Help with US-1800

BaneInstitution

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TASCAM US-1800
Hi, somebody please read all of this because I'm getting desperate.

I got my TASCAM US-1800 working today (plugged into my PC via USB and hooked up to my Presonus Central Station which my monitors are connected to). It's been an absolute nightmare and I am tearing my hair out over this thing.

It has done a number of bizarre things, none of which include working properly for any length of time. I've installed it according to the manual, updated the drivers and tried a number of settings within the US-1800 control panel but still this thing acts as though it's possessed by Satan himself.
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It does any of the following things seemingly at random;

  • It will work absolutely perfectly. Zero latency, good audio quality, no complaints. It usually does this for about 8 seconds. Then it'll change to one of the following.
  • The latency will become atrocious. Laughably bad, literally a 1.5 second delay. Not just in my DAW either, but with every application on my computer. YouTube videos are hopelessly out of sync, system sounds are delayed etc.
  • The audio quality will become so abysmal and grainy that it'll become almost inaudible. It gets steadily worse (as does the latency) until I'm forced to switch it off.
  • It'll repeat a second or so snippet of audio again and again until I turn off the unit.
  • Instead of working properly, my speakers will emit a high pitched beeping tone over which no other sound is audible. Again it does this until I turn it off.
  • Most irritating of all, it will (without warning) make a deafening (and I do mean DEAFENING) static white noise sound over one or both of my speakers. It is so loud that I feel this is damaging to my speakers.
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I have no idea what to do with this thing and frankly it scares me slightly. Does this sound like a hardware problem? Is it faulty? did I install it wrong? Is it demoniacally possessed? Before you ask, I've owned the Presonus central station for years with no problems so we can rule that out.

I really need help with this before it damages itself, my other gear, my speakers and/or my hearing.

*Edit* When I use this with just my headphones and guitar (taking USB input and my monitor speakers totally out of the equation) it works like an absolute charm. Just thought that might be worth mentioning.

Thanks in advance.
 
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You can assume from the "less than overwhelming response" that no one who has an intelligent suggestion has seen your post yet. Of course you're frustrated, but angrily demanding action from a user's group, none of whom work for Tascam and are under no obligation to fix your problem, is not usually a good way to open.

That said, it doesn't sound like a bad unit: faulty hardware either works or doesn't, and hardware problems are usually consistent and reproducible. The most likely culprit is a driver incompatibility... What version of Windows are you running? Are you sure you're not running the wrong driver for your system (32-but driver on a 64-bit OS)? Did you install the driver from the Tascam website?

I'm not familiar with the Presonus unit: what does it do?

Finally, how do you have the interfaced clocked? Internally? Is there another digital device in the chain that could causing clocking issues?
 
You can assume from the "less than overwhelming response" that no one who has an intelligent suggestion has seen your post yet. Of course you're frustrated, but angrily demanding action from a user's group, none of whom work for Tascam and are under no obligation to fix your problem, is not usually a good way to open.
You're quite right, and I apologise. I was merely frustrated having spent the best part of a day getting it to work with nothing to show for it but a headache and a fancy 200 quid paperweight!

That said, it doesn't sound like a bad unit: faulty hardware either works or doesn't, and hardware problems are usually consistent and reproducible. The most likely culprit is a driver incompatibility... What version of Windows are you running? Are you sure you're not running the wrong driver for your system (32-but driver on a 64-bit OS)? Did you install the driver from the Tascam website?

I initially installed the drivers from the enclosed CD, but then installed the newer drivers from the website (after cleanly uninstalling the older ones). I am running 64bit windows 7 and I did indeed use the correct installer.

I have actually since replaced the unit (which should be arriving in a few days) just to rule out any possible technical faults, but still have the old one in my possession in the mean time so I am able to test any fixes.

I'm not familiar with the Presonus unit: what does it do?

Basically it's a monitor management unit, used to easily switch between multiple speakers/headphones and input sources etc.

http://www.presonus.com/products/central-station-plus

As of today I'm now having trouble with that one as well. I'm not having very much luck with audio hardware lately. But that's a separate rant.

Finally, how do you have the interfaced clocked? Internally? Is there another digital device in the chain that could causing clocking issues?

It's entirely possible, but I'm not sure how I would discover this. (Bearing in mind I'm not too experienced with all this sort of thing, in case that wasn't abundantly obvious already). However I have since tried it just using the US-1800 on it's own (directly plugging my monitors into it, not hooked up to any other devices) and it had the same symptoms.

Cheers for your reply, I look forward to your further response.
 
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Well, let me ask a couple more question, so I have a clear picture:

How do you have the unit connected to the PC... one single USB, cable, right? And, if that's the case, is it a USB 1, 2 or 3 port?

What does the control panel say about firmware version, performance, etc? (While hardware failure seems unlikely, you might have corrupted firmware.)

