I was having problems with the noise floor as well as clicks and pops just like you. I thought, well it's cheap, maybe I will upgrade down the line. Then I turned off the lights and found the noise went away, I tested it a bit, and the noise was coming from the LED lights that was on a dimmer. I looked up hows and whys a bit, and found it was usually the dimmer but sometimes the light. Luckily it was the dimmer and removal of such solved my problem. Maybe it was picking up RF which can happen from dimmers, LED, CFL, even USB splitter or a computer. It being a plastic box doesn't protect it well, and it deserves points off for that, but that would explain the difference of some people's experience with this.
I use this one and I didn’t have any problems. Great for people who don’t take music making very serious and just want to casually record their instruments. When anyone tells me it’s shit and that I should buy a better one I tell them to give me money to buy new one cuz I’m happy with what I got.
The UM2 has been serving me perfectly well for years. In fact, it has much more headroom for direct-in instruments than my Focusrite 2i2. Let Tech 21 lower their prices to realistic levels if they and others don't enjoy having their stuff copied for cheaper.
So in other words, for £30 this works like a dream. Nobody looking to spend as little as this is going to expect studio quality recordings so you get what you pay for.
This was my daily driver AI that I have been using for 3 years now, never had any latency issues when using the dedicated driver, never noticed any audio artefacts and I love the bit bottle-top buttons on the top. True it is only 16 bits but for less than £30 quid I think this is a great budget device. i have recently upgraded to the Behringer UMC204HD for recording stuff for my band, but my UM2 is safely stored in the cupboard ready to get revived out of mothballs if the Borg ever attack. Don't listen to this guy, if you are on a budget and you want a good cheap, reliable AI for everyday demo recording or podcasting/youtubing go for the cheap as chips UM2.
the dude made a video only about bashing the product and not actually giving it any sort of review. I love how almost all of the comments are talking about how good it is for the price on a video made to make this product seem horrible. dude's a fudd
A lot of people knock on the UM2 but its a fabulous interface. I've been using mine for years and its never let me down. One of the main reasons people dislike it would be the crappy Asio4all drivers. Forget that... use the original Behringer 2.8.40 driver and it works so much better. No problem recording at 48k with 3ms of latency.
This being on the cheapest side of the spectrum, surprised me by lasting about 4 years now and still running without a fuss. The noise is there though. But here in India, every European price gets multiplied by at least 70 or so, so this is a good option here.
Fair enough man, understand your situation may be different in other parts of the world. If it works for you and helps you create then more power to you!
You often get what you paid for. It also depends on what kind of level you're suppose to achieve with your stuff. I have used the u-phoria 404 Hd for a couple of years and from 95 percent of the reviews i have seen people are satisfied with it. So am I.
I use this with a XENYX Q802USB for mic output. As a stand alone item for music quality I agree with you and in my opinion, it is a no brainer for any musician or engineer to expect production quality from this item. However I would not discount it because it can augment a mixer significantly.
Bought this in 2019, still working great for me. Very dusty, has been moved to multiple different houses without any protection. I use my computer daily for gaming/work and it hasn't failed me.
It's funny, the opening statements about Behringer actually came across as a positive to me. Try out one of their affordable products and if you love it then go grab the original. If you try it and don't like it then don't buy what they cloned. You save money and get an affordable taste of what you were actually interested in purchasing in the first place
People do not really realize how much of the price of an appliance is added because of the marketing costs or research of the company making it, they need to cover that too as well as profits for publicly traded companies, they need the numbers. So it is always possible to get the same product at a lower price from a smaller company. Berhinger skips the research costs (they take the already working design) and only does minimal marketing, so costs are reduced :)
The UM2 works like a charm. The lantency works great with a round trip of 8 ms while using Neural DSP plugins at the same time playing a youtube video. I hear no crackling, clicks or pops. I have been using it for 4 years with no issues. You must buy UM2.
Nice to see that he deprecated the U-phoria and suggested to buy an equipment that costs 3 times more... that's crazy. I can found several products better than the one he suggested... of course they cost 3 times more... but this is the game, right?
This is the game? What game? I suggested an interface that is around 30 more than the UM2, not three times the price. Alternatively you can get the new M-Audio M-Track solo for 10 bucks more.
