chassis. I'm sure it would be fine for road use in a decent rack but you need to be gentle with the knobs.

USB 2.0 interface to the computer. No daisy chaining capability.

8 XLR inputs on the front
2 1/4" jacks on the front switchable for guitar/bass
4 1/4" line level jacks on the back
1 stereo S/PDIF RCA jack on the back.
1/4" Headphone jack on the front with volume control
R and L 1/4" monitor output jacks in the back.
MIDI In and Out ports in the back.
4 1/4" outputs in the back for cue/mix (I use them to feed a headphone distribution amp)

The preamps sound fine for my purposes, although I'm looking forward to getting a nice tube pre. (preferably one with digital outputs so I can use that SPDIF port)

Built in transformer so all you need is the included EIC power cable (same as a computer)

Supports up to 96k/24bit and includes drivers for
Windows XP/Vista x86/Vista x64
Mac OS X Tiger/Leopard/Snow Leopard
Apple Universal Binary (Intel Processor)

I have not tried the Mac drivers, but I found the Vista x86 and X64 drivers to be problematic. It may have been issues with the Vista operating system itself, but I had problems with dropouts in Sonar and general instability. In Windows XP I've had no such problems and am finding the unit a joy to work with. For virtual instruments I'm able to get 2.9ms latency at 44.1 / 16bit on a Pentium D 2.5Ghz machine with 4Gb of RAM.

Comes with Cubase LE but I use Sonar so I never installed it.
There is no mixer applet, just a Control Panel icon to adjust latency and resolution for ASIO drivers. Personally I got better performance with the DirectSound drivers.

You can use it to monitor the inputs for say a rehearsal without turning the computer on, so that's a plus.

Now that I'm using Windows XP again it's been great. It outperforms my old PCI card based interface and was significantly cheaper (you can get these for $299 now)

The only thing holding me back from recommending it to others is the poor performance in Vista. Hopefully either Windows 7 or newer drivers from Tascam will improve that but I'm not holding my breath. Windows XP is fine for me.

1U, rack mountable recording interface, comes with Cubase LE software.

For my purposes (small home/project studio) It is great. I've used it for around a year with no real issues.

I've recorded bands for demos and CDs and since we had enough Inputs we were able to record it all live.

I'm not recording guru, but I've been able to do what I need to with it. If there's something I can't do it's probably my fault not the Tascam's. I love this thing

USB 2.0, supposedly it's faster than Firewire. I don't know, but I have gotten 8-10 inputs working at the same time with no noticable performance issues, so that's pretty good, right?

I'm no pro, but the Preamps sound fine to me. I've just started to get into the MIDI side of things so can't comment too much on it, but it's got an In and an Out...what else is there?

AC powered, no wall wart...good. Phantom power for mics...good.

???

comes with Cubase LE 4 which I've found to be pretty good. It's not the best program in the world, but defintely serviceable for a small or home studio.

I really love this thing! It's made recording a full band a fairly easy prospect. For a small studio or anyone on a budget it's perfect. The included software will get you going with everything you need to make a great recording. In the end it's just a tool, but one that is very helpful.

I like this metal case because of using my unit on the road, making some live-recording, so it is really god idea to put it into metal. I doesn't like the plastic knobs, but You know - it's not a premiun-class product, so what You want?

Sometimes I had problems with my US-1641 - but it's not because of the TASCAM unit I thik, but because of my notebook. It is also 2 years old, so you can imagine what is it. Definitely need to change this one. My notebook, not US-1641!!!

Pream is not so bright, but it is not a premium-class product, as I note before, so I just doesn't use it. I use an tube pre-amp. I had no problem with I/O. More, I use sometimes for live-recording 12 Inputs at the same time (XLR and unbalanced jack's) and there is no problem with that. Can you believe it? I finally use monitors only with the PC, so I don't need it on the US-1641 so much, but the headphone output it's a great thing, very useful especially whan You are making live-recording...

Got some situation, when power on the stage was switched off, and I was affaid that my unit can be fall down because of this ****. Of course it's happened only 3 times, but it is enough for me and I bought an Furman PC finally. Aha, my unit still works well, even after this ****ty situation with bad switchin' of the power. Nice, yeah?

ASIO driver, Windows XP, and it's works so well...

I think it's a really good product for this money. Of course, there is no illusion about the great sound such as on the big studios, but for my home recording, and especially for live-recording I think it's a really good stuff.

Owned this unit for about a year. Did the immediate upgrade to Cubase Studio 4, and have also used it with Reaper and FL Studio 8. Everything on the unit seems solid, with the exception of the plastic knobs which are just ok.

For someone using PC, the USB connectivity allows me to go between my XP desktop and my Vista laptop. I read a thread on a forum where someone said they bought four of these units for a mobile rig, but I'm not sure how they are able to be chained together? I can't find any info about this.

Preamp quality is fine, and 1/4 jacks in the back allow for using an outboard preamp for max quality. The headphone jack on the front allows for latency free monitoring. Love it!

AC powered/ Phantom power for front XLR jacks.

Meets the industry standard of 24/96, but I'm on board with the 24/44.1 crowd now. Met all my expectations.

Software issues ...

Cubase Studio 4 hasn't worked the best for me. Clicks pops and gaps abound. Reaper on the other hand, is smooth as silk! I would prefer to use Cubase Studio for the extra plugin support (Autotune namely), and will try harder to tweak out my system, but sometimes it's easier to quit and use the simpler product.

Having said all that, if you haven't already downloaded Reaper, go do it now if only for the included plugins. If they fixed the autotune issue I'd be 100% on board.

