Behringer U Phoria UMC404HD Audio Interface

I dithered about purchasing anything so cheap, but I figured if GAK had it on their shelves then it must at least be passable. I am no music Pro, I am dabbling bet even so this kit is amazing in its quality of build and functions. Not only that but you get a free copy of Trackion software, not limited or crippled, the full fat version included in the £99 cost of the unit.I have so far used it with a miked up acoustic guitar, two electric bass guitars, Fender Jazz fretless, and a Tanglewood cheapo Violin bass, a sure SM58 vocal mic and a Condenser mic. I have had lots of fun playing around with the amps and effects and not a moments problem. The paperwork is sparse to non existent, but even for someone with no prior experience it is so straight forward as to make ... MoreI dithered about purchasing anything so cheap, but I figured if GAK had it on their shelves then it must at least be passable. I am no music Pro, I am dabbling bet even so this kit is amazing in its quality of build and functions. Not only that but you get a free copy of Trackion software, not limited or crippled, the full fat version included in the £99 cost of the unit.I have so far used it with a miked up acoustic guitar, two electric bass guitars, Fender Jazz fretless, and a Tanglewood cheapo Violin bass, a sure SM58 vocal mic and a Condenser mic. I have had lots of fun playing around with the amps and effects and not a moments problem. The paperwork is sparse to non existent, but even for someone with no prior experience it is so straight forward as to make paperwork redundant. I have not had the chance yet to plug in the keyboard but I do not anticipate any problems. It works extremely well with Garageband and I am keen to get to grips with Trackion and test out its qualities there. The headphone socket has more than enough power to drive an audio amp if you prefer to listen back live rather than through 'phones. All in all the bargain of the year.

Behringer UMC404HD - Just what I wanted!

I had been using an Edirol USB bus-powered audio interface with 2 inputs and MIDI, but I was starting to run out of options when trying to do live recording. Even miking a drum kit was going to be problematic if I ever went to analog drums. So I bought this unit and it is already paying dividends. I can run audio from multiple keyboards, guitars etc and record simultaneously in a live context. Great!In the home studio, unlike the Edirol unit which has one audio out, this unit has two pre-amped audio out channels, so I can run my Rokit 6’s as near-field studio monitors, and run some large flat panel speakers I made using audio-exciters to provide a wider sound stage.This unit requires a power supply (provided) and means that it can power up and start making sound ... MoreI had been using an Edirol USB bus-powered audio interface with 2 inputs and MIDI, but I was starting to run out of options when trying to do live recording. Even miking a drum kit was going to be problematic if I ever went to analog drums. So I bought this unit and it is already paying dividends. I can run audio from multiple keyboards, guitars etc and record simultaneously in a live context. Great!In the home studio, unlike the Edirol unit which has one audio out, this unit has two pre-amped audio out channels, so I can run my Rokit 6’s as near-field studio monitors, and run some large flat panel speakers I made using audio-exciters to provide a wider sound stage.This unit requires a power supply (provided) and means that it can power up and start making sound right from their get-go, whereas with the Edirol I had to wait for the USB bus to power up after booting the PC, so that’s another bonus.Fair warning, though, you have to connect to the net to get the driver install program for Mac or PC, as there is no driver disc supplied. But so far that’s the only downside, and a very small one at that.Another upside is that the device sets up perfectly in WinXP on my dual-boot PC, as Behringer supply backwardly compatible drivers, a lesson Roland could learn with their Edirol stuff - I have multiple retired devices that became obsolete courtesy of Roland’s indifference to their client base.So far, 100% happy.

Good quality and durable, with a very good price. Suitable f

I had been using Behringer's sound card for a while, and I found that the quality was really good and it was easy to use and durable. So this time I bought it directly. It was easy to connect to the computer and speakers, and I could start making sound devices. I highly recommend it!

