The sound is great on the Tascam US-144. It records the sound very nice and crisp, and frankly it feels like the real deal when I'm playing with, for instance, a guitar VST in Cubase. It is propably, with the right software on the computer, one of the best pre-amps you can get. However, the phone-output seems somewhat low.

I did not install the LE Cubase, seeing as I have SX3 installed. Installing drivers was very easy, and it was all plug and play. I like the feature

No fiddling around with stupid drivers, no turning up and down on stupid mixers, just insert the jack cable and play.

Very sturdy. When I bought this sound interface, I looked at some others to, and compared, they felt like cheap plastic. This is metal, and it's steelhardy.

For the prize, it is eminent.

Haven't needed it yet.

Hobbyist

Rock

Without having a perfect acoustic setting to test it in, I must say the sound quality from the mic pre-amps are great and the overall sound output is very clean. I used an inexpensive Nady SCM-900 and got great sound out of it as well as my Rode NT-1. No hum, hiss or static!

Nice array of features. The only thing I might have added was balanced 1/4" output jacks, but the RCAs work well with a RCA to 1/4" cable. I like being able to adjust the latency level for the unit and it applies to all programs. I don't use the included "Cubase" (I use Sonar 8), but it's a nice freebie to get a newbie started!

Very simple and straight-forward. Took less than 3 minutes to get the drivers installed and have this guy up and running!

Nice metal case with rubberized ends. Should hold up to a little abuse and won't scratch up your keyboard if you set it on top. The knobs are flat rubber discs that have a low profile and the switched are short metal ones that would pretty much take a deliberate act to break them.

Well worth the money.

I have never had to use Tascam's tech support. I usually can troubleshoot most gear without help, but hopefully they can answer most typical setup/troubleshooting questions for new users.

It's small and easy to transport. (Just about the size of an external 3.5 hard drive). Zero latency or near zero on more moderate settings (I get 17ms on the middle setting and 7 ms on "low" with my duo-core laptop PC with 2.0 Ghz and 4 gig ram. I plan on using this to use my laptop's software synths and to make stereo recordings of reheasals and gigs.

Professional musician & engineer

Jazz, R&B, Funk, Classic Rock, Orchestral, Film Soundtracks

The unit is a minimal upgrade from the original US-122. Even the Cubase 4 LE that comes with the package is not necessarily more user friendly nor more feature laden that the original Cubase LE (although it looks nicer). The only reason I bought the US-144 is because my US-122 wouldn't record 2 simultaneous tracks anymore and I need that. Having said that, like the US-122, the sound is true and crisp. One complaint I have is it is more difficult to plug in and play along with your hard drive mp3s, etc. because of volume (and lack thereof) issues. It takes a lot of fandangling with the Input/Computer knob to reach a balance that's acceptable and even then you have to crank your line input coming from your instrument if you want any juice - and I'm running KRK 5s for monitors, so it's not them!!! After all of this Frankensteination it is still quieter than the US-122. I purchased the Track Pack 2 which also came with a condenser mic, while mid-grade quality at best is still a nice addition.

BIGGEST FLAW: The US-144 eliminated the chromatic tuner that the US-122 came equipped with in the control panel. Very bad oversight and an even worse move by the Tascam team. Shame on you!!!

The interface is intuitive and the sound reproduction is about as good as you can get for the price.

The shell is solid, as are the jacks, but I prefer the knobs on the US-122.

It looks sleek, if that sort of thing matters to you. This unit needs a driver update to bring back the chromatic tuner to the control panel. I know that a tuner is not hard to line in, but in the heat of a recording session the less pedals distracting the signal, the better, and to have to stop the session, turn down the monitors, unplug, then tune - instead of just clicking the control panel like the US-122 option - is an time and energy consumer that is not conducive to capturing recording magic. Time is money and the Muse waits for no one!

engineer, producer, writer, player

rock, hard rock, metal, rap

The US-144 has no "sound" - it's an Audio/MIDI interface (external/portable soundcard if you like). It's very 'transparent' and does exactly what I expected it to do. (I feel the headphone volume is a little under-powered - I use AKG K141's)

The accessories included: a USB cable, Cubase LE 3.0, GigaStudio LE 3.0 and the drivers (also Various PDF files giving instructions for the software). Also a very brief 'instruction booklet'.

To install/use: Very easy, use the CD installer and follow the instructions. (I use mine with a Laptop PC. OS:WinXP) It wasn't my intention, but I've ended up using the Cubase and GigaStudio software that came with the 'package'.