Unfortunately in my country, UM2 costs approximately 60 USD on the other hand Audiobox is around 150USD after the mediocre taxes are added. I actually wish that you reviewed the UMC22 which is 5-10 bucks more expensive and comes with Midas preamp and an all-metal enclosure.
Behringer is my "go to" brand for anything that they make. I have the U-Phoria UMC404HD interface and it's got all the features I need, it's designed well, and it has worked flawlessly for over two years. I had 3 other, high priced, big name interfaces before that and none of them were any better and none of them lasted two years before something went wrong. I also have two Behringer amps which are great. They are also the most reasonably priced musical equipment company that I know of.
@@TheGaragebandGuide So why did you choose their lowest priced interface,much less review it? You question it's longevity? You chose the lowest tier model while their HD interfaces sold for peanuts more or the same. Your audio examples mean squat via YT video (either way). Why are you even wasting the time. Only records 16-bit. You chose a UM2, Not the UMC, not their HD. This says little about Behringer and more about you. This video is cherry picked garbage
While, I dont like their philosophy, they make very good stuff for the money. I sold all my studio stuff 15 years ago. I got an $100 Amazon gift card for my B-day one year. So I bought the slight step up from this and an M-audio condenser. I think both sound very good for the price.
I bought this for my daughter who wants to start recording her music... I wanted to buy a Focusrite but I made the Behringer decision only to test if she will give it some use. If she does, I will upgrade to a professional interface. My daughter always asks for things on her birthday that uses a couple of times and forgets after lol.
Behringer is not a totally "foreign" name within my gear collection. Cost has usually been a determining factor, especially when the items were things I just wanted to try out. I wasn't feeling "smug," but it was satisfying to watch this review with my MOTU M2 sitting right in front of me. I considered this a very fair review and I always appreciate someone who acknowledges what is of their opinion; it sounds like "credibility" to me! Thanks for the best Garage Band guidance available - at least in MY opinion.
I appreciate that Marc! I also have a couple of other Behringer bits lying around that I bought on the cheap years ago (their SM58 knockoff is actually usable.)
I bought one of these years ago to hook up my ham radios for digital comms and it's perfect for that. I'd never used it for anything else until more recently when I needed to produce some training videos for work and I plugged a cheap Audio Technica microphone into the UM2 and used that and they were blown away by the audio quality of my dulcet tones .. So, I can't knock it, I think it represents value for money if it's good enough for your needs, nice review though, always interesting to see what others think.
I think one serious question it raises is just what kind of job can you expect it to do for the price of a couple of large pizzas and a large bottle of coke? Based in that context it -probably- performs as well as can be expected. But when 'as well as expected' isn't even nearly good enough, you then have to ask what is the point of the product, because even if technically it's good value in terms of it actually functions as described and it's dirt cheap, it's a bit of a pointless product.
I have a Digidesign 003 Rack+ that I use, however in Windows, it only has stereo channels for xlr inputs. I use my shire sm87a for video games voice chat and I just need something to send my XLR input to my computer. This does this perfectly which tells you why it can be handy. It’s the best at literally being an XLR to USB adapter, and for its price it’s great at doing that! For any professional audio work I have the Mbox 2 pro and 003 rack+
I think the author missed the point of the UM2. "Budget" is the operative word here. Sure the UM2 has some issues, as does most budget gear, but the presonus is triple the price (here in Australia). So many people get their start in this field with budget equipment. Does it do its job? Yes. Is it the best in its field? No. But is is better that nothing at all. P.S. I own and have used the following Behringer gear with no issues whatsoever. X32, XR18, NU1000DSP, X-Touch, numerous mics, UMX610 keyboard, x32 Rack,
The problem I feel, as I've just pointed out in my own reply, is just how low can you go in terms of performance before it's a pointless product? It may well be good value (it works as described and it's cheap), but if it's just not good enough to do the job a buyer will expect it to do, it's pointless.
I don’t think you setup your UM2 correctly. Open sound control panel and set the percentage slider to 54%. By default windows boosts the UM2 by +30db, adding a ton of static noise. 54% is +0db, basically forces all the volume boosting to be done by the UM2’s built in pre-amp. When set up correctly the UM2’s noise floor should be about 1/3 of the level of the personas interface that you recommended.
