This is a review and detailed measurements of the Tascam 102i Audio Interface (DAC, ADC and headphone amplifier). It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $399.
I like the departure from usual designs by having the unit tilted up some:
Here is the back side (I put spacers under it to make it easier to take the picture):
The DAC output was surprisingly poor with stock class driver. I downloaded the image from Tascam which remedied that. Download speed was quite slow though. They need to host this someplace better. Once there, I lost all output.
Had to figure out the cryptic routing UI to turn the computer output back on for each channel.
Note that my testing is focused on performance in specific areas. I am not testing functionality of these interfaces.
Tascam 102i DAC Measurements
As always, we start with our DAC output with volume adjusted to 4 volts out:
Not something to write home about but not broken either:
Letting the output swing out more doesn't get you better performance:
Dynamic range is similar:
IMD test shows surprisingly high level of noise when the signal is low:
Jitter suppression is good but there could be bad stuff buried in higher than wanted noise level:
The filter is unfortunately the typical, incorrect one:
While this is very common, I wish at least pro products implement this correctly with faster cut off.
Linearity could be better:
Last test was quite a puzzler at first:
Surely we don't have half a percent noise and distortion! Let's find out the cause:
This is the typical noise shaping we used to see in older DAC chips. Noise in the audible band is reduced by pushing it into ultrasonics. Native performance needs to be a lot better so this is not needed or at least not needed to this degree.
Finally multitone shows that higher frequencies produce more distortion:
Tascam 102i ADC Measurements
Here is our dashboard:
Pretty disappointing performance:
Distortion is the problem. Noise is much better:
Linearity is not great:
The high distortion seems to be frequency independent:
Tascam 102i Headphone Measurements
Here is our dashboard with volume adjusted for 4 volt out:
Not bad. Let's load it down to 300 ohm and see what we get:
Very strange response. Not sure what is going on. Maybe it has a dual stage buffer or something? Regardless, we have OK amount of power.
Switching to 33 ohm causes the power to drop way down:
Suspecting that it is due to high output impedance and I measured it at 85 ohm. This some of the highest I have ever measured and falls in the category of truly awful! You not only lose a lot of power but the frequency response of the headphone can change resulting in tonality variations.
Conclusions
Performance of the DAC in Tascam 102i is reasonable. ADC however can't even clear the 16 bit hurdle with 4 volts in. Headphone amplifier is just junk with high output impedance.
Based on performance measurements I perform, I can't recommend the Tascam 102i. For a current product, it simply is not very competitive.
-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Man these interfaces take a ton of work to measure. So many subsystems. My fingers are hurting!!!
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
I like the departure from usual designs by having the unit tilted up some:
Here is the back side (I put spacers under it to make it easier to take the picture):
The DAC output was surprisingly poor with stock class driver. I downloaded the image from Tascam which remedied that. Download speed was quite slow though. They need to host this someplace better. Once there, I lost all output.
Had to figure out the cryptic routing UI to turn the computer output back on for each channel.Note that my testing is focused on performance in specific areas. I am not testing functionality of these interfaces.
Tascam 102i DAC Measurements
As always, we start with our DAC output with volume adjusted to 4 volts out:
Not something to write home about but not broken either:
Letting the output swing out more doesn't get you better performance:
Dynamic range is similar:
IMD test shows surprisingly high level of noise when the signal is low:
Jitter suppression is good but there could be bad stuff buried in higher than wanted noise level:
The filter is unfortunately the typical, incorrect one:
While this is very common, I wish at least pro products implement this correctly with faster cut off.
Linearity could be better:
Last test was quite a puzzler at first:
Surely we don't have half a percent noise and distortion! Let's find out the cause:
This is the typical noise shaping we used to see in older DAC chips. Noise in the audible band is reduced by pushing it into ultrasonics. Native performance needs to be a lot better so this is not needed or at least not needed to this degree.
Finally multitone shows that higher frequencies produce more distortion:
Tascam 102i ADC Measurements
Here is our dashboard:
Pretty disappointing performance:
Distortion is the problem. Noise is much better:
Linearity is not great:
The high distortion seems to be frequency independent:
Tascam 102i Headphone Measurements
Here is our dashboard with volume adjusted for 4 volt out:
Not bad. Let's load it down to 300 ohm and see what we get:
Very strange response. Not sure what is going on. Maybe it has a dual stage buffer or something? Regardless, we have OK amount of power.
Switching to 33 ohm causes the power to drop way down:
Suspecting that it is due to high output impedance and I measured it at 85 ohm. This some of the highest I have ever measured and falls in the category of truly awful! You not only lose a lot of power but the frequency response of the headphone can change resulting in tonality variations.
Conclusions
Performance of the DAC in Tascam 102i is reasonable. ADC however can't even clear the 16 bit hurdle with 4 volts in. Headphone amplifier is just junk with high output impedance.
Based on performance measurements I perform, I can't recommend the Tascam 102i. For a current product, it simply is not very competitive.
-----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Man these interfaces take a ton of work to measure. So many subsystems. My fingers are hurting!!!
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