Very sturdy and well assembled. I don't particularly like the 'rubber' dials, but evrything works - atleast it does what it claims to be able to do!

Compared to a couple of other units I had a look at, at around the same price level, this is excellent value for money (It cost me approx US$180. It actually has more than I really need.

I've put a '5' - (half-way-house).. as yet I've not had the need to call or contact them, so I can't really express an opinion.

The colors go with my laptop! Compared to a lot of others, the design is top notch!

Professional guitarist.

ALL

Once I got everything to work the sound was very good!

I liked the simple features, a very intuitive interface.

This took me several emails back and forth with Tascam to finally get the latency down to a reasonable level. I couldn't stand the 349ms delay I had when I first got the unit. Happy with it now.

Although I wont do it, I think I can drop it several times and it not break. This thing is built like a tank and the buttons are solid too.

I think it is worth its price. I just had to do some serious tweaking to make it do what I want with it.

I wish they had a live chat function or something where I don't have to way 4 days to hear back from them.

It's a tank and personally tanks don't turn me on. It does the job well and that is it.

Active Musician/Producer

Electro House, Trance Acoustic, Alternative

Couldn't get this product to work on systems that have service pack updates from the last year. Tascam's drivers are incredibly buggy with recnt service packs. Tried it on five different computers and the only one that worked, hadn't been updated since early 2008. Tascam insists that there are no problems with their drivers and the do not intend to provide any additional updates. At least that's what they told me. I can't even get a refund or store credit because Tascam does not take returns.

Couldn't get it to wrok. Two different store techs couldn't make it work on my systems either.

Doesn't work.

Doesn't work.

Don't buy it.

Staff doesn't return calls. Insists the product is flawless.

Looks great, has a good sound, so long as you don't plug it into a computer.

Active Amateur

Folk, celtic, blues, etc...

Tascam has been in the audio business for decades. I owned a 4 track reel to reel and did ecording 30 years ago. The sound is still great

Simple to operate as usual

Very simple . . .

Solid construction. Electronics seemed a little inferior. I had a channel go out.

Behringer has a very inexpensive interface if I want a low cost unit. I thought Tascam would stand behind their product better.

A very bad experience. I sent the unit in for warranty repair. I had a channel go out and they told me it would be cheaper to buy another one than fix what I had. I was told the parts were warranty and not the labor. I was very disappointed and I told them to keep it ! Tascam has lost all my business.

Never again

Audio Engineer and Recording Musician

Several Styles. Pop, Rock, Country, Jazz, etc.

Produced some clicking noises when using the right line-in with the guitar setting. You can switch it back to mic/line and it will record guitar without clicking, but it doesn't sound as good (because you're not using the High-Z input). The headphone output is a little too low. Also, it seemed like everytime you launched a new application that used sound, it would click for a few seconds before being ready.

It had all the features I needed, aside from the ability to properly record with a High-Z input. I liked the fact that all controls could be done with the hardware. Didn't have to do anything in a software control panel.

Easy to use

The hardware itself seemed pretty high quality, aside from the knobs, which seemed a little cheap. But they didn't seem like they'd break really.

Cheaper than most other products

Never had to deal with support. But I returned the product.

It's a pretty attractive, rugged design

Hobbyist

Always get the sound I want out of it. No detectable line noise on anything I've recorded so far. Gives me a good clean base sound to work with.

Size is good and convenient. Everything does what it should. Only complaint is the large rubber dials, which are a bit touchy. Hard to change the volume/mix/etc "just a little bit."

Fairly straightforward, simple enough setup to use. The Giga software, however, I had to uninstall as soon as I put it on. I compose alot of industrial/electronic music using Acid 6, and the Giga conflicted with it. Any time I turned on either program my computer (PC, WinXP) would crash and I'd have to reboot.

Sturdy. Not likely to break anytime soon.

I got it for about $170. Considering most comparable products I've seen are in the same price range, I suppose it was a good deal.

Haven't needed any yet.

The color scheme goes with my desk and monitor. That's about it. Granted, I'm not one who generally buys interface hardware based on its "sex appeal."

Hobbyist

Rok, alternative, industrial

Weird clicks on one of the inputs.

Usual features. Separate headphone volume, but could never get it high enough.

Tough to get the drivers working.

Seems sturdy enough

It's an unknown commodity for the most part. I bought it and returned it. Don't want to be a paying beta tester. I think they've got a ways to go to perfect this one.

Next to zero support from Tascam or Teac. You're on your own.

I thought it looked cool online, and it does, but it was much bigger than I imagined it.

Hobbyist

Songwriting