People's quality audio interface

I purchased this audio interface when my old one finally broke for good and after some use I am convinced that there are no better products for that price tag. The unit does what you'd expect from a audio interface and has no strange quirks nor frills.Starting from the inputs, the quality of the sound source remains unaffected and crystal clear: the MIDAS preamps are there for that purpose and not just for show. The presence of a pad button makes very hard to clip the pre's even with the hottest instrument I could fed into those inputs. Phantom power is nice to have. Inserts and midi I/Os are a nice plus. Speaking about the ADC, there's nothing to complain about because they serve their purpose without any hassle at all. When monitoring the inputs live the latency ... MoreI purchased this audio interface when my old one finally broke for good and after some use I am convinced that there are no better products for that price tag. The unit does what you'd expect from a audio interface and has no strange quirks nor frills.Starting from the inputs, the quality of the sound source remains unaffected and crystal clear: the MIDAS preamps are there for that purpose and not just for show. The presence of a pad button makes very hard to clip the pre's even with the hottest instrument I could fed into those inputs. Phantom power is nice to have. Inserts and midi I/Os are a nice plus. Speaking about the ADC, there's nothing to complain about because they serve their purpose without any hassle at all. When monitoring the inputs live the latency can go down as low as 3 to 4 ms while mantaining an accetable and sufficient buffer size.In my current setup I use the interface with different DAWs on Mac Os, both in home and live context with Vst's, guitar and hardware mono synths and I'm yet to encounter any stuttering or digital artifacts, even in heavy demanding contexts. The audio interface correctly turns on and off accordingly to the sleep state of the computer and the DAWs always recognise the interface never losing connection with the unit.One thing I found confusing at first is the routing of the outputs: there are 6 physical outputs and only 4 channels so it took some trial and error to figure out what goes where at first. Another downside is that there's no separate DC in, which would have been nice to have.Built quality is good from the outside and I hope it is alike from the inside too. Pots have a nice feel when turned and buttons don't feel flimsy. LED's dimensions and intensity are spot-on and thankfully there aren't any blinding blue ones.

Perfect audio interface for interface with your laptop

Very sophisticated and classy looking device with four frontinput jacks with inbuilt pre-amps for microphones & guitars, a midi input and four insert sockets at the rear along with midi out, two main out sockets for speakers, four 1/4" jack sockets for playback output to an amp etc, left & right 1/4" sockets and 2 x red / 2 x white output phonos for stereo, plus a 3.4cm headphone jack for monitoring.I am only a beginner in terms of audio interfaces, but it was easy to hook up and start using the device and I think the sound and tone are excella mixent and the preamp really boosts the volume without distortion,There is a separate gain control for each of the four front jack inputs, along with a stereo/mono switch, a mix knob, a main out volume control , a channel ... MoreVery sophisticated and classy looking device with four frontinput jacks with inbuilt pre-amps for microphones & guitars, a midi input and four insert sockets at the rear along with midi out, two main out sockets for speakers, four 1/4" jack sockets for playback output to an amp etc, left & right 1/4" sockets and 2 x red / 2 x white output phonos for stereo, plus a 3.4cm headphone jack for monitoring.I am only a beginner in terms of audio interfaces, but it was easy to hook up and start using the device and I think the sound and tone are excella mixent and the preamp really boosts the volume without distortion,There is a separate gain control for each of the four front jack inputs, along with a stereo/mono switch, a mix knob, a main out volume control , a channel monitoring switch and a headphones volume switch.Power transformer and USB leads included but you need to have or obtain the various othe cables like phono, din, etc and headphones (though I believe you can get a bundle option if needed.Given the differences in price for the various models, I opt!ed for the 4 channel version to provide most flexibility and to be pepared to avoid upgrade in the future!Dropped a star on price, because it is realtively expensive unless being used professionally, but still great value for money.Dropped a star also for operation, as it took me a while to figure out the various functions!Overall very impressed and would highly recommend this gear

