By Steve Cunningham
In the beginning, there was the reel-to-reel tape recorder and the mixing console. These had buttons and faders and knobs. We used them every day, and we all became fast and accurate with them. We could adjust the mid EQ on the music channel without even looking at the board. We could dead pot the VO channel at the right moment while watching only the meters. We were the equivalent of touch-typists, and it was good.
Then came the digital audio workstation with its keyboard, mouse, and monitor. It had no buttons, no faders, and no knobs. There were some exceptions, but those workstations that had buttons, faders, and knobs generally cost our station owners dearly. So many of us had to abandon our friendly controls, because yea and verily we lacked budget. We had to adapt, and we did.
Recently several companies have brought forth control surfaces to lead us out of the fader-less desert and into the promised land. Among these is Tascam with their US-428 Digital Audio Workstation controller. Jointly developed by Tascam and Frontier Design Group, the US-428 is both a controller and an audio interface, providing four channels of audio input and two channels of audio output, all at 24-bit resolution. All audio and control signals (which are actually MIDI controller change messages) are carried over a single USB connection to the computer. This makes the US-428 ideal for use with laptops and smaller computers that lack slots, like the Compaq iPac and the Apple iMac and Cube.
The US-428 is compatible with Windows 98 SE or ME (Second or Millennium Editions). In addition, Windows 2000 is now supported with the release of the Windows 2.0 driver. According to Tascam, Windows 98 First Edition and Windows 95 are not supported due to their limited implementation of the USB protocol. On the Macintosh, the US-428 will work with any Mac which supports USB, running under Mac OS 8.6 or later, although Tascam have not yet tested the US-428 with Mac OSX. Technically the US-428 itself has no requirements other than a USB port, although the usual requirements for your particular workstation software still apply.
The US-428 package includes a CD with the necessary USB software drivers for Mac and PC, a wall-wart power supply, and one USB cable. Also included is a version of Steinberg’s Cubasis VST for the PC, which supports eight tracks of digital audio and 16 tracks of MIDI. The Mac package includes a CD containing BIAS’ Deck LE software, which also supports eight tracks of digital audio. Both Steinberg and BIAS include discount coupons in the box for upgrading to more capable versions of their software.
Currently there are several other programs that support the US-428. On the PC, these include Steinberg’s Cubase and Nuendo, Minnetonka’s MxTrax, and emagic’s Logic Audio. On the Mac, there’s ProTools (audio only in PT Free), Cubase, Logic Audio, and MOTU’s Digital Performer. Support for other products is expected shortly.
THE CONTROL SURFACE
The US-428 is compact, measuring about 14 inches by 12 inches, and comes in a pleasant metallic blue color. The mixing section is organized like most digital mixers, with dedicated faders and Channel Select buttons that make a given channel active for editing EQ, aux settings, and so forth. On the left of the US-428 are nine 60mm faders, one for each of the eight channels plus a master fader. Above each channel fader is the Select button and a yellow indicating LED, a red Record LED, and a Mute button with another yellow LED. Above these are four knobs for adjusting the input trim on each of the four input channels, four green signal LEDs that light up when the input level hits -42dBFS, and four red overload LEDs that turn on when the input level reaches -2.5dBFS.
Above the master fader are master buttons for record and solo. To enable a channel for recording, you press and hold the master record button while pressing the desired channel select button. The master solo button activates soloing, and causes the mute buttons above each channel to act as solo buttons instead. To the right of these is a button that determines whether inputs C and D receive their signals from their unbalanced analog inputs or from digital S/PDIF.
On the right side you’ll find the transport buttons, the detented jog wheel, and buttons for setting and recalling locate points. The US-428 simply controls your workstation, so the number of locate points you can store is dependent on the capabilities of your software. Next to the locate buttons are two bank select buttons to switch between groups of eight faders when mixing large numbers of tracks. Although both Cubasis and Deck LE are limited to eight tracks of audio, the full versions of these programs can take advantage of the bank select feature.
