TASCAM US1800 USB 2.0 Audio Interface
Need more channels? The TASCAM US-1800 USB interface packs 16 inputs -- including eight high-quality XLR phantom-powered mic preamps -- into one rack space.
Overall User Ratings (based on 28 ratings)
Submitted March 19, 2012 by Myron Gardipee in Missoula, MT
"My new studio!"
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Since my purchase of the Tascam US-1800 audio interface, i have had limited time to pursue my recording endeavors. However, I have had plenty of opportunities to record bits and pieces of my music and i must say i love the new interface. it allows me to record multiple instuments and vocals as well as record more than one mic at a time. The cubase software that came with the interface is great as well. Although i am still learning to navigate around cubase, i like it a lot!
Musical Background:
I have been playing music all my life. I have played professionally, lead guitar and bass. I love to record at home!
Musical Style:
All types of music but it i were to generalize it, i would say that i play more classic/southern rock type of music!
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Submitted March 27, 2012 by Matt C in Pasadena , TX
"Great Interface, saved me a ton of money"
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The Tascam US-1800 was one of the best purchases I could have made. Without a huge recording budget, my band elected to invest in our own recording equipment and software. We use the ableton Live suite and shelled out for a matched pair of Cascade Fathead II Ribbon mics, 4 Shure Sm57's a Beta 57 and some shure condenser mics. We we're running this into a 12 channel Alesis mixier, but only ably to get 2 tracks at a time when live recording. I was just about to make a huge investment on a high end recording panel, when I discovered the US-1800. It does everything i need it to as far as having a multitude of inputs, individual channel controll, virtually no lag, and it was priced super cheap.
Sound
This device does what it needs to. It gets the mic'd sound into the PC. If its doesn't sound good at that point, change your mics or learn how to use your software.
Features
It has a butt-ton of inputs and seperate controlls per. It also has a red attenuation light that pops up when you're running a little too hot. Comes in real handy when mixing live.
Ease of Use
Super easy to use.
Quality
Sturdy construction and the knobs all feel solid.
Value
They could probably sell this for a couple hundred bucks more and it would STILL be worth every penny.
Manufacturer Support
I've had no problems with it, so I haven't called.
Musical Background:
20 years, signed every now and then.
Musical Style:
Indie rock, alt. slowcore pop
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Submitted January 3, 2011 by a customer from ccu.edu
"Great product"
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I don't foresee any problems with this product, I'm told it will be compatible with pro tools 9 so hopefully when I get that I won't be disappointed but even if it's not compatible with PT9 I'll still have cubase 5 which works just as well.
Sound
The tascam faithfully reproduces exactly what you put into it, no hum, hiss, static, etc. just a true representation of your equipment you plug into it. Zero Latency is a HUGE plus for me after my previous interface.
Features
8 xlr inputs, midi, digital i/o, line/trs, and cubase 5, this thing has everything to get you started recorded a full band. That's the main reason I bought it was to have a way to record drums.
Ease of Use
Very basic very simple straight forward design just some volume knobs, inputs, and outputs. Very easy to use
Quality
Chassis seems solid and protective. I don't have any hesitations travelling with it.
Value
Best value for the most features I love this interface
Manufacturer Support
I have not had to deal with the company so I have no idea
The Wow Factor
I don't know about its "sex appeal"...but it's very attractive in the sense that it offers everything you need for basic home studio operation.
Musical Background:
Hobbyist, Active Musician, Home Recording Engineer, BA in Music
Musical Style:
Everything minus country and most hip hop/rap
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Submitted June 5, 2013 by Matt P in San Diego, CA
"GREAT interface!!"
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I picked this interface up primarily to track drums for our album and it did amazing. No static, comes with phantom power on 8 XLR inputs, and the preamps are really good. I am very happy with this product and you get a lot for the buck. Money well spent.
Musical Background:
15 years; professional drummer
Musical Style:
Progressive rock
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Submitted February 9, 2011 by a customer from phxpc.com
"Easy on the wallet, sweet on the ears."
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Short of the inital driver issue, I would recommend this product. I would buy another one of these units, and probably will shortly.
