TASCAM Sonicview First Look

Remote control & Offline Editor

The TASCAM Sonicview consoles have not started to ship as of this post. So we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see how they perform in the real world. To date they have announced a model 16 & a model 24, clocking in at $5999 and $6999 respectively. They have also released a single stage box (SB 16-D) 16-in / 16-out affair, priced at $2500 to start. That puts either of these consoles, plus a single stage box, cables and cases right around the $10k mark.

If you’re going to the NAMM show next month, you may be able to get a look at them first hand! They’ve been seen showing them off at ISE in Barcelona last month, so it’s a good bet that at least one of the models will be front and center at the TASCAM booth at NAMM 2023. I’d love to cover the show again this year, but the cost of travel and accommodation is too high this time around. It might be possible to cover some of the Vegas trade shows in the future, but probably not Anaheim. It isn’t clear yet when TASCAM will start shipping pre-orders (available now at B&H Photo). But for now we can dive into the control software for an idea of what to expect.

The last digital mixing board I’ve touched from TASCAM was the DM-24 that I owned in the early 2000’s. At the time, paired with a MOTU 2408 mk3, it was a ridiculously powerful front end to my recording PC. Back then, digital consoles didn’t plug directly into your PC and work as a sound card. Instead, my console connected to the 2408 using optical cables, which acted as the sound-card and was connected through a PCI-e card in the host computer. The cost of all of this was considerable, and it was pretty cumbersome to setup or relocate quickly.

It will be really interesting to see how far TASCAM has come in the 20 years since that time. The DM-24 was never known for its easy or intuitive menus, but once you learned them, it was a great console for its day. I’m excited for the Sonicview lineup going forward & hopeful they live up to everyones expectations of TASCAM in 2023. What do you think though?