Replacement for onboard PC sound

Picked this beauty up for under £100 to replace the awful ‘HD’ motherboard sound, and I love it. As it runs via USB, there are no more audio cables running to the back of your PC – everything now runs into and out of your new shiny UMC4040-HD.Once you’ve wired it all up, all the solid-feeling controls are easily accessible on the front panel, and you’ll be getting external sound sources into your PC in no time. Although it comes with an external PSU (via the crappy supplied UK adapter), it seems to work just fine on just USB power, and I now leave it on permanently and run all my computer audio through it.It can cope with line- and instrument-level inputs, so my just DI’d my bass. You can also use the interts on the back to run your Mark King licks through a ... MorePicked this beauty up for under £100 to replace the awful ‘HD’ motherboard sound, and I love it. As it runs via USB, there are no more audio cables running to the back of your PC – everything now runs into and out of your new shiny UMC4040-HD.Once you’ve wired it all up, all the solid-feeling controls are easily accessible on the front panel, and you’ll be getting external sound sources into your PC in no time. Although it comes with an external PSU (via the crappy supplied UK adapter), it seems to work just fine on just USB power, and I now leave it on permanently and run all my computer audio through it.It can cope with line- and instrument-level inputs, so my just DI’d my bass. You can also use the interts on the back to run your Mark King licks through a compressor first, if you like.As a Brucey bonus, it works out of the box with Linux. Using an appropriate Jack interface (e.g. qjackctl) you simply set the input and output devices to the UMC404, and your frequency (right up to 192khz if you’re, you know, special) and you’re off. In Ardour, you then pick an input (numbered 1 through 4) for your track. In Audacity, you simply pick the input and output devices from the dropdown menus. The MIDI ports seems to work great too.The only downside is that it shows up the deficiencies in my pre-i3 host PC…

Review of Behringer UMC404HD USB Audio Interface

Andertons have come up trump again with their quality of service.I had one of these before but it went faulty due to PSU issues I purchased used but prior to this the sound quality is very good, also as a bonus it has four inputs for line/instrument inputs and with good number of outputs.Also has effects send/return but this is only on channel one and can only be used on live input on the same channel.I did contact behringer and they responded promptly there is a work around you can do to get it to work if you want to use outboard effects.The only thing which is minor is the switch for phantom power is on the back of the unit.I’d recommend this to anyone looking for an audio interface with good selection of inputs and outputs.

Wasted 25 hours on audio that's "clipping" / unusable

This little box of deception cost me 25 hours of recording time on a contracted guitar-recording project I now have to completely start over on. Why? Because this interface has a massive flaw. It causes clipping in guitar! Just google it. The project manager and I noticed that, even though the clipping lights on the interface aren't showing any clipping, all of my guitar takes, even with the right gain staging, are CLIPPING CLIPPING CLIPPING. Not against the -0db threshold, but against its own threshold... even though the interface shows no signs of clipping!You'll see many people with this problem online. The issue is when you have instrument level cables plugged in and the pad turned on, on any given input channel. In other words, if you're trying to record a ... MoreThis little box of deception cost me 25 hours of recording time on a contracted guitar-recording project I now have to completely start over on. Why? Because this interface has a massive flaw. It causes clipping in guitar! Just google it. The project manager and I noticed that, even though the clipping lights on the interface aren't showing any clipping, all of my guitar takes, even with the right gain staging, are CLIPPING CLIPPING CLIPPING. Not against the -0db threshold, but against its own threshold... even though the interface shows no signs of clipping!You'll see many people with this problem online. The issue is when you have instrument level cables plugged in and the pad turned on, on any given input channel. In other words, if you're trying to record a guitar, it's either going to clip too easily against the headspace threshold (which is why you put the pad on) or you'll put the pad on and it will act like it's not clipping but IS STILL CLIPPING.Deceptive, misleading, and completely bogus. I will be calling support tomorrow to get my money back on this thing (I don't care if it's been more than 45 days since purchase-yes, this thing is that much of a let-down!) because it's obviously a broken product being sold as a "value" brand new one. I thought maybe for once, it wouldn't be too good to be true, but indeed it was once again. Maybe there's no such thing as a value bargain in the music industry.

[Rewarded Review] Awesome when it works (it usually does)

When I first got it and set it up, my audio sounded horrible. I use linux, so I expect to do some fiddling to get things working. In this case I only had to restart my computer. I have only had this problem 1 other time, and it was solved with a restart. The improvement in input and output quality from my motherboard is very noticeable.