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Hi everyone,

I'm thinking of bying a Tascam FW-1884 and would like to know a bit more about it.
What do you guys think about the mic preamp's, what are they like in comparation to the aardvark q10's?

And if anyone's got a fw-1884, I would appreciate any other info.

Thanks,
K

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CircuitRider Fri, 02/20/2004 - 18:05

I just got one last week, and I love it. Not sure about how the preamps stand up to aardvark q10's, because I've never had the opportunity to use those, but the preamps on the fw-1884 definitely do the trick. I'm upgrading from a us-428, so there are a lot of new features with which I'm very impressed. I particularly like the motorized, touch-sensetive faders. It's also very nice to have phantom power on the eight analog inputs. It's bigger than I expected, but that's cool with me, because my us-428 will now be solely my mobile unit (kinda hard to let go of it). It was shipped with a bundle version of gigastudio, but i haven't gotten much use out of it. Maybe someone here can convince me to give it another shot. I'm using the unit with cubase sx. It integrates very nicely.

I'm still learning, so I'm not sure how much help I can be, but I would be glad to answer any questions I can.

By the way, I don't work for Tascam...
Really, I swear.

anonymous Mon, 03/01/2004 - 09:32

Well, I've had a FW1884 for about 3 months now. Replaced my Aardvark DirectPro, Stuido Mix and Midi interface with one box that does way better than any of those parts.

I really liked the Aark pre's and made some nice recordings with it. I think the Tascams pre's are every bit as good, and much easier to use (you get to set trim levels using a knob instead of a mouse - i for one am never going back).

I'm using it with Sonar Producer Edition and except for making it difficult to use the knobs to control eq (a patch is in the works, I'm told) I find it to be stable, sound great and a real productivity booster. You'll wonder how you ever got along without touch sensitive faders and a jog/shuttle wheel.

I think it's a rippin' bargain too. Just be sure to download the latest drivers and firmware updates.

anonymous Mon, 03/01/2004 - 09:58

Originally posted by K:
Hi everyone,

I'm thinking of bying a tascam FW-1884 and would like to know a bit more about it.K

I'm less enthusiastic, just from an upgrade point of view. To upgrade your pre, your A/D, your D/A... well, you are hosed.

So if it is going to suit all of your needs for the forseeable future, go for it. But if you see yourself wanting to upgrade anytime soon, you might go with seperate components.

My own choice was to go with a seperate controller, a selection of mic pres (for different flavors...) and a seperate sound card. I can upgrade any piece, without having to toss the whole works.

Just my opinion....

Bill

anonymous Tue, 03/02/2004 - 10:22

The FW has a bunch of I/O if you prefer another converter. It's got ADAT Lightpipe, AES/EBU and S/PDIF. And word clock in and out. Use whatever converters you have. I also use other pre's as appropriate (loving the Sebatron right now). Having used all the separates before, my studio and work flow is a lot easier. And I still have the flexibility to upgrade whatever I want....

Just my humble $.02