Food for thought. Been using the original iRig to date which does the job. But considering an interface on a budget, in your opinion does the PreSonus Audiobox do what’s required? I’m tempted by this one at only £72 at the moment
I own a UM2 and buttons don't move like you demonstrated. The sound is rich and stable. The problem I had, it would not work on my 32 bit processor laptop. Had some difficulties trying to get it to work with Logic Pro/mix pad but figured it out.
Great video Patrick! Really enjoyed hearing your thoughts on this interface, especially when Digital Audio Review has a review of this very interface in the works
Thank you for the honest review. I just ordered a UA Volt to get my foot in the door but I seen this when I was looking at interfaces and wondered what I would have lost in quality with that large of a price gap.
Any chance you could offer some alternatives for a budget player looking to buy their first interface? I thought this thing sounded good until I saw your video. You’ve convinced me it’s not worth my money so someone please give me some other options.
Yeah it’s really good if maybe a bit over priced for what it is. I have a video on some of the best budget audio interfaces if you want to check it out: ua-cam.com/video/_QsaSZDrDKQ/v-deo.htmlsi=nruuQ3nCoOLIVNaW
@@TheGaragebandGuide I watched your video. Lots of good information. I wanted to ask if you think $109 is a good price for the 4th gen Focusrite Scarlett solo? It’s on sale on Amazon right now
I disagree I've bought the Behringer UMC404HD Audio Interface £80 And Behringer Premium 8 Input 2 Bus Mixer with XENYX usb £55 I haven't had a problem with them and I think they're really good value for money. 👍
I'm not saying the one that you've got is any good because I haven't got that one but the two devices that I have bought I haven't had a problem with and I've had them for years
Presonus Audiobox? As in replacing a noisy device with quiet pres with a quiet device with noisy preamps? Funnily enough under all that hiss from terrible converters and bad shielding Xenyx preamps actually have a very decent EIN of -129 dB dB (unfortunately it's all but futile except for at the highest gain). But Julian Krause did some measurements of the Audioxes and the pres in them are very hissy compared to most other interfaces. 16 bit wouldn't be too bad, if you actually had 16 bit performance in this devices.
I have the usb going into the pc (duh), and the RCA’s out to monitors. I also have a second set of speakers for all other audio, so I can have two sources (daw or standalone + guitar pro) going at once. Works great.
I have the Behringer UMC202HD. It has been reliable and exhibits none of the shoddy construction and cheap electronics of the UM2. Course I also paid over $100 for it. Ya gets whats ya pay for!
LOL, I love that you say "..level at one PM", as if 1 AM would be different 😁😁 Thanks for the review, it is a cheaper interface so as expected it's cheaply built.
My friend got the UM2 to do podcasts and the self-noise is a whopping -45 dB (!!!). To compare, my Komplete Audio 6 is -80 dB at the same volume settings. It's honestly shocking.
I don’t think you setup your UM2 correctly. Open sound control panel and set the percentage slider to 54%. By default (100%) windows software boosts the UM2 by +30db, adding a ton of static noise. 54% is +0db, basically forces all the volume boosting to be done by the UM2’s surprisingly good built in pre-amp.
How does it sound? The interface only gives it power and allows to use mics, modis, and inst. The sound will be determined by the type of XLR cable and microphone you're using not the interest itself
I have a TONOR mic and got this AI. Been having some "hollow" sounding issues and I really don't know why. I disabled the laptop mic so, there is no conflict with recording. Could it be the Behringer?
@@TheGaragebandGuide Figured out the issue; Behringer has a problem with their drivers not being listed on their website and that can be a REAL problem especially with Win 10 and "off-brand" mics like the TONOR and it isn't a rare thing according to other users so, thankfully, I found a guy on here that has a link to the driver and full on tutorial on how to get everything in order; now both work great! This AI is just fine for a basic XLR mic, but for anything else, I am with you in that spending a bit more will probably yield much richer and professional sounding results. For a budget piece of equipment, this isn't bad at all.
The review is based off of personal negative feelings for the company, which seems to be more to this.... Perhaps political issues for some reason? To clarify, Behringer did not "rip-off" this device from anyone, that is true you can also point the finger to Pre-Sonus, M-Audio, Ect.. there are many USB audio devices out there. I've actually used this same unit over the years, bought it way under $40.00 USD at the time and I've actually gained payouts and other royalties for music that I record using it. I've had this for about 4 or more years now, with no issues. It's small and great paired up with a laptop.
