The Control You Need For Sonar 
by Marv K from Highland Park, MI, April 2008
Music Background:  Pro Musician, Pop, Movie SoundTrack, R&B, Techno, Rock

I used the FW1884 for my computer based studio with Sonar4. All the shortcuts in the world were available to me. It as if the unit was made for Cakewalk Sonar.
The only minus I could find was that I was never able to get playback from my Windows Media player.
If you have a DAW other than Sonar you're better off with some other control surface.

  Works Great 
by E.A. Lehmann from Miami Florida, December 2006
Music Background:  Pro Engineer

With a lil tweaking and what not to CubaseSX it Controls the whole program for you with a great feel and ease of use
the faders feel great and are as good as any other
the preamps are actualy quite nice and it functionaly works well
with an additional 8 channel preamp with an A/D converter card outfitted with Adat Light pipe
it locks it right in

  Loved this unit out of the box 
by Peter from Somerset, NJ USA, June 2006
Music Background:  Pianist, DJ, Student

Although it would be helpful if there were more literature on this unit, if you've ever used a mixer before you should be able to pick up this unit with no problems. The instructions included in this are sketchy at best and go into no real detail about how to actually operate the unit whatsoever... So patience and perserverance reign when using this mixer. Once you've figured out your software, intergrating this mixer with your program should be a snap. Sound quality is excellent, but be warned this really is an 8 track recorder, so drop your resolution when using more than 8 tracks or you'll get some bad audio issues. The motorized faders are smooth, panning and bank features are intuitive, overall I love this unit despite certain pieces of information left out. If you pick one up, don't put it up on eBay just cause it takes some time to figure it out. Maybe you haven't mastered your software yet... I've used this unit primarily with Reason, Ableton, sampling, and MIDI and have had no real issues outside of EQing directly from the unit, but some applications do not directly support this control feature. Otherwise it is a real pleasure to work with. If you have some good monitors you'll really hear a difference in your recording.

  This Is One Great Board 
by from Akron, Ohio, May 2006
Music Background:  Professional Recording Engineer

If your using Cakewalk Sonar look no further. This is the board to get. Great I/O connections.
I have no issues with this board and Sonar.
A little tricky to setup but once setup, WoW.

Like mentioned below, all problems have been solved about a year and a half ago. As far as 1394 (firewire)connection is concerned a TI chipset based mobo or pci will eliminate all possible drawbacks.
One thing that still applies is that Tascam does not offer online support, but then again, you can go to the Tascam Forum and get help faster or go to the Cakewalk Forum. Sweetwater can even help sometimes.

no problems 
by Anonymous , December 2005

All the problems mentioned above have been solved about a year and a half ago. As far as 1394 (firewire)connection is concerned a TI chipset based mobo or pci will eliminate all possible drawbacks.
One thing that still applies is that Tascam does not offer online support, but then again, you will not need it, FW1884 is rock solid.

FW1884 falls short 
by Anonymous , February 2005

I cannot recommend this unit for three reasons:

1) If you are a Steinberg product user (Cubase or Nuendo) there is no native support for controller function mapping. This results in a lot of confusion between how the controls are labeled on the FW1884 and their actual function within the DAW. At worst, entire sections of controls are completely disabled (such as the FW1884's EQ section).
2) The FireWire connection is intermittant and prevents the unit from functioning at all.
3) Tascam does not reply to emails concerning even the simplest support questions, and does not provide an 800 number for phone support. In desperation, I called their support line (on my dime) and was immediately put on hold for over 10 minutes, and then told that the support team 'was in a meeting and call back later'. After doing so, a technician told me he 'was not a liberty to discuss that' when I simply asked if native support would be made available for Steinberg products. Sound like a company you want to give your money to?

Great Piece!!! 
by Drue from Omaha Ne, January 2005

I just got this board and I'm really pleased with it. I was a little spoiled before because I was used to working with a digi-002. I really like the 1884, the integration is very good for being so open to different software. I had a bit of a problem with the firewire but it wasn't the board, I have a sound blaster audigy card and it had a built in firewire port, well, it wasn't very reliable but after spending $25 bucks on a firewire pci card, it works like a dream. This is one of the best audio solutions out there from hobbie to entry professional and a great price!!!!!!!! Can't go wrong with it.

Superb value 
by Kirk Fischer from Texas, April 2004

I'm very pleased with my choice. The FW-1884 does everything I need for a hobby studio. I have 16 inputs, 8 native and 8 with my Focusrite Octopre. The sound quality is as good as I've heard. The midi inputs are easy to control. Overall integration to Cakewalk SONAR is very well done. Very low latency - sub 5ms with many tracks.


It's a great value - a hardware control surface, MIDI controller, and DAW soundcard in one.

Awesome 
by Kris from Boston, MA and Los Angeles, CA, February 2004

Absolutely the best condensed DAW ever!

Click here to Read the inSync Review for the FW-1884

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