(Are you offering a frequent shopper discount Zzounds? :) )
I expect this unit to be a part of my workflow for a while.
Sound
For the money, this is the best value in audio inputs around.
Sound quality is excellent from a variety of sources.
Features
16 inputs is adequate for my needs, just wish it had more outputs, but at this price, I'll just get another one.
Ease of Use
Doesn't get much easier. Plug in the usb cable and load the driver.
The included driver was acting flaky on my Imac with Snow Leopard 10.6.5, I even downloaded the updated driver from Tascam's website and it still gave me issues. The device would disappear from the control panel after a couple of hours. You would have to re-load the drivers again. Ended up using the older US-1641 driver from the previous model, and all is good now, haven't had any more issues.
Quality
Seems to be fairly well built. It's being used in a rack in a studio, so don't know about how well it would stand up to the road, but seems to be the perfect device for a keyboard players setup on stage. The one complaint is the included "ears" for mounting in the rack didn't exactly line up with the mounting holes on my rack unit, so I couldn't
secure it with all 4 screws, but I guess I'm being picky.
Value
IMO best value out there, and I already own a Profire 2626. I can buy 3 of these units for the price of the 2626, and the sound quality is equal.
Manufacturer Support
I read that Tascam support isn't all that good. I called for support with my driver issue, had to wait on hold for a while, and the advice
given was to call back when I was in front of the unit. They had not heard of the issue I was experiencing. Ended up resolving it myself.
The Wow Factor
It's a black box with knobs. Not much to say.
Musical Background:
Active Musician, recording engineer
Musical Style:
Whatever sounds good
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Submitted April 29, 2013 by Paul K in Cincinnati, OH
"Great Deal for this price range!"
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I just got this unit, previously I was using Garageband with a two channel interface. The US 1800 will work with GB, but I installed the Cubase that came with it. Took a couple of hours of tutorials for Cubase, followed the quick start guide from Tascam and we were recording no problem! This unit is very quiet and extremely versatile, I would recommend this with no problem, even someone new to recording!
Musical Background:
30 years plus playing guitar, working with bands, I'm not a pro, just love being around instruments and such
Musical Style:
Rock, blues
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Submitted March 12, 2012 by Lee E in St. Louis, MO
"Amazing Interface!"
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I bought this interface with the zZounds payment plan (which is great). It's a rackmount, but it's deeper than i expected it to be, but fit's VERY well in my rack space. I bought this without reading many reviews, and after a little research, i decided upon it vs a firepod. The 1800 is beautiful. Black all the way around it. I did wish the gain knobs for each channel had white lines to see where it was. I use it to record drums, and it works wonders. The pre's are decent for being budget, but sound way better than others ive heard in budget equipment. Each input let's me open a different track in Reaper (or any DAW), so i can edit the snare, kick, toms, and OH separately. Multiple in's and out's make for easy monitoring and playback. All around great unit with no complaints. 16 ins for ~$300? Put it in the cart now!!!
Musical Background:
I run a home studio. I produce electronic and hip hop. I play a lot of intsruments.
Musical Style:
Metal, Pop, Blues, Punk, Rap, Indie.
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Submitted August 23, 2012 by Candy L in Jamesville, NY
"Tascam US-1800 USB 2.0 Audio Interface - Affordable workhorse!!"
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I was hoping to get in a review of this interface. I just bought this not a month ago. First good point - easy to set up and begin using. No problems with the software install. Second is the impressive appearance of this unit. It looks like it costs much more! It really dressed up my home recording studio! And the quality was no disappointment either...excellent! Now I have my two keyboards, acoustic electric, and electric guitar, plus my mics, hooked up at the same time. Lets you focus on just getting the song down! I would HIGHLY recommend this interface. Especially if you are assembling a home studio on any kind of budget. It does all the essentials and more for a great price! And a decent warranty is included.
Musical Background:
Playing 20+ years. Guitars, keys and drums. I am a songwriter and composer and have released recordings.
Musical Style:
Various, pop/rock to jazz to new age to classical
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Submitted October 10, 2011 by a customer from gmail.com
"Killer unit!"