Purchased one two years ago, Works fine with Audacity but can't get the drivers for REAPER, and discover Behringer don't supply them!? For this reason I'm saving up for another unit... Anybody want to buy a UM2?
16 bit, noise, no headphone vol ...all dealbreakers for me. I already have a Focusrite Solo but need a second DAI for my desktop and I'm trying to keep costs low, no escaping the fact that I might have to get a second one. Thanks for the warning, thumbs up.
Could someone help me, I have the tascam us-122 mk2 and it’s now discontinued and they no longer are making support patches for this device at least not for Mac. (I’m using Mac) and have for reasons other than my music have had to upgrade to the most up to date version of Mac OS and since, my AI has been not playing sound my Daw Doesn’t even play and even restarting my computer doesn’t fix the issue and sometimes resolves the solution when I disconnect and reconnect my AI but it definitely seems to be the problem and where it’s so old it’s just going to become worse and even more obsolete. So I have been trying to find An Audio interface compatible with recent Mac OS update and also must have at least 1 XLR input for my condenser Mic and also +48v phantom power capability and also must have phono red and white for main output to my amp. (because my AI out goes to my Amp input and then from my amp goes to my B&W CDM7 speakers) I’d really appreciate it if anyone could suggest any good ones as I don’t know what I can do now till I get a new one and don’t really want to have to buy a new amp aswell as audio interface
A good budget option would be the M-Audio M-Track solo shown in this video. Punches above its £40 price point. If you want to spend a bit more, you may struggle to find an interface that has those outputs.
@@TheGaragebandGuide yup they are the equivalent of Gameloft on iOS for very closely creating clones of big games. I’ve never owned a Behringer product I’ve liked
I've tried multiple Behringer midi/audio interfaces, and every damn one of them has been.. just awful. Their drivers are absolute crap. I've had no end of trouble getting those drivers to work on my PC. And here's the other stupidity. Most devices install their drivers when you plug them in nowadays. Not the Behringer stuff. You have to hunt up their website and find the drivers, and download them. Then you have to pray that they work. Which most of the time, they don't. Or if they do work, they work poorly. I can understand a cheap quality build for a cheap price, but you had better make sure that the software side of things works. Multiple computers here just.. hate Behringer drivers. They won't see the devices at all. I've given this company multiple tries due to their price over the years, and I had the same experience every time. I've had to return every Behringer product that I ever purchased due to this same driver issue. I don't know what they're doing with that software, but it's crap.
OMG you PC guys and your constant hunt for f-king drivers. I remember this being an issue 15 years ago, doesn't it ever improve? Just dump your sh-t computers already.
Use to be 25.00 USD two or three years ago, now they seem to be low in supply & 2x+ their original price since then with no change in quality or design. Seen people that bought it try wrapping the case in copper tape to shield it from external RF noise. I smell price gauging...
I don't know how to take this video. From all the other reviews they say it is a very good interface for the price, and the 21k 4.5 star reviews on Amazon seem to agree with that. Im sure you get what you pay for but from what ive seen and read these days lots of budget interfaces are viable options paired with good software
I reckon matey here completely misses the point: this is not supposed to compete with upmarket units - it is aimed at bods bedroom recording, possibly as rough demos. A serious recorder/producer would certainly go for quality to get a quality. So this review is pretty much irrelevant.
Great question! I haven’t tested a dynamic mic, but you can check out this video from Podcastage where Bandrew does: ua-cam.com/video/gof9EGFCoV0/v-deo.html
I'm using the UMC4040HD and I couldn't find any other devices with MIDI in/out and XLR for speakers. They might not have the best preamps, but you get a lot of inputs and opportunities for the price tag.
How are you not getting noise on the Behringer U-Phoria UM2??? I have it connected on my laptop and on both USB and RCA outputs I have an annoying noise. :( And I have a brand new Behringer C1 with a good quality cable. Help me, please!
Well I know it ain't great but I guess I got a good volume and background noise is pretty respectable at 75% and under, and I like the 48V being on the back so I don't touch it accidentally in my opinion. for 50 bucks I'm happy.
