Behringer ADA8200 Ultragain 5-stars Reviews

Surprisingly great

Used to expand studio setup, adding ins and outs to MOTU 828.

Very impressed right off by the quality and clarity of playback from the outputs.

Inputs just as good. Individual gain/trim pots for each input too which is a handy feature to this minimal piece of kit.

Easy to setup and reliable.

Running for long days at a time without glitching or popping.

One downside is that there is only one for all phantom power, whereas each input does has an individual gain/trim pot, the phantom is either on or off for all. Depending on the use, this may or may not be bothersome.

Great to find Behringer upping their game so significantly and providing MIDAS quality preamps for such a competitive price.

What's to complain about?

I upgraded to the ADA8200 from it's predecessor the ADA8000 and I use it to expand my RME multiface and never once have I had cause to doubt it. I use it to connect my DAW to my outboard gear and synths, including send return loops. I clock the device from the RME, and they cooperate flawlessly. (Although I do need to replace one ADAT lead which has a habit of popping out whenever I go at the back of my rack).

Perhaps if was recording acoustic instruments I might notice issues with the preamps but if thats was the case I wanted to step up to the next level of improvement I'd need to spend five times and more the cost of the ADA8200.

I've never been able to identify the devices 'sound' so I take that to mean transparency which is exactly what I want.

works great, easy to use.

I use this as an extension of my scarlett18i20 interface, allowing me to record my full drumkit with 16 lines simultaneously or downsized kit + guitar and bass for tracking demos.

Very easy to use, just hook it up to your interface, tweak the settings in your DAW Using reaper as my DAW, i had to set up channel 1 as 1st input and channel 18 as my last input. ( 1-8 input on my interface, 9-10 is SPDIF inputs and 11-18 is the ADAT inputs from the ADA8200.)

Super easy to use and does exactly what it is supposed to do, also it sounds great.

Great piece of gear

Great features added since it's predecessor. Don't really hear the difference tbh but it's durable and functions well.

cant really fault this

got this thinking that i could use it to get more inputs on my interface but then discovered that my interface dosn't have the optical input to do this however it has come in handy as 8 individual pre-amps by using the XLR out put on the back and just patching them in individually giving me the option to use these pre-amps or the interfaces built in pre-amps however i find now that i just use this instead plus its 8 pre-amps in one rack unit so for how many pre-amps there is its really compact, it would however be nice to have instrument inputs on it as well as the XLR and Line Level inputs

Nice surprise from Behringer.

So Behringer has a bit of a reputation, but then so does this AD/DA so I thought I'd give it a go.

Well. First off the build quality is far more sturdy than I was expecting. I thought I'd have to treat it like glass until I got it racked up but the thing seems more robust than some stomp boxes I've seen.

Can't comment on the mic inputs but the line inputs on my unit offer clean gain through most of its range. I really had to get near to max before any noticeable noise came through at a SPL of around 70dB.

Clocking? Well I'm on RME and its slaved to the Behri so I can't really comment there either.

The inputs on the front could be a pain but then I couldn't suggest where else to put them soooo

At £20 a channel this thing was a fantastic way to make use of my spare ADAT ports.

Great unit for great money

I use it as input/output extender for MOTU 828x. To connect I've used two optical and one BNC cable. After switching on both 828 and 8200 units they've just started working together without any issues. The only problem I've found at this point is that it can't be synced via ADAT (or probably I don't know how to do it properly with 828). Anyway, I'll have to find solution when I will decide to get second unit.

The only serious issue (personally for me) I've found with this unit (and that's why I've put 4 stars for handling) is global phantom power switch located next to power switch on the front panel. I use unit only for line inputs, so there's a big chance to burn all hardware just by pressing it occasionally. The solution was to remove the switch cap and replace it with plexiglass cap. Now it looks like power indication.

Price/quality -> can't beat it

An affordable ADAT that fits perfectly in every home studio.

I use them together with an RME Raydat and that works perfectly.

Quality ADAT converter.

I've used this for about a year now with no problems at all. Front access for connection inputs means its quick and easy to change what goes in where. Input signal and clipping leds are useful and the audio quality is very good. Very happy with this product!

Surprising Unit

I only use and can value the A/D conversion in this unit, I don't use the D/A.

I use it to add 8 analog ins more to my Steinberg MR816 CSX. I set the Behringer as slave & the MR as master clock. Connected the ADAT out from the ADA8200 to the ADAT in of my soundcard and added a short BNC cable to synch both on the fly. Just works. The ADA8200 seems well built, and the quality of conversion surprised me (being a cheap Behringer product)! I use synths only, so after calibrating the input levels, I tried to compare the same sound from the Virus TI, one coming in cubase by the usb interface of the Virus (straight digital, no conversion required), the other from the 1st Virus TI analog out straight to the ADA8200...well...my ears can't spot the difference. This unit really surprised me.

Never imagine this...

... the quality of this PRE is unbelievable vs. the money we pay for it! And YES, we can hear the different from previous legacy ADA8000 to the ADA8200, I will buy 2 more and throw away the mixer I was using the pre. 5 starts no doubt

Clean, professional sound

I bought this to expand my audio interface to integrate hardware processors into my setup which allows me to mix out of the box. I could set it up seamlessly and it's been working without problems for more than 2 years now.

The preamps are very clean and quiet with enough gain (I use only line sources). Using metering in a DAW you can easily match the channel levels for stereo operation. It offers balanced and unbalanced connectivity although it would have been nice to include jack outputs besides the XLRs. Another thing I miss is the metering, you find only clip indicators on the front panel. But given the price these are really minor things.

The build quality is good, the unit feels solid, knobs and switches are sturdy and work smooth. After longer usage periods it doesn't get too hot so that's not an issue either.

Overall it's a great product with high quality sound and a basic feature set. Kind of a set and forget thing, but that was what I actually needed.

No fuss interface

The ADA8200 Ultragain is easy to connect to the FCA1616, works well and gives so many extra inputs and outputs. My mission is to use the above combination as a FOH mixer/recorder using the Reaper DAW. Otherwise there is not a lot to say about the ADA8200 as it simply and easily does what it is meant to do. Other than it is well built and complements the stylish look of the FCA1616. As they say if your kit looks good people will think it sounds good, which it does.