Next to the jog wheel is a panpot, which affects whichever mixer channel is currently selected, and buttons for input monitoring and nulling the faders.
The input monitoring button behaves as you would expect, switching between source and recorded audio. The null button helps you set the US-428’s physical fader position to match the on screen fader’s position. When you press and hold the null button, the selected channel’s yellow Select LED and red Record LED light up. If your physical fader is higher than the on screen fader, only the red Record LED will light. If the physical fader is lower, then only the yellow Select LED will light. When they both light up, the two faders positions match. This function is useful when you’re switching banks, since the new bank’s fader positions may not match their physical counterparts on the US-428.
The EQ section is topmost on the control surface. There are three knobs that control EQ frequency, gain, and Q, and four buttons to select from four different bands. These are labeled high, mid-high, mid-low, and low. Next to the EQ section are three aux send buttons and two knobs that control aux level and pan. Near these are three function keys and a button to assign them to particular functions based on your audio software program. Unfortunately at this writing, neither the included Cubasis or Deck LE programs have implemented these function buttons. According to the developers, they will be supported in future releases of the software.
Above these are knobs to control the line level output and the headphone output. Finally, along the top are activity LEDs for USB and for each of the two MIDI inputs and two MIDI outputs.
INS AND OUTS
The rear panel accommodates a power switch, the jack for the wall-wart power supply, the USB connector, a pair of MIDI inputs and MIDI outputs, and audio I/O. The four audio inputs are labeled A through D. Inputs A and B are balanced and are available on both XLR and TRS 1/4" phone jacks. Note that phantom power is not supplied on the XLRs, so if you’re using condenser mics, you’ll need a separate source of phantom power like an outboard mic preamp.
Inputs C and D are unbalanced and are available on both RCA and 1/4" jacks. In addition, both inputs C and D have a slide switch associated with them that changes their input impedance from 47K ohms (the mic/line setting) to 680K ohms (the guitar setting). Left and right outputs are unbalanced on RCA jacks, and the S/PDIF inputs are also on RCA jacks.
All inputs and outputs use 24-bit converters, and are capable of both 44.1kHz and 48kHz sampling rates. Inputs A and B are nominally capable of handling signals from -43dBU to +4dBU, while inputs C and D can nominally handle signals from -46dBU to -7.8dBU. The outputs can produce levels from -10dBV to +16dBV. The bottom line is that the US-428’s input and output sections are beefy enough to handle most anything, and provide more than adequate headroom. The unit’s audio specs are also quite good, with noise as low as -98dBFS at minimum trim and terminated at 150 ohms.
INSTALLATION
I tested the US-428 on an iMac running the included Deck LE software. This was a logical choice for me, since I use the full version of Deck regularly on my desktop Mac. Installation was a simple matter of running the installer on the CD-ROM, which installed the USB version 1 drivers on the computer. Since I had previously visited Tascam’s website, I was aware of the version 2 drivers. I downloaded and ran the new installer, which properly replaced the older USB drivers.
Since the US-428 sends its controller information over USB using MIDI controller changes, the unit requires that Opcode’s OMS drivers are installed in order to work on a Mac. These drivers are not included on the CDs and must be downloaded from Opcode’s website www.opcode.com. This was a minor inconvenience, but in fairness it’s not the fault of Tascam or BIAS. (Opcode is now owned by Gibson Musical Instruments, and Gibson does not allow OMS to be distributed independently). A quick trip to the website yielded the necessary installer for OMS version 2.38.
Installing Deck LE was a snap. It is copy protected with a serial number, so once installed, Deck LE will work for 14 days without the serial number. If you register the program with BIAS, either via the web or mail, they will send you the code that will allow it to run indefinitely. If software must be copy protected, this method is the least onerous, and I received my code within a couple of hours of emailing BIAS with my information.