Ok so what is bothering you is that they manage to make the same quality with a decent and fair price..You were biased from the very first second of your video.This is not a review.
Behringer UMC22 owner here. The UMC22 is basically the UM2 but with a metal shell. The only difference you’re gonna notice is the absence of electromagnetic interference
SMH 🤦♂️ so you hate them basically for making the same product everyone is making for cheaper. Not everybody has the same budget as you maybe you can afford the pricey preamps and audio interfaces doesn’t mean everybody can and that’s not the grounds to which you should judge how good a product is. Clearly this is aimed a specific customer and you should judge it based on how much it is able to satisfy that customer without sacrificing much. Plus if you’re saying they are copying everybody: dude all audio interfaces look the same and have the same controls. It’s like phones : they all basically have the same shapes, buttons, camera placement etc.
No, I think you’ve missed the point. I don’t hate them for making a cheap product and I recommend a better budget interface at the end of the video (I guess you didn’t watch that far before commenting?). I DID judge the UM2 on its ability to do what it describes. It is a poor audio interface. All audio interfaces absolutely do NOT look the same, what a strange thing to say.
Never used beringer because of reviews and quality. This review seems to be taking heat from users who have either set expectations low, or have never used better products maybe. It is about personal opinion and experience. I’d never touch them as a company, but if you are on a budget and settling for lower end results, it makes sense I suppose.
I have non stop issues with mine every PC restart. With tons of noise on the monitor line. And random clipping from mic feed into OBS as well as pops artifacting etc. Was cheap and available ( 2020 hard to come by) But defiantly looking for something else. Thanks for the Vid!
Cheap priced products are not just for beginners, they are for poor people, people who cannot afford more expensive gear, people who do not live in first world countries. But yeah lack of 24 bit and the latency is not good. Best to get a good secondhand interface.
This guy started he's video out disliking Behringer, sounds personal to me. In my personal opinion, this is a great device. As for the noise, something off on your side, check your system. You went into this with your mind already made up. Sorry dude you are way off. Great devive for the price!!!!!!!!!
Ok but this is for people who can’t afford expensive audio interfaces but wanna make music it just bugs me those faces you made with the knobs 😂 we know what we’re getting ourselves into
@@TheGaragebandGuide Hey thanks for the pointer man, I didn't want to come off rude the way I did. I see you're dealing with lots of fanboys in the comments. Have a good one!
So first you rant on Behringer for copying / stealing and selling at a lower price than the original and then you buy one from Amazone? Makes sense.. NOT
Check out some GOOD gear for GarageBand right here: ua-cam.com/play/PLa_TA4RKaD9MGL8mQ0cGYmtsKaMeI8P-8.html
I was having problems with the noise floor as well as clicks and pops just like you. I thought, well it's cheap, maybe I will upgrade down the line. Then I turned off the lights and found the noise went away, I tested it a bit, and the noise was coming from the LED lights that was on a dimmer. I looked up hows and whys a bit, and found it was usually the dimmer but sometimes the light. Luckily it was the dimmer and removal of such solved my problem. Maybe it was picking up RF which can happen from dimmers, LED, CFL, even USB splitter or a computer. It being a plastic box doesn't protect it well, and it deserves points off for that, but that would explain the difference of some people's experience with this.
I use the behringer um2 and a behringer super fuzz cause I'm poor and they work and sound great
Whatever works for you man 👍
is it compatible with Mac book pro 2020
@@simonkeane8980 is it?
Yeah these rich mfs can't understand
Me and my friends just wanna mess around and make demos basically, so would it be just fine for something like that?
I use this one and I didn’t have any problems. Great for people who don’t take music making very serious and just want to casually record their instruments. When anyone tells me it’s shit and that I should buy a better one I tell them to give me money to buy new one cuz I’m happy with what I got.
😂
Yeah but seriously it's really really bad.
It has terribly high noise floor. Garbage.
The UM2 has been serving me perfectly well for years. In fact, it has much more headroom for direct-in instruments than my Focusrite 2i2. Let Tech 21 lower their prices to realistic levels if they and others don't enjoy having their stuff copied for cheaper.
That's pretty much the opposite experience from what I had with both products, but I'm glad it worked out for you.
So in other words, for £30 this works like a dream. Nobody looking to spend as little as this is going to expect studio quality recordings so you get what you pay for.
