Help me choose

[Mr.Oscar.Edward]

Hi everyone,
I just need to purchase a sound card and need your help. :)
I have 2 options:

1. Tascam US122L (http://www.tascam.com/products/us-122l;9,15,69,14.html)
2. M-Audio Fast Track Pro (http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrackPro.html)

Currently I have Behringer FCA202 which sucks!!!

Well, please help me find out which one is technically better, and if anyone had one of these babies in the past, let me know if there are any issues???

Final question, since I am going to use that with my DELL Inspiron laptop, when for example US122L does not have external power supply, how can he handle +48v phanton power for 2 mics? Getting it from my poor laptop?!!! :confused:

Thanks everybody:)

[AndyH]

Laptop power supplies are sometimes definitely inadequate to handle the load. An external power supply for the soundcard is better and more reliable, if not so convenient.

[Mr.Oscar.Edward]

Well thanks :)
1 good thing for US122L is that it's USB 2.0 while Fast Track Pro is not!
1 good thing for Fast Track Pro is that it has power supply while US122L has not!

Please help me choose :(

[Reegs]

Buy the FTP. Big userbase, decent driver support, and you get SPDIF I/O and more outputs than the US122L.

[Mr.Oscar.Edward]

Well, thanks :)
Would you please be more specific, I don't know what's this?
You know the website? Full company/product name?

[sabianq]

FTP
(fast track pro)

[sabianq]

USB 2.0 vs 1.0 is a moot point when it comes to an audio card with a 4 in 4 out configuration.

[Mr.Oscar.Edward]

Yes, so that's why I think Fast Track Pro is not a good choice because it's USB 1.1... :(
So I think I have to buy US122L, although I have no idea how it will work on my laptop while it has not an external power source... any idea on this?

[sabianq]

if you need more inputs, then why did you even consider the Fast Track Pro?

the fast track pro has 4 inputs and 4 outputs.
while the Tascam unit only has 2 in, and 2 outs. (i doubt that you can use the microphone ins and the line ins at the same time.

so there is absolutely no benefit at all in the fact that the Tascam can support usb 2.

going with the specifications alone, the fast track pro would be a better interface. just because it has USB1 does not mean that you will not get the full benefit of the I/O stage from the unit.
why are you even wondering if USB 1 or USB 2 is better on a unit that will never even come close to saturating the bandwidth?

if you want an interface that utilizes the full bandwidth of USB2 then you need to get an interface that has 8 ins and 8 outs.

the fast track ultra by M-Audio is even better still.
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/FastTrackUltra.html
with 8 in and 8 out.

as for the powering issue, if the unit does not have a power supply, then it is designed to get power from the USB bus alone, and i don't think that an audio component manufacture would design a system that would use more power than any USB port can give.
http://www.tascam.com/details;9,15,69,16.html
the US-122L
Bus powered for use with any PC or Mac, including laptops

i would bet that both units perform exactly the same and that you would not even notice the difference unless you need to have 4 ins where i don't think (i may be wrong) that the Tascam is capable of doing.

[sabianq]

on a side note, have you considered firewire?
Echo Audio products are amazing in the way they sound.
http://www.echoaudio.com/Products/FireWire/AudioFire4/index.php

[AndyH]

But there are significant limitations on USB 1, even with only two channels, if one desires higher sample rates and bit depths. At least some of these units will not support full duplex above 16/48. Arguments as to whether or not one needs higher resolution are another matter; one should be aware that the limitation exists.

From complaints I've seen here and there, not all bus powered USB devices can actually get enough power for optimum performance from all USB lines, especially on some laptops. There are powered hubs, however. I suppose those work although I've never had occasion to use one.

[sabianq]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Andy is probably correct, but i personally haven't sen the data.
I am just assuming that a manufacture would be smart enough to design an interface that would not exceed the limits of its connection to the PC.


I have the Lexicon Alpha and it works fantastic as a very high quality two channel ADC but it has only one microphone pre amp and it lacks phantom power.

I personally like to use a Mackie 1202 VLZ as a 4 channel microphone and 4 channel line mixer feeding two channels on a dedicated analogue to digital converter. (the lexicon alpha)

I personally prefer using a a high quality analogue mixer rather than using the built in pre-amps on any audio interface.