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If it stays together I can't see any reason to replace it.
Sound
The recorded sound from this thing is great! I would have given it a 10 if it were not for the Cubase that comes with it. My only suggestion is to use different software but if you want to record you whole band and monitor at the same time, this is the device.
Features
Everything you need is with this unit. The mic pre-amps could be a little more user friendly but they work quite well enough.
Ease of Use
It is very simple to use. I was recording tracks within a half hour of opening the box.
Quality
Made of metal, rack mount and good input jacks. The volume knobs for the mic pre-amps could be a little better but not bad enough for me to get rid of the unit.
Value
For the money it can't be beat.
Manufacturer Support
I had the us-2000 first and it malfunctioned with my system. You can't talk to anyone over the phone with Tascam, you have to email them and they get back to you within 48 hours.
The Wow Factor
It is pretty plain jane but it gets it done.
Musical Background:
active musician
Musical Style:
Reggae Rock
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Submitted December 1, 2012 by Joseph C. Dunmore Sr. in Monee , IL
" Tascam US-1800 USB 2.0 Audio Interface "
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So far it work a lot better than the US 800 by Tascam. I only had it a month now enjoy it in my studio. At least don't hum and buzz and send a clean signal to my software. I love the idea of having power switch on front. It make things a lot easier than the old US-800 Tascam I had in my recording studio. That gave me a heart ache. I am a true believer in Tascam product also as I been using them for more than 45 years. The Tascam US-1800 is really Good as I said so far.
Musical Background:
Audio Engineer for 35 years in a full service studio
Musical Style:
Gospel, Jazz, R&B, Pop and Blues
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Submitted November 30, 2012 by m m
"tascam us 1800"
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great price, drivers loaded easily, I did not load the supplied Cubase LE. I already have Cubase VST and the us 1800 works great with it. I use this unit to replace two 8track adats. It integrated very easily into my existing recording system
Musical Background:
over thirty years of musical experience playing musical instruments and recording
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Submitted March 16, 2011 by a customer from gmail.com
TASCAM US-1800 USB Audio Customer Review
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I expect I will be using this unit for many years without needing to upgrade. Totally recommend this to anyone on a budget who wants to record bands.
Sound
The mic's I own aren't top of the line by any stretch, but they sound great through the preamp's on the US1800. Monitoring is clear and I have very few issues with latency.
Features
Cubase 5 LE is a great program with lots of features - I've actually switched to it for all my recording because it works better with the US1800 than my old software. My only issue is that the phantom power has to be on for Channels 1-4 and/or 5-8 which means if you need to use dynamic mic's and condensers that require phantom power, you are limited to 4 of each (i.e. couldn't use 5 dynamics and 3 condensers)
Ease of Use
For the price, its got everything I need and more - perfect for recording small bands.
Quality
Sturdy unit, planning to take it on the road for onsite recordings.
Value
This unit is priced amazingly for the quality and range of features/channels. I can easily record scratch tracks of a full band, or a fully mic'd drum kit to separate tracks, which is exactly what I wanted out of the unit.
Manufacturer Support
TASCAM's site had up to date drivers, and the online software support for Cubase 5 LE is great
The Wow Factor
Aesthetically its pretty standard, but technically its a great piece of gear
Musical Background:
Part Time Recording Engineer
Musical Style:
Rock, Metal
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Submitted January 3, 2011 by a customer from hotmail.com
"A Great Product (excuse my english)"
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If the product was lost or stolen, i woul to buy another Tascam product. this one or a latest version of this one (like the US-1641 and US-1800)
Sound
The sound of this product is perfect!
Features
The product have some knob in the front to set the input volume level. The product came with Cubase LE 5 => very easy of use.
Quality
I like this product because its made to fit in a rack. That made it very robust.
The Wow Factor
The us-1800 is made of metal and its making it very easy to transport.
Musical Background:
Hobbyist
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Submitted December 22, 2011 by a customer from hotmail.com
"Can't beat 16 channels on USB 2.0!"