You'd be surprised by what people expect for that price.
Maybe I'm not clued up on what counts as "studio quality" but the recordings sounded pretty damn good to me :D
This was my daily driver AI that I have been using for 3 years now, never had any latency issues when using the dedicated driver, never noticed any audio artefacts and I love the bit bottle-top buttons on the top. True it is only 16 bits but for less than £30 quid I think this is a great budget device. i have recently upgraded to the Behringer UMC204HD for recording stuff for my band, but my UM2 is safely stored in the cupboard ready to get revived out of mothballs if the Borg ever attack.
Don't listen to this guy, if you are on a budget and you want a good cheap, reliable AI for everyday demo recording or podcasting/youtubing go for the cheap as chips UM2.
the dude made a video only about bashing the product and not actually giving it any sort of review. I love how almost all of the comments are talking about how good it is for the price on a video made to make this product seem horrible. dude's a fudd
I use a behringer UH404 HD UPHORIA audio interface with my ipad, never had any issues with it.....& a C1 mic... 👍🏻
Good to hear! The HD line have 24bit recording and Midas preamps, so I would imagine fare far better than the UM2👍
A lot of people knock on the UM2 but its a fabulous interface. I've been using mine for years and its never let me down. One of the main reasons people dislike it would be the crappy Asio4all drivers. Forget that... use the original Behringer 2.8.40 driver and it works so much better. No problem recording at 48k with 3ms of latency.
Glad it works for you. 👍
The original driver is very buggy on my computer. Apps arent recognising the inputs.. any solution??
My um2 is extremely noisy even with no Mic connected
I have the original 2.8.40 driver
This being on the cheapest side of the spectrum, surprised me by lasting about 4 years now and still running without a fuss. The noise is there though. But here in India, every European price gets multiplied by at least 70 or so, so this is a good option here.
Fair enough man, understand your situation may be different in other parts of the world. If it works for you and helps you create then more power to you!
Mr Chakrabarti,
Could you please guide me as to which one to buy Beringer UM2 or M Audio Solo? I am an amateur with limited budget.
Thanks in advance.
You often get what you paid for. It also depends on what kind of level you're suppose to achieve with your stuff. I have used the u-phoria 404 Hd for a couple of years and from 95 percent of the reviews i have seen people are satisfied with it. So am I.
I use this with a XENYX Q802USB for mic output. As a stand alone item for music quality I agree with you and in my opinion, it is a no brainer for any musician or engineer to expect production quality from this item. However I would not discount it because it can augment a mixer significantly.
Bought this in 2019, still working great for me. Very dusty, has been moved to multiple different houses without any protection. I use my computer daily for gaming/work and it hasn't failed me.
Glad to hear it works for you!
It's funny, the opening statements about Behringer actually came across as a positive to me. Try out one of their affordable products and if you love it then go grab the original. If you try it and don't like it then don't buy what they cloned. You save money and get an affordable taste of what you were actually interested in purchasing in the first place
Same here, it’s cheap but does the same thing as the ones that are going for higher prices 😂
People do not really realize how much of the price of an appliance is added because of the marketing costs or research of the company making it, they need to cover that too as well as profits for publicly traded companies, they need the numbers. So it is always possible to get the same product at a lower price from a smaller company. Berhinger skips the research costs (they take the already working design) and only does minimal marketing, so costs are reduced :)
This UM2 works good if adjusted right with whatever DAW you are using. It is not super quality, but works well.
The UM2 works like a charm. The lantency works great with a round trip of 8 ms while using Neural DSP plugins at the same time playing a youtube video. I hear no crackling, clicks or pops. I have been using it for 4 years with no issues.
You must buy UM2.
Nice to see that he deprecated the U-phoria and suggested to buy an equipment that costs 3 times more... that's crazy.
I can found several products better than the one he suggested... of course they cost 3 times more... but this is the game, right?
This is the game? What game? I suggested an interface that is around 30 more than the UM2, not three times the price. Alternatively you can get the new M-Audio M-Track solo for 10 bucks more.
Probably an affiliate link...
@@ramosdanwendellb.7531 ….what link?
@@TheGaragebandGuide you don't know what is an affiliate link?
