Behringer UMC404HD Reviews

Very good for price but not blown away

I hesitated when buying this interface for a very long time. It was a toss up between the Steinberg UR44 and the Behringer UMC404HD. Both have the same sampling rate and bit depth options (which I wanted as a choice for mastering work in case a client sent in a 192kHz/24bit mix).

I choose the Behringer in the end because of a large number of reviews I read online and the price-tag. The reviews all boasted that it was just as good as interfaces that we're twice the price and more. That the preamps were top quality, etc, etc.

To my surprise I think that while this is a ridiculously good product for the price, its not as good as people are saying. Basically it comes down to little things that bothered me but may not annoy another user. For instance there was no driver/software for Macs so all I/O has to configured either inside your DAW or through Apple's own audio settings. Thats fine but I feel like you're potentially limited to the settings of the DAW you would be using regardless of the interfaces features.

Another little pedantic (i understand a lot of my issues with this interface are pedantic) problem I had with this interface was the how flimsy and light the product feels. Particularly the XLR/TRS inputs on the front.

However, saying all that, the sound is great! the preamps are really transparent and with the 24bit depth the noise floor is barely heard.

Also the AD/DA converter chip in the interface (which I found it very hard to find information on before buying) is really clean and I've yet to hear an artifact added to the sound.

All in all I'm pretty happy with the product and its ticking all the boxes...I just wish it was a bit more versatile on the software end of things and a bit more durable feeling (however saying that I've had not issues with durability yet, it just feels flimsy).

UMC404HD

I purchased this interface to replace my old Line6 Toneport - I needed more input options, better latency and performance and this baby delivers. I was reluctant at first as everyone recommended more expensive devices over this one but being on a budget and an amateur musician I took my chances and went the 'more bang for the buck' road.

I record mostly via VST (using Reaper btw.), occasionally via the Mic port, and get decent latency with a number of VST heavy tracks with no cracks/clipping whatsoever on a rather dated PC (windows 10 x64).

The device has dedicated drivers with plenty of config options not available on other competitive devices (tested a PreSonus Audiobox and the Behringer owns it hands down).

The reason I went for the UMC404 over the smaller model is extra power via the extra power adapter - it's sometimes problematic to get phantom power working correctly via the USB bus only, having an extra power source helps here a lot.

All in all I can only recommend the product, does the job for me;)

Very good Audio Interface

I bought this product to drive my condenser microphone and to record my guitar. It does the job very well

The main positive thing about this interface is its value. Behringer have managed to squeeze a nice amount of inputs and outputs in this little box. The main thing you want in an audio interface is flexibility and sound quality and this provides both. I was surprised at how little hiss comes from the input. Latency is also very good. I consistently achieve 2.8ms latency. Also direct input monitoring is useful for vocalists. The metal build is reasonably solid and the plastic used feels strong.

There are a few downsides to this product. The main one is that it can be prone to electrical noise when using it through USB on some computers. I found that this can be avoided by using the DC mains power plug provided. The other downside of this product is the headphone amp. Although the headphone amp is plenty to drive most headphones it is a bit too powerful for some very sensitive devices like earbuds. With sensitive earbud headphones there is a noticeable hiss also you need to turn the headphone volume very low. It feels like the headphone amp could do with a Pad button as you only have to turn the knob halfway to make it uncomfortably loud.

Despite the minor issues this remains a very capable interface and will suit the needs of the majority of home recording environments.

Perfect

Best Choice For That Money.

Quite amazed

ok, so I already got the X32 mixer - and love the preamps... Guess I'm biased... However - her I got the same Midas designed preamps in a 192khz package...

Together with Cubase I got ca. 2-3mS latency on software synths and drums... Finally I can use them live...

And - 24bit 192khz sounds as nice as it seems...

Way beyond my expectations...