Are you using the digital input on the device?
 
Gaything.png


That's a screencap of the whole control panel, I believe it answers all of your questions.

Also, I got my replacement one today and it's doing exactly the same thing- thus it stands to reason that it's something I'm doing wrong, but what could it possibly be?! I'm seriously tearing my hair out over this, why do these units just refuse to work properly for me?
________________________________

Slight update for you;

I've tried taking it out of my studio rack (and laying it flat on my desk) and plugging it directly into the wall (not using a power strip/power conditioner). What I found was interesting.

At first, it will work perfectly. Good sound, zero latency, no bullshit. Then after a few seconds (usually 20-23) it'll devolve into a horrible grainy mess. That gets worse, and seems to have a strange delay effect sort of thing to it. (As in it'll be playing fine but all the while there will be this slightly delayed, horrible grainy 'copy' of the sound over it).

After enduring this for about 20 seconds or so it'll start working perfectly again. Absolutely perfectly. It works completely and exactly how It should, with one notable exception, and it's a biggie. The latency. Once it's gone through it's little 'delayed graininess noise' seizure it works fine but has appalling (1.5 second) latency on everything, which I needn't inform you is completely and ludicrously unacceptable for even a basic interface.

I feel like we're getting closer to a solution but with this amount of latency (and having to endure the aforementioned graininess delay thing in order to have it working in any sort of stable fashion) it's still not a practical option. Is it just a case of fiddling with the control panel settings? Because I feel as though I've tried every combination and it does more or less the exact same thing.

My main question is, it's clearly capable of working great with good audio quality and near-zero latency, so why does it always fuck up after 20 seconds or so? What could be the cause of this?

(To clarify, when I say I'm experiencing bad latency I don't just mean in my DAW, I mean every single sound that comes out of my computer. Videos are hopelessly out of sync, games are out of sync and system sounds are delayed. It's fucking dreadful).
 
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Today I tried it with my powered USB hub unplugged. (To clarify the Tascam itself wasn't ever plugged into a hub, but directly into a port on my PC) and I thought I'd sorted it. How naive of me.

I managed to play a full 4 songs! Imagine that! I thought it was all fine and dandy and working great. Then along came Mr graininess and latency again.

I am completely out of ideas. The following is a list of things I have tried along with relevant information.

- It is plugged directly into the wall (not into a power strip).
- It is plugged into a USB 2 port using the supplied cable.
- I have tried other cables with the same result.
- I have also tried a variety of USB ports with the same result.
- It is sat on top of my studio rack at the moment, on a flat wooden surface.
- It is properly ventilated, both from the top and rear.
- The drivers are installed correctly and up to date.
- I have 16gb of ram installed, and apparently this thing can run fine on less than 1gb.
- It is properly set up in all of my DAWs.
- Presently (other than my keyboard and mouse) it is the only thing plugged into my PC via USB.
- It is not plugged into any other audio hardware save or my headphones and speakers (both of which I know to be functioning and very reliable).
- Nothing else (microphones, etc.) is plugged into it.
- It is the default playback device in my control panel.
- No other audio drivers are installed.
- I have experimented with all the settings in the Tascam control panel. They either do the exact same thing or nothing at all.
- I am testing it with only one application open (Ableton or iTunes) and the result is the same.
- I have followed the instructions in the manual to the letter, from setting up to usage.
- There is nothing in this physical universe preventing this thing from working at this point.

So there you have it. I welcome any suggestions but at this point I think I've exhausted every possible avenue. I'm beginning to see the significance of the brand name Ta 'Scam'.

God I hate this thing.
 
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It seems to me you have a conflict between the Tascam driver and your OS, something that modifies your OS, or with the USB implementation on your specific computer. So I have no ideas either (I have always used Macs because of the enormous number of potentially non-working hardware/software permutations in Wndows machines).

You should contact Tascam at this point. But before you do, spend a little more time going through the process rationally and less time coming up with clever ways of expressing how cheesed off you are. Obviously, the unit doesn't represent a "scam," and nobody cares how angry you can get.
 
My free time (as well as my money) are precious to me, and I've now spent nearly 5 whole days and close to 400 pounds getting this thing to work, so telling me not to be angry at this point is as pointless as me telling you to stop being so uppity about forum conduct.

spend a little more time going through the process rationally and less time coming up with clever ways of expressing how cheesed off you are.

Look again, fine sir: I've written over 100 lines in this thread alone thoroughly going through the process rationally, explaining the problems that have occurred and everything I've tried to fix it, and just 2 lines coming up with 'clever ways of expressing how cheesed off I am' (Which I feel wholly entitled to given the circumstances), so I think the ratio is as it should be. (Although I apologise that this offended you as much as it did to make you feel the need to call me out on it).