@@ramosdanwendellb.7531 I do. You said ‘probably an affiliate link’. I’m asking what link is an affiliate link.
Unfortunately in my country, UM2 costs approximately 60 USD on the other hand Audiobox is around 150USD after the mediocre taxes are added. I actually wish that you reviewed the UMC22 which is 5-10 bucks more expensive and comes with Midas preamp and an all-metal enclosure.
Behringer is my "go to" brand for anything that they make. I have the U-Phoria UMC404HD interface and it's got all the features I need, it's designed well, and it has worked flawlessly for over two years. I had 3 other, high priced, big name interfaces before that and none of them were any better and none of them lasted two years before something went wrong. I also have two Behringer amps which are great. They are also the most reasonably priced musical equipment company that I know of.
Yeah the HD line of Behringer interfaces give 24bit recording and are generally of a higher quality than their cheaper offerings.
@@TheGaragebandGuide So why did you choose their lowest priced interface,much less review it?
You question it's longevity? You chose the lowest tier model while their HD interfaces sold for peanuts more or the same.
Your audio examples mean squat via YT video (either way). Why are you even wasting the time.
Only records 16-bit.
You chose a UM2, Not the UMC, not their HD. This says little about Behringer and more about you.
This video is cherry picked garbage
Oh dear. I get asked about this interface constantly by my audience.
I'm glad I came across this. All these pointers are very very important for someone like me. Thank you so so much
I had it a couple years back. I was pretty content with it. I now use the UA VOLT 1. I’d say for the price it’s pretty good
While, I dont like their philosophy, they make very good stuff for the money. I sold all my studio stuff 15 years ago. I got an $100 Amazon gift card for my B-day one year. So I bought the slight step up from this and an M-audio condenser. I think both sound very good for the price.
I bought this for my daughter who wants to start recording her music... I wanted to buy a Focusrite but I made the Behringer decision only to test if she will give it some use. If she does, I will upgrade to a professional interface. My daughter always asks for things on her birthday that uses a couple of times and forgets after lol.
Sounds like the perfect use case for it honestly!
Behringer is not a totally "foreign" name within my gear collection. Cost has usually been a determining factor, especially when the items were things I just wanted to try out. I wasn't feeling "smug," but it was satisfying to watch this review with my MOTU M2 sitting right in front of me. I considered this a very fair review and I always appreciate someone who acknowledges what is of their opinion; it sounds like "credibility" to me! Thanks for the best Garage Band guidance available - at least in MY opinion.
I appreciate that Marc! I also have a couple of other Behringer bits lying around that I bought on the cheap years ago (their SM58 knockoff is actually usable.)
I bought one of these years ago to hook up my ham radios for digital comms and it's perfect for that. I'd never used it for anything else until more recently when I needed to produce some training videos for work and I plugged a cheap Audio Technica microphone into the UM2 and used that and they were blown away by the audio quality of my dulcet tones .. So, I can't knock it, I think it represents value for money if it's good enough for your needs, nice review though, always interesting to see what others think.
It is ideal for anybody starting out, maybe not for a professional. Why spend a lot if you are just learning!
I think one serious question it raises is just what kind of job can you expect it to do for the price of a couple of large pizzas and a large bottle of coke? Based in that context it -probably- performs as well as can be expected. But when 'as well as expected' isn't even nearly good enough, you then have to ask what is the point of the product, because even if technically it's good value in terms of it actually functions as described and it's dirt cheap, it's a bit of a pointless product.
Agreed.
I have a Digidesign 003 Rack+ that I use, however in Windows, it only has stereo channels for xlr inputs. I use my shire sm87a for video games voice chat and I just need something to send my XLR input to my computer. This does this perfectly which tells you why it can be handy. It’s the best at literally being an XLR to USB adapter, and for its price it’s great at doing that! For any professional audio work I have the Mbox 2 pro and 003 rack+
Dude should we remind you of the price.? You reviewing this thing with a 1000 dollar mindset. The device is amazing. All your comments agree up here.
Hardly. You can get far better interfaces at the same price point as this.
Sir if you don't want that.. Please gift that to me.
I think the author missed the point of the UM2. "Budget" is the operative word here.
Sure the UM2 has some issues, as does most budget gear, but the presonus is triple the price (here in Australia).