The US-428 uses Steinberg’s ASIO (Audio Stream Input Output) software to record and play on your computer, and the installation program will put the correct ASIO drivers for your system in their correct locations. To make the US-428 the default sound device for your computer, you’ll have to make some changes within your control panels and software program. On the Mac, you open the Sound control panel and select the US-428 as your sound in and out device, and then make sure the US-428 is selected in Deck LE under the “Options: Hardware...” menu. Under Windows, you can open the US-428’s control panel using Start: Settings: Control Panels. Remember that you may also have to use your software’s internal Audio Control Panel to select the US-428 as the audio input and output device.
In the ASIO control panel on both the Mac and PC, you can monitor a number of options under ASIO, including the clock source, the sample rate, and the bit resolution. You can also determine whether the Master Fader changes the level from a software editor. This is useful for programs that don’t have their own master volume control, such as Sound Forge.
IN USE
Along with the convenience of providing dedicated controls for workstation software, the US-428 features some clever ideas that just make life a little easier. For example, the input monitor function serves a dual purpose. In addition to letting you hear the source signal directly, pressing the input monitor button causes the first four faders to control the input levels of inputs A through D going into the internal mixer. Changing these levels affects the monitor and headphone outputs, but has no effect on the audio levels seen by your workstation software. In the same way, when input monitoring is on the first four Mute buttons affect the four inputs, and the pan control sends the inputs anywhere in the stereo field. That’s a nice extra.
I exercised both the analog and digital inputs of the US-428 at both 16 and 24 bits, and the sound quality was excellent. I found that setting the Trim knobs was critical, since they regulate the inputs to the A/D converters. Since the overload LED’s trigger at -2.5 dBFS (remember, that’s two and a half dB from Full Scale, and going over Full Scale in digital is nasty-sounding), you have to pay attention to those red LEDs. Keep them dark as much as possible for the best possible signal.
You’ll also want to keep in mind that the US-428’s master fader controls the final output to USB, and hence to your software application. So, if you have your input and mix levels set as you like them and simply want to turn down the speaker’s volume, you’ll want to use the LINE knob rather than the master fader.
Deck LE is a capable editor with which I was already familiar. The USB-428’s faders and mutes were quick and responsive, although the transport controls exhibited a noticeable lag. I don’t see this to be a problem, but it does take some getting used to. But overall, everything worked and worked well.
The manual for the US-428 is competent, but it only covers use with the PC version of Cubasis. The documentation for Deck LE contained on the CD-ROM made no reference to the US-428. This is understandable given the newness of the product and the rapidly-occurring software changes surrounding it, but you’ll do well to visit Tascam’s website regularly to get the current poop.
A word about MIDI: I know that few production people make any use of MIDI, but the US-428’s two MIDI outputs are useful nevertheless. For example, I was able to send MIDI Time Code from Deck LE through the US-428, to an Alesis ADAT to sync it to the computer. In addition, since all the US-428’s commands are really MIDI controller changes, I expect that the box will work with more and more software editors as time goes on because many of them accept MIDI for control of transport and mixing functions already.
My quibbles with this product are minor. The faders are short, and the detented jog wheel moves the audio in small increments with each click. As noted, the function keys are inoperable, and the transport controls have a bit of lag to them.
But the bigger issue with the US-428 is software support. Cubasis is an okay editor for the PC, but most production pros work with Sound Forge, Samplitude, or Cool Edit. Tascam has been responsive with frequent updates thus far, but the success or failure of this product rests on their ability to get more players onboard quickly.
Over the few weeks that I worked with the US-428, I became reasonably facile with it. 80% of the time I could do what I wanted without hunting on the surface for the correct knob or button. The sound quality is comparable to that of my other sound cards.
The US-428 retails for $625 MSRP. For more information, contact Tascam at 7733 Telegraph Road, Montebello, CA 90640, or phone 323-726-0303. For more information worldwide, visit www. tascam.com.
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