Obviously, the unit doesn't represent a "scam"

Thanks for pointing that out, but just to reiterate I've bought 2 of these at over 200 pounds each, and so far each one has been far more effective as a door wedge than a pro audio interface. Please tell me how I'm NOT supposed to feel scammed.

Well overall I've wasted enough time with Tascam. I'm sending this back tomorrow on the end of my boot* and hopefully getting something that works. Thank you for your advice.
Although you will almost certainly interpret my 'cheesed off-ness' otherwise, I have sincerely appreciated your time and understanding.





*Sorry if this angry imagery upsets or otherwise offends you
 
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Hello there Bane! I've got those same and exact problems, like you I have a computer with Win7 64bit and I completely relate to those static, white noise, etc etc problems in my US1800. I tested it in another computer with Win7 32bit and it never gave any problems, it worked like a charm.

What I did to overcome theses problems was the following:
- When recording, close all your wifi connections and all of your antivirus and antispyware programs. Set it to lowest latency in the tascam control panel. That way you can get the best recording/latency/quality/performance ratio with this interface.
- When on playback, depending on the track number you have on your DAW, put the latency on the highest setting.
- If you still are having problems with static and other stuff, please do configure your pc just for audio. You can follow these two links with tips for doing that.

http://global.focusrite.com/answerbase/optimising-your-pc-for-audio-on-windows-7?id=1071

http://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare...uide-for-windows-xp-desktops-laptops-updated/

It's pretty boring to do all of these steps, I don't usually follow all of them (especially in the windows optimization for sound) and sometimes something like turning the wifi off and those antivirus like programs in the background works pretty good, so no need for a lot of tweaking. Please take these tips from a fellow user of the US1800 that as suffered like you and kept on trying something to work it out.

Hope it helps, please reply when possible and let's us pray for an update for the windows drivers anytime soon.

Cheers
 
Hi, I appreciate you taking the time to write that post, but I got rid of my second US-1800 over a month ago!

I sent it back to the seller after I got sick and tired of the thing (particularly after it started emitting an unpleasant smell, like burning plastic, whenever it was turned on) and replaced it with a Focusrite Scarlett 18i20, and my god what an improvement!

I know the Scarlett is a tad more expensive than the Tascam but I cannot recommend it enough. From the moment I plugged it in until now, it's worked absolutely perfectly without even a hint of a hiccup. great sound quality, non-existant latency and works with my DAW and everything else in my signal chain without complaint. Bliss.

Also it doesn't smell like burning plastic.

I'm glad you found a solution to your problems with this accursed pile of toss, but I've washed my hands of it, and honestly advise you do the same.
 
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i've been using the 1800 for a few months, it sounded great until...i tried using it for just voiceover. all of our music sessions have instruments with corresponding freq's that mask the hum&hiss, i've been content to just doctor the snot out of my recordings cuz with the music going the noise drowned most of the time, but now that i've been able to A/B against some more pro end audio, i hear it loud and clear, even at like .5 gain. i've tried 5 different mics on inputs 1&2, even recording with the 'input/computer' all the way on input, then turning it back to computer for playback; with that knob all the way L, the hiss goes away, but when u get close to 3/4-ish to the R, the noise is present and it's on the recording whether u hear it on the monitor/phones or not. our bassman is taking the condensers i want to use for VO and trying them on his 1800 tonite, i fear that he'll find the same issue. my fostex mr8 is noisy like that too, so right now i have nothing with a low enough noise-signal ratio that i can do just spoken audio. i'm a bit new at this engineering game, but it hasn't taken me long to get pretty good, and i think that when this whole 'tascam-noise' thing finally boils down, we're gonna find that it's simply not high quality enough to give out a truly clean recording. i'm probably going with the scarlett for my reads. i'll try all the tricks suggested here, but it think we just got noisy pre-amps, heck, both of my condensers were picking up my voice AND all the ambience AND magnifying the the buzz with NO PHANTOM POWER. sounds like somethings getting a little more juice than it needs, and i'm pretty sure we're gonna find out that it's the source of most everybody's tascam noise.
 
I've just bought the new US16x08 version of this unit and the latency is utter garbage, I can't get it down passed 256 sample / 6ms. Unusable, unless you love slap back delay on everything and not being able to play in along with a click track vidi midi v-drums . If my old FW1884 is unrepairable I think I'll look towards one of those Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 units...
 
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rite on, man, i'm lookin at focusrite too, also, avid's little box might clean up my vox and let me go back out to FOH without my pc cracklin&clock problems but for guits i'm probly goin back to pedals.
i dunno, what i DO know is that i gotta have a cleaner signal or i can't take these VO jobs. strings can be dealt with later since i'm rarely runnin clean anyway, the 1800 seems to be fine, really, for anything with a little music to it, but for clear,quiet vocal, it just doesn't cut the mustard;
unless the problem is with the normalizer in cubase...but bit doesn't seem to me that the hiss should be there just by norming to around -3db........hhhmmm
 
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