Behringer U-Phoria UM2 USB Audio Interface

Justo lo que necesitaba, funciona perfectamente

Muy bueno

I am writing about both the UM2 and UMC202HD:I had to write this review to help out anyone else who comes across this product like me. I want the best for the least amount of money, and I’m willing to spend more if it means avoiding a product that will be a waste of money down the line. These products match my expectations and needs at an excellent price point.UM2: The pricing on this model can not be emphasized enough, because it is literally a third of the cost of more expensive equipment that fundamentally performs on par at its core function (transmitting good quality analog sound to digital for usage in a PC or in other devices through the analog output).I have read that on professional testing, the UMC204 performs as good as expensive equipment at the same fundamental function that cost thousands of dollars more. That inspires confidence in the UM2 since the spec differences are laid out openly (48khz vs 192khz for example). So you know what you are getting, but also that you will be getting the best quality for what you are paying for. Similarly, the UM2 and the UMC22 are identical in feature and function except that the body of the latter is metal, and the outputs are TRS vs RCA. Some more audiophilic folk may demand those design features for reasons they believe are important to sound processing. Personally, I was okay sacrificing those, and to my untrained ears, I find no difference between the PC sound card which is already high quality, and the UM2 interface. In my estimation, the average user who is simply looking to create their own content, or upgrade from a laptop or PC soundcard will be very well satisfied with this device.My primary gripe against this device for which I dropped one star is the installation support, which is none from Behringer. PC compatibility is a problem as it is not usable on a system without installing the right codec. Behringer has made this a messy process, and in fact without support, as it has no proprietary codecs or software for the device. Usually that is good because open source support means that the general community would provide answers to other users. However, the device only runs off of an old codec version that is no longer available on the developers site (ASIO) and is only available through miscellaneous forums which is a serious security concern. That is a massively dropped ball. But in the end I got it to work, so I’m relieved in the end. It took a couple of hours to get it to work which is the negative. I would still highly recommend this to everyone with the note that they need to get some help on the software side to install it properly.Lastly, there is either misinformation, or I just lucked out, but the direct monitoring will work in Stereo, whether it is taking two channels and mixing them, or taking a mono channel from a single input and conveying them to both stereo channels (must use stereo jacks of course, and also stereo connections from the rear RCA to speakers - can also be used for any other receiving device. I even plugged it into my DSLR without problem with Stereo piping into the camera - thumbs up!)Also, if you set this as your primary audio device in your PC, you can use this as a DAC which is on par or better than the internal soundcard in the PC. It will work just like your own PCs sound card. The USB 1.1 has not been any limitation to be at all, so USB 2.0 difference to this appears to be hype to me.Bottom line - extremely recommended. Don’t waste time, money, or emotions into any other device unless your a pro. If your a pro, skip all the other devices and jump straight up to something in the $500/$1,000 range, don’t even worry about budget, and just do what all the other audiophile nerds do (justify and claim the more expensive equipment is better just because of the price). If your looking for a single XLR input, or 2 unbalanced inputs, and one output parallel to the USB output, get this. If you need any more inputs and outputs, explore the other range of devices from Behringer, and get what suits you. The good news is, if you have a little bit of audiophile concern but can tolerate sacrificing the greatest theoretical specs, you’ll find with more IO more laudable specs. In practice, people like me will probably find zero differences. Don’t pay more money for other brands.I also like the potential versatility with this device. I plan to do a recording for a video in a couple of days, and in a month I plan to support a livestream video/audio broadcast. This device can do it all.On UMC202HD:This device should be a significant upgrade to the UM2. Unfortunately it is not in terms of audio quality. It is definitely perceptively better, but not double the price better. The build quality is definitely far better, but it doesn’t impact the performance for me. The only thing that is a major step up from the UM2 then is the addition of another XLR port. When you look at the price points, it doesn’t seem to be giving the value proposition of adding an XLR port to the UM2 or UMC22. The range of prices starts at $30 for the UM2, then goes to $45 for the UMC22 to add a metal body, then $75 to go to the UMC202HD. You could get 2 UM2s if you needed to XLR ports only, and still save money over the metal body.Unfortunately, the market just isn’t priced that way, making these options from Behringer the most reasonable. If you were to go to Tascam, or even other options like Zoom (which allows is recorders to be used like audio interfaces! Two thumbs up!) the point of entry is $80 for basic options (just recorders really) with the first option to add XLR at around $100 or more.This means Behringer is the easy go to solution for adding XLR inputs to your setup. And having two XLR ports vs on definitely opens up flexibility. I could see myself being handicapped in future instances without it (interviews, live-streams and podcasts with more than 1 presenter, etc).So it really comes down to your use. If you are comfortable keeping your use case simple and actively plan on never expanding beyond that, such as having a single person setup, then getting the UM2 is an easy option. But if you have any aspirations towards prosumer/advanced amateur opportunities, then there is very little option that makes sense.At the minimum, you will get a very solid solution for audio interfacing with all of these models. The UMC202HD actually has supported drivers on the Behringer website to boot. The software giveaways are garbage. Don’t worry about them. Audacity is far superior.On the UMC202HD you do lose the consumer friendly feature of mono to stereo direct listening however. For some reason, but which makes the value proposition for the UM2 all the greater, it is wired so that each channel automatically feeds stereo out on the direct monitor headphone output, meaning you will hear sound on both sides of the drums. Unfortunately, the UMC202HD only supports mono to mono channel direct monitoring, meaning each channel input only drives one output channel (left or right) on your monitor or headphones. Maybe this is fine if you actually use a single mono speaker for review which also makes sense. In this way, the UMC202HD is more geared towards professional users which means more equipment and setup the further up in professional equipment you go.Overall very satisfied with the UM2, and mostly satisfied with the UMC202HD. That said, if you find it for $60 or $65 dollars, it would make the deal spot on for value.

