Tascam FW-1884 would like to talk to Vista 64

Dwarf

I've re-installed E-Mu Patchmix, the 0404 PCI card I had with the latest asio drivers. A rep of Tascam tells me in an email, they may not do any more development of Vista drivers for the FW range. So the lack of Vista x64 asio drivers may be the end of the line.
After many years of using Tascam products I doubt I'll buy any more. So to summarize...
I can now run Cubase 4.1 64 bit on Vista x64 giving me access to the East West play engine 64 bit libraries e.g. MOR, Gypsy and Goliath. The Steinberg vst bridge allows access to most 32 bit Virtual instruments I have including Kontakt 3, Yellowtools Independent 2, Virtual Guitarist 2, etc. Wallander instruments (set to use software rendering).
Exceptions at the moment are Hypersonic 2, Plugsound Pro.
Most VST FX's are OK. Any problems seem to be with the GUI of these plugins.

Ray

Hi Ray,

Thanks for the reply. I'm glad that things seem to be working out OK despite the setback with Tascam. Don't rule them out altogether though. What they are doing is similar to what many other hardware manufacturers, especially printer and scanner manufacturers, are doing. They would rather you buy new hardware that is compatible with your system (provides them with more revenue) rather than provide upgrades for your existing equipment (provides them with greater reputation, but little or no extra revenue). This is a fine balance, leaning too heavily in one direction or the other could prover disastrous. Too much support on older equipment means less time developing new with the result that people say that they "are not moving with the times", and with the balance the other way people tend to say "have you forgotten about us?" Sometimes, Vista has a built-in driver which works with the device, but generally only on a basic level. As for the other problems you mention, check the relevant websites for updates regularly.
Dwarf

Hi, really sorry you went to the toruble of changing motherboards etc

I too, have had a complete nightmare with the fw-1884, I've re-installed windows etc; different OS's no less than 6 times and wasted literally weeks trying to get everything working. Tried 3 different motherboards.

I am now running XP 32 bit and all my devices are working fine, and I'm not changing ever, if I ever upgrade to 64bit i'll get a new pc and new sound card.

ANYWAY - FW-1884 does infact work in 64bit OS, vista or XP. BUT - and a big BUT, it only works if you have 2gb of RAM installed. Any more and it goes crazy. So the 8gb of RAM I bought is going on ebay and my 64bit Vista is going in a cupboard never to come out again, as I am certainly not buying a new audio interface JUST so I can use 64bit Vista.

XP 32bit ftw.. sadly still after all these years. Think i will entirely skip windows Vista.

Alex

Things have moved on here. I am the happy owner of a MOTU 2408mk3 audio unit which is connected to PC and vistax64 through a pci card which will address four MOTU audio units. I'm running the 8 audio inputs from the FW-1884 to 8 of the 24 inputs on the 2408 via optical link. So I still use midi control and mic audio inputs on the 1884 but line input direct to the 2408. The 2408 has superior audio and latency. I'm hearing detail that didn't exist before from my monitor system. Also I can use word sync, video sync etc between units. The MOTU isn't cheap but is professional.
Vista x64 for me now is pretty stable.

Great news you have a working system in 64bit!

Ironically after my Tascam bashing earlier today, the unit has ceased working and now I have the "all lights on syndrome", which reseting doesn't fix so basically it's broken ><

I might try 64bit again, this motu route looks interesting... is the PCI card expensive?

I've also been looking at the Yamaha N12...

Hmm, decisions!

Although I have Cubase 4.1 x64 beta and it does allow running EW play engine stuff in 64bit mode, I'm continuing to use Cubase 32bit for the moment. I hope the tascam thing isn't terminal. MOTU have very good x64 drivers which include asio unlike Tascam.
I bought the 2408mk3 including the pci-x card from DV247 It was B stock due to a repair but seems to work perfectly. This saved me about £200.00 on the new price which has a pci-e card. I registered with MOTU before buying it to check out the available drivers. I also spoke to a composer I know in California who uses 6 no. 2408mk3's in his system for TV and film work.

Ray

Windows 7 or later wont have better support for the device than Vista does

Let me add here.
I've just downloaded the latest Line 6 Vista x64 drivers along with the latest version of GearBox and my old Guitar Port is working great.
Still no Variax Workbench x64 drivers but I can run that off my slave PC running Vista 32
Things are moving on just fine.

I just emailed them too as I also was scratching my head. They told me that version driver 1.60 for Vista 64bit has issues if you use 4gig ram and up. So, if you remove a ram chip, it will work. They said they are in close development for a fix for this problem. I am using Vista 32bit on another drive for now until they fix it. Tone