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Sound
Excellent Sound Quality! Everything depends on your mics and how you set up your sound booth, and how you position your mics... But if you do these things right, you'll get an EXCELLENT sound! Be sure to buy good Studio Monitors or headphones. Not having proper monitoring (along with poor mics, poor mic placement, and poor room treatment) will skew the sound produced.
Features
16 in 4 out... Be aware, only channels 1-10 have preamps. You will have to supplement the other channels with external preamps. Only channels 1-8 are XLR inputs. 14 channels are XLR/Line. Will take a MIDI in/out. This will also take a Digital I/O thereby giving you an additional 2 (L/R) inputs. The Digital + XLR/Line inputs give you the 16 inputs that is advertised.
For the 4 outputs... You'll need to use a capable DAW (Sonar, Pro Tools, Cubase) to use these. There are monitor outs for Desktop Monitors or Headphones.
For zero-latency, make sure you set the Montoring to "Input" instead of computer. Input monitoring bypasses the DAW (which will add latency).
Ease of Use
Install the driver, then it's plug and play!
Quality
The front plate was loose. Looks like the adhesive was of poor quality. Beyond that, it's sturdy!
Value
Good bang for the buck! Very pleased with it;s quality for the price!
Musical Background:
Professional Studio Engineer. Keyboardist.
Musical Style:
Rock, Christian, Hip-hop
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Submitted October 4, 2012 by Bryan B in Bay City, MI
"Tascam US 1800"
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You cannot go wrong for the price of this interface! Setup is easy and this thing works great with Studio One Pro.
Musical Background:
Sound engineer for local Christian band.
Musical Style:
Rock
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Submitted July 24, 2012 by Paul T in Mason, OH
"Needs bigger buffers"
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With the driver set to maximum latency and the sample rate set to 96 khz, the buffer (Windows Driver) only holds 6ms of content so buffer overflows are common. Care must be taken to tune DAW software to avoid buffer overflows (or reduce that sample rate).Overall the unit is solid and easy to use. It lacks the computer interaction common with TASCAM's FireWire products. For example, direct monitoring monitors all inputs regardless of DAW settings unlike the FW-1082 where you could assign which inputs were monitored via mute in DAW software.
Musical Background:
Sound Engineer with 25yr experience
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Submitted September 12, 2012 by Jazz M in Seattle, WA
"Only Monitors in Stereo"
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I had this interface for a day, before sending it back. Thank God for zZounds no hassle return policy. After getting everything set up - a very easy process - I found out that this interface only monitors the input channels in mono. So, if you record in stereo, and rely on stereo f/x, this interface is basically useless.I cannot fathom a reason why anyone would ever want to monitor in mono - in what application is this limitation/feature desirable?Anyhow, I sent it back and purchased the US-2000, which I love.Thanks zZounds, for having great customer service.
Musical Background:
Home enthusiast for over 20 years
Musical Style:
Electronic, ambient...
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Submitted October 7, 2012 by James P in Greenwood, IN
"Great inteface!"
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Full of plenty of inputs, lots of outs and other features, this interface will do the job for virtually any upstart studio. Great sound and no noise inputs are excellent! Absolutely worth the $$
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Submitted February 20, 2012 by rashad b in Goldsboro, NC
"Stay AWAY From This Particular Model"
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I've had my tascam us-1800 for about 3-4 days and now it fails to detect usb connection. I always do my research before I buy and if you don't go around the net you will find mostly good reviews here on Zzounds but there are different reviews elsewhere. I thought the people claiming that the US-1800 stopped working with the usb didn't know what they were doing to properly take care of it but seeming I took each precaution by the manual and online reviews it still semi-died on me. This is slowing up my progress in producing tracks.....
Musical Background:
I've been producing music since I was 12yrs old... I'm 25 now.
Musical Style:
Mostly unique styles of hip-hop and non-genre specific instrumentals.
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Submitted February 13, 2011 by a customer from verizon.net
TASCAM US-1800 USB Audio Customer Review
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Sound
GREAT PRODUCT TASCAM US1800.SOUND QUALITY IS AWESOME VERY EASY TO USE
AND WITH CUBASE LE5 COMBINE SO WELL I GOT GOING AT NO TIME WITH MY DREAM HOME RECORDING STUDIO. I GOT IT FROM ZZOUNDS GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE.