It's almost perfect for me. The best value for an 8XLR USB interface that I'm aware of. Lotta fun!!! Is it Digidesign with Pro Tools HD? No. Is it capable of churning out a professional recording, yes.

The Tascam us1641 is a decent unit. Rackmount and single space. 8 xlr on the front plus 2 trs's switchable between line in and guitar mode. 48v for your good mics. Only thing is - it's fradgle. (the knobs)

Usb 2.0 only. BIG THING HERE = IF YOU HAVE NVIDIA CHIPS POWERING YOUR USB PORTS BEWARE. You will need to install a pci usb 2.0 card. This is what I had to do and it runs 100%. I gave this only a 4 because I had to install a usb card. Nvidia chips will not work with this unit. Well mine don't.

Nice pres and TRS conections. 8 xlr in and 2 trs in on front with pres and 4 line in on the back. 4 line outs. monitor outs l/r. Switchable pads on the line ins. All balanced.

No wall wart. Standard style computer power cord. 48v for your mics.

Not getting into that. 24bit 96

Over all : If your on a bugget like me and money is tight this is a good deal to get started with recording. It's worth wha you pay for it. The next best thing would be fire wire and you would spend 100 or more dollars for that.

The Tascam Us 1461 is pretty portable and is easy to carry into different rooms if you record in multiple rooms. If you restart your computer regularly and shut off the internet while you record you will experience very little glitches. It comes with 8 XLR inputs and 2 inputs for normal cables. The Tascam uses 2.0 USB connection and also has 4 line ins located in the back of the unit.

The connectivity is USB 2.0.

Preamp quality is great and there is 2 MIDI cable inputs but there is only one headphone out so if you need to use more than one pair of headphones you need to buy a product that can turn one headphone output into multiple outputs.

-Bus Powered
-AC Powered
-Phantom Power

-Comes with Cubase LE 4 which is basically useless software
-Mixer in the Cubase program
-Cannot Operate without a computer

I wish this came with a better version of Cubase but besides that it is a great preamp and i am satisfied with what it has done for me

I think that the 1641 works like a charm. I have recorded punk to Blugrass and I think it sounds great either way. The monitor outs work great with most powered monitors. I use KRKv4 and they absolutely rock.

The only hang up I have is with my laptop. It seems to crash everytime I try to load the 1641 driver as instructed by the manual. That is a small issue to me at this time.

I love it.

Works great. I use it with both my laptop and my desktop. Make sure you check the DPC latency. There is a tool called DPClatency checker. If you get spikes it will not work. Which is probably why there are negative reviews here.

Connected with no problems.

The only issue here is that the direct/computer volumes are not the same so you have to adjust them to be able to hear with direct. Otherwise there are plenty of inputs.

Haven't used the phantom power so I have no idea if it works or not. No wall wart which is always a good thing.

Once again direct monitoring volumes were a little low.

I have recorded live with this and it has come out great using cubase. I would buy another one, just wish you could connect 2 at the same time.

if you're reading this, you know what the unit is & does, so I won't waste y'r time saying it's a 1RU black box with shiny chrome knobs, 8 XLR inputs (with switchable phantom in fours), guitar & line inputs bringing the total analogue i/p to 14, & four outputs....
"live" monitoring (i.e. sans computer) is mono, which is a shame, but they'd have had to put 14 panpots somewhere otherwise, & in any case, when are you going to use this without a computer?

9/10.... loses 1 point for the mono monitoring (I would've put the odds left & the evens right) & the weight.

usb 2.

1-in/1-out midi. XLRs for 8 of the inputs (decen mic pre's, with LED level/clip indication), everything else 1/4" unbalanced. total of 14 analogue ins, four analogue outs. there's spdif too. see note above re headphone control & output.
no 5.1.... which might be a missed oppo for tascam, or else they plan a surround version later.

mains powered. phantom for 8 mics, switched in blocks of four.

variety of sample rates/depths supported... see the tascam spec. I use mine at 44.1/16, which is plenty adequate for individual instrument tracks unless you are recording a chamber orchestra or something.
direct monitoring is mono, which is a shame but see note above.

drivers.....ah. well, luckily, I plan to use this mostly with a macbook, & so far with the supplied control panel s/w & the supplied cubase LE, it all works perfectly. cubase LE craps out sometimes when it attempts an autosave & the mac has nodded off, but that's all.

but with windows.... that's another story. it WILL NOT work with windows. I have been through all the same nonsense as the other poor saps here.... vista, vista64, XP... this device caused, for the first & only time I have ever seen this, a BSOD on an XP build under parallels on my macbook. so I gave up trying to use it with vegas.

control panel for configuration, cubase LE, some sort of sample-player which I never looked at.
don't bother with the windows drivers, but check their site & the various forums, see if anyone has it working yet.
works fine with os-x 10.4.
no ground lift.
not really much use standalone.

cubase LE is surprisingly good, especially with a few decent 3rd party plugins added.

I will continue to use this quite happily with cubase LE on the macbook.
BUT I couldn't get it to behave with windows at all.
now, there have been quite a few posts about this already, but not enough details as to the problems. I got huge latency & lots of noises with vista home-edition (w/ the supplied cubase), & massive cpu load for just two tracks. BSOD'd with XP on the macbook (parallels) & on a different PC. drivers won't load on a w2k machine.
so- to the folks who've made it work with windows- what exactly is the magic bullet? I want to use this with vegas....
rating 10 for mac, 0 for PC. this comes to 5 by my reckoning.