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Roland Cakewalk UA-1G

Roland Cakewalk UA-1G
  • Manufacturer: Cakewalk (http://www.cakewalk.com)
  • Manufacturer: Cakewalk (http://www.cakewalk.com)
  • Pros: Compact; sturdy integral USB cable; up to 96KHz sample rate; lots of input and output options
  • Cons: Fussy hardware configuration; needs resetting for Mac to recognise changes
  • Min specs: Stereo input and output at 24-bit/96kHz audio quality; High-end A/D and D/A converters for accurate recording and playback; Large Input Level knob for easy control while recording; 1/4" jack with Hi-Z option for recording electric guitar or bass; Electret condenser mic input; RCA phono type and optical-digital audio I/O; Headphone output; USB powered – no AC adapter required; SONAR LE for music recording, editing, and publishing on PC; Low-latency ASIO 2.0 (PC); WDM (Windows Vista, Windows XP) and Core Audio (Mac OS X) support
  • Price: £89.99 inc VAT
  • Star rating: 5 Editors Choice

Roland is synonymous with quality and innovation in electronic music, so it’s no surprise that this Cakewalk audio interface – a Roland brand – offers a hot combination of features.

You’ll pay a bit more for the UA-1G than the other entries in this class. Almost three times the price of Griffin’s iMic. But you’ll get more inputs, more outputs and more features.

In fact, it’s a bit of stretch to compare this to the iMic or Behringer’s UCA202 directly. The UA-1G is a much chunkier device. Twice the size of the Behringer device. It has to be to fit in some significant extra features and functionality.

The UA-1G has left and right phono inputs and outputs, like the Behringer. It also has 3.5mm stereo inputs and outputs, like the iMic. In addition, there’s a 6.3mm standard guitar input, plus the stereo in and out double as digital in and out. That’s impressive device support for an interface that’s only 160mm long and about 60mm wide.

The build quality of the UA-1G is noticeably better too. The interface is a solid obelisk of black plastic, with a double-shielded integral USB cable that’s 1.2m long.

The exterior of the case has built-in lights to show which jacks are active when sound levels coming in are peaking. There’s also an external volume control.

With a peak sample rate of 96KHz, it’s impressive that all these features are still powered from your computer’s USB port.

How about performance? The UA-1G wasn’t quite as plug and play as the Behringer and Griffin entries. It runs in two modes – using bespoke Roland drivers or Mac OS Core Audio. You have to make sure the device is set to the correct mode before use with the Advanced Driver switch.

There are also switches on the back of the unit which alter sample rates for recording and playback, which are a little small. But the audio results were beyond reproach – especially with the Roland drivers – with low enough latency and high enough fidelity for multitracking and studio recording.

This product is part of our USB audio interfaces group test group product review. Other products in this group are:

 

Avid Recording Studio

  • Star rating: 4

 

Behringer U-Control UCA202

  • Star rating: 3

 

Griffin iMic 2

  • Star rating: 3

 

Line 6 POD Studio UX2

  • Star rating: 5

 

Roland Cakewalk UA-4FX

  • Star rating: 4

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