I was struggling to get good audio into my PC... noise and RF interference even with good filters just never gave me the audio I knew I could get from my ribbon velocity mics. Tried various sound cards over the years, even bought the 8 channel Beringer 1204 USB model where (for different reasons) I still struggled to get the sound I wanted. Out of desperation and frustration with hours of research and years of dust collecting in the studio, I took a chance on this guy, fully preparing to regret a second beringer purchase. To my amazement, plug & play this little box gave me near perfect audio from the first test. No bells or whistles.. but also no noise and a clean punchy gain control with default driver settings.I was able to use this little box to troubleshoot the (ASIO driver) issue I was having with my 1204, (recording level needs boosted to 88 on the driver tab, and sliders need to go +5db with gain at 3:00 for my Sure and RCA mics).. not ideal, but happy to have my mixer back in the mix) - this little guy will be my go-to mobile interface and back-up unit. Super happy with its design, performance, and price point to solve an issue I've been fighting for years. Would buy again.

Let me start out by saying that I bought this audio interface specifically for gaming. However I can tell you this, the interface is not bulletproof, it's not a travel-friendly-looking or feeling material, it's mainly just plastic, but who cares. I think if you were to travel with this I would recommend a pelican case as most people use it anyways when traveling with xlr mics and other recording material. However don't let the quality of the material fool you, if you were just keeping this in a room like me, its perfect, if you have half a brain and you take care of your stuff, I promise this will collect more dust than bruises. Its also not going to be a paperweight in the next 2 years of owning it, the audio quality is great with this thing, If this interface was 60 dollars I would still buy it without hesitation. The features to control the gain and stuff is nice, don't turn it all the way up, I promise your voice will start clipping, but that goes the same for any audio interface. If your a rocker, or a rapper, or even a screamer, my best recommendation to keep the clear volume at a high gain would be a cloud lifter. After that your set, you could start recording your next song and drop it all with the amazing speed of amazon shipping. Looking past that at the features this has, it's perfect, the mic monitoring is amazing and something I love, You can hear yourself so clearly even while gaming at a high volume. However, it's a common thing for all audio interfaces to have so I wouldn't hype it up too much. Moving forward to the DAC this thing has in it. The audio I get in my shp9600 is nice, very clear audio, the sound stage is nice and clear as it should be and I've tested it on multiple different DACs and I can say wholeheartedly that listening to music on this sounds just as good as If I were to put it onto a nice budget or DAC. The treble is clear, so if your gaming footsteps can be heard from a mile away, and you will most likely be able to read the other person's mind in-game just off how clear the sound is along with just turning a knob to simply get bionic ears. I would know I play a lot of competitive first-person shooters and whether it's on Call of duty or Counter-Strike, I never miss a sound. At the end of the day to keep this from being a 2-page essay on why you should buy this mic. If you were streaming for twitch, or just getting started in Soundcloud, buy this audio interface, I promise it won't let you down.