NOTHING CAN GO WRONG AT ALL. AS A CUSTOMER AM VERY SATISFIED.THANKS.
Features
I LOVE THE GAIN ON FRONT CHANNELS AND THE INSTRUMENTS INPUTS IN THE FRONT MAKES IT SO EASY TO ADD MY BASE AND GUITAR PLAYERS AT NO TIME.
Ease of Use
I READ THE MANUAL AFTER I USED IT FOR AWHILE. INSTALL DRIVERS AND CUBASE AND YOU ARE HAVING FUN WITH IT.
Quality
IT LOOKS SO NICE IN MY SET UP VERY IMPRESSIVE.AFTER SOME TIME AND RESEARCH DECIDE TO GO WITH TASCAM AN CUBASE AND GOT RID OF DIGI001 AND PROTOOLS.
Value
PRICE COMPARE TO OTHER INTERFACES IS GREAT. FOR SO LITTLE MONEY GET SO MANY INPUTS (16) MAKES RECORDING SO COMPLETE
Manufacturer Support
TASCAM SUPPORT ARE VERY EASY TO CONTACT AND HELPFUL IF YOU EVER NEED THEM AS I DID AND SOLVE MY PROBLEM WITH JUST ONE PHONE CALL.
Musical Background:
HOBBYST
Musical Style:
CUMBIA (SPANISH)
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Submitted November 14, 2012 by David East in Newburgh, IN
"What a piece of junk!"
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Brand new laptop with 6 gig of ram and a big hard drive running windows 7, using Sonar X1 Producer expanded, and no matter what latency settings I use this stupid thing just pops and cracks. When it works, it's wonderful, but you never know when the stupid thing will decide not to work. I've shut down everything on the computer except for the operating system, and still pops and cracks. So very disgusted. Returning it immediately.
Musical Background:
Play 13 instruments for over 44 years. Professional musician/engineer
Musical Style:
Gospel., contemporary and Southern
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Submitted June 3, 2011
"Good deal"
I am constantly searching for the better product for the price, but i don't regret getting this one.
Sound
Being the first audio interface I've ever purchased, I felt this was a great product to start on, but you get what you paid for.
Features
This interface comes with a bundle o' inputs and outputs anyone would get excited over. Makes recording multiple instruments easier for newcomers.
Ease of Use
I felt the product was fairly easy to use with the right experience.
Quality
The product seems to be doing well in the three months i've had it. Have not heard too much negative about it's quality rating but would give it a seven.
Value
For the price of the product, you do deserve the multitude of channels, ins, and outs. The quality is iffy but still solid enough to hold its on. There are not many products i've seen similar to this one, it is a deal.
Manufacturer Support
I've not had to use the support.
The Wow Factor
I like the sleek black color and thin frame, but other than that it is just like any other black box. Nothing special.
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Submitted December 4, 2010 by a customer from gmail.com
"What is new and different on the US-1800 versus the US-1641."
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I have a US-1641 purchased from Zzounds. The US-1800 is the replacement product for the US-1641.
People have asked what the differences are so I went ahead and compared the specs listed toward the end of the two user manuals.
Everything appears to be the same except the following (unless I missed something):
1) The US-1800 has an external wall wart power supply (versus the 1641 with internal power supply and standard computer power cable). This change has the potential to create quieter recordings but I have no proof that this design change was done for that purpose. The published specifications do not report Signal to Noise ratio in the same format so I cannot confirm it is different. Moving the transformer outside of the housing may have created a better Signal to Noise ratio.
2) The US-1800 only draws 7.2Watts vs 10Watts on the 1641 which means it is more power efficient and cheaper to run.
3) Colors and knobs are different.
Per the published specifications the frequency responses, preamp gain, input/output levels, bit rates, etc. are the same between the US-1641 and US-1800.
Musical Background:
Active Musician, Active Sound Man
Musical Style:
Rock, Modern Worship
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