Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Posting my experience with this device in case it is useful to anyone else.
I purchased the 800 about a week ago. As far as recording features go, it is great; super-low latency, decent preamps, digital i/o and midi, nothing to complain about and 6 xlr inputs for $200 is way better than any competing product. However, there are problems playing ordinary Windows audio that may make the 800 unsuitable for your needs. At least in Windows 7 x64, I can't speak for any other OS.
Within a day of plugging in the interface, I began having memory usage issues. Task Manager was reporting 3.8gb in use, even with just about every non-essential process killed. I'd try opening something that put me over the 4 gb limit and virtual memory would kick in, rendering my computer so slow as to be unusable; the only way to free resources was to restart. This happened day after day, to a computer that was previously reliable enough that I wouldn't reboot it for weeks at a time.
After a lot of googling, diagnostic programs, and trial and error, I figured out the problem: any non-asio audio played through the 800 would never leave memory (I had the 800 set as the default playback device in the Sound control panel). Every mp3, flash video, dvd, and game would leave their audio buffer in system memory even after closing the program. I confirmed this by setting up Foobar to use asio while Windows Media Player would use Windows' audio; every mp3 I played in Foobar would disappear from RAM after it was done playing, while Windows Media Player grew more and more bloated with every song, and wouldn't relinquish hundreds of megabytes after I closed it. This was also the case with VLC Player being used for flash video and dvds, Firefox and Chrome, and every game I tested. Same result when using Ableton Live vs any non-asio program.
There is a workaround if you have an S/PDIF output on your computer; just set your digital out as the default playback device in the control panel (I disabled the 800 just to be sure) and connect it back to the 800. I've confirmed that this solved the problem, and asio works perfectly alongside ordinary audio this way. Unfortunately many laptops don't have a digital out.
As an audio interface strictly for recording, the 800 has worked flawlessly and is a better value than just about any interface below $300. However, if you're merely a hobbyist like me, who wants both an interface and an upgrade from your motherboard's noisy and cheap converters for everyday use, unless you don't mind (and have the capability of doing) the S/PDIF trick you might want to look elsewhere.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Tascam US-800 8 Input USB 2.0 Computer Audio Interface
Click here for more information about Tascam US-800 8 Input USB 2.0 Computer Audio Interface
