Ended up purchasing the Alesis io|26 in case anyone is considering these two devices for the future. Works really nicely with Mac OS X Leopard and Logic Express 8. Really clean sound. Highly recommended!

Just wondering what made you decide on the Alesis over the Tascam? I like everything about the Tascam except it doesn't seem to have any mic preamps, at least it doesn't mention anything about them on their website. Seems like mic preamps would really help the sound quality by making it warmer - more analog and less digital sounding.

http://www.tascam.com/products/us-1641.html

I do like the fact that the Tascam is rack-mountable. How do you like your Alesis so far?

musician1 wrote: Hello,

This is my first post here but I am already in love with this site. I looking for a digital
audio interface with at least 8 channels to use with my MacBook Pro.

I am considering either the TASCAM US-1641 or the Alesis io|26. I really prefer the
looks of the TASCAM unit, but looks aren't everything. They are the same price
($399), so I'm really stuck as to which one to choose.

Has anybody had any experience with one or both of these units? Any
comparisons between the two? Does one have worse latency problems than the
other? Finally, would it be harder to record live with the TASCAM unit seeing as the
inputs are not XLR/quarter inch combo jacks? Also, are the preamps better in one unit
over another?

Thanks so much in advance for any advice!

Both of these are basic, cheap units with less than stellar sound quality and with below-average headroom. The Tascam has a USB interface, and I don't trust USB to be dropout-free for more than a few concurrent channels. The Alesis interface is FireWire, which at least has the capability of going up to many channels.

I don't understand your comments about combo jacks.

You would do disproportionately better by spending another $100 and going for something like the Presonus FireStudio Project or even the Focusrite Sapphire Pro 10.

superswade wrote: I like everything about the Tascam except it doesn't seem to have any mic preamps, at least it doesn't mention anything about them on their website. Seems like mic preamps would really help the sound quality by making it warmer - more analog and less digital sounding.

superswade, I don't know which web site you are reading, but the Tascam page on the US-1641 clearly says it has 8 microphone pre-amps. What's all this about pre-amps making the sound "warmer"? "Audible" yes, but "warmer", well, that's very subjective.

Just to echo Boz's points-

Yes, the Tascam has preamps.

Preamps do not make anything warmer, more analog, less digital....(unless, of course you are either:

Plugging your mics into AES 32 jacks.
or
Using digital gain to increase the amplitude of a microphone up to audible range, particularly with a 16 bit or 24 bit audio system...

(And trust us, you're not doing either of these things with either of these boxes.)

I also agree that for a little more money, much better boxes could be had.

I would STRONGLY recommend the TC Konnekt 24D. While it seems to have slightly higher latency requirements than my RME Fireface, it's quite usable and dang good sounding on most any application.

Granted, there's only 2 preamps and a total of only 4 analog line-ins, but there's plenty of digital IO.

Cheers-
J.