[linux-audio-user] Re: Request for opinions on TASCAM US-224 (and US-122)

[Björn Lindström]

Rui Nuno Capela <rncbc at rncbc.org> writes:

> Björn Lindström wrote:
>> I've been offered a slightly used TASCAM US-224. I see in the sound
>> card matrix that it should be fully supported by ALSA.
>> Is anyone here using one of these with multitracking software under
>> Linux, and what do you think about it? Is it stable, are all its
>> features supported, and so forth?
>> As an alternative, I'm considering getting a new US-122. Would there
>> be any reason at all to go for that one instead, or are they equally
>> well supported?
>
> I do have a US-224 pumping low-latency full-duplex 2 channel audio on
> JACK (-p128 -n2) and full MIDI I/O. I specially love its control
> surface when directing ardour via MMC (for which I've contributed some
> code to us428control in alsa-tools, btw).
>
> It works great, but not without some attention. You have to take care
> about tunning your linux audio system accordingly i.e. using a recent
> kernel/alsa-driver (snd-usb-usx2y module). The now famous Ingo
> Molnar's realtime-preempt kernel patch is highly recommended if not
> mandatory to get the best experience.
>
> OTOH if you can't live without 48v phantom power, then the US-122 is
> the right choice. Otherwise the US-224 is a awesome addition to a
> laptop based studio, as I take it ;)

On thing I'm wondering about the US-224 is whether you have use of all
the extra controllers. Can you use the transport control buttons with
Ardour, for instance?