So many people get their start in this field with budget equipment. Does it do its job? Yes. Is it the best in its field? No. But is is better that nothing at all.
P.S. I own and have used the following Behringer gear with no issues whatsoever.
X32, XR18, NU1000DSP, X-Touch, numerous mics, UMX610 keyboard, x32 Rack,
The problem I feel, as I've just pointed out in my own reply, is just how low can you go in terms of performance before it's a pointless product? It may well be good value (it works as described and it's cheap), but if it's just not good enough to do the job a buyer will expect it to do, it's pointless.
@@jonvincentmusic Sometimes you just start with budget equipment until you can decide through your experience, where you wish to go.
I don’t think you setup your UM2 correctly. Open sound control panel and set the percentage slider to 54%.
By default windows boosts the UM2 by +30db, adding a ton of static noise. 54% is +0db, basically forces all the volume boosting to be done by the UM2’s built in pre-amp.
When set up correctly the UM2’s noise floor should be about 1/3 of the level of the personas interface that you recommended.
Food for thought. Been using the original iRig to date which does the job. But considering an interface on a budget, in your opinion does the PreSonus Audiobox do what’s required? I’m tempted by this one at only £72 at the moment
Absolutely! It’s a great interface 👍
The pres on those are very noisy I believe. A lot noisier than these ones.
I own a UM2 and buttons don't move like you demonstrated. The sound is rich and stable. The problem I had, it would not work on my 32 bit processor laptop. Had some difficulties trying to get it to work with Logic Pro/mix pad but figured it out.
Hi, does a sound card boost CPU performance and mixing&mastering quality?
Exactly my point
You're only given an opinion on one device you'll have to check out all the stuff that they got for sale. And then give a fair opinion of their stuff.
Great video Patrick! Really enjoyed hearing your thoughts on this interface, especially when Digital Audio Review has a review of this very interface in the works
Nice one James, thanks for watching mate! Looking forward to hearing your opinion of it.
Thank you for the honest review. I just ordered a UA Volt to get my foot in the door but I seen this when I was looking at interfaces and wondered what I would have lost in quality with that large of a price gap.
Any chance you could offer some alternatives for a budget player looking to buy their first interface? I thought this thing sounded good until I saw your video. You’ve convinced me it’s not worth my money so someone please give me some other options.
You can get the M-Audio M Track Solo for around the same price. The Behringer UMC2020HD is a little more expensive but MUCH better than this model
@@TheGaragebandGuide any opinion on the Focusrite Scarlett solo gen 4? Really appreciate your fast reply bro!
Yeah it’s really good if maybe a bit over priced for what it is. I have a video on some of the best budget audio interfaces if you want to check it out: ua-cam.com/video/_QsaSZDrDKQ/v-deo.htmlsi=nruuQ3nCoOLIVNaW
@@TheGaragebandGuide definitely will, thank you!
@@TheGaragebandGuide I watched your video. Lots of good information. I wanted to ask if you think $109 is a good price for the 4th gen Focusrite Scarlett solo? It’s on sale on Amazon right now
I disagree I've bought the
Behringer UMC404HD Audio Interface £80
And
Behringer Premium 8 Input 2 Bus Mixer with XENYX usb
£55
I haven't had a problem with them and I think they're really good value for money. 👍
I'm not saying the one that you've got is any good because I haven't got that one but the two devices that I have bought I haven't had a problem with and I've had them for years
The UMCHD range have Midas preamps and record at 24bit, so will give markedly better results than the UM2 in this video.
Presonus Audiobox? As in replacing a noisy device with quiet pres with a quiet device with noisy preamps? Funnily enough under all that hiss from terrible converters and bad shielding Xenyx preamps actually have a very decent EIN of -129 dB dB (unfortunately it's all but futile except for at the highest gain). But Julian Krause did some measurements of the Audioxes and the pres in them are very hissy compared to most other interfaces. 16 bit wouldn't be too bad, if you actually had 16 bit performance in this devices.
Hello, great review 🙂. I was wondering if both outputs (usb and composite) can be used at the same time on different sources?
I have the usb going into the pc (duh), and the RCA’s out to monitors. I also have a second set of speakers for all other audio, so I can have two sources (daw or standalone + guitar pro) going at once. Works great.
Yes you can.
I have the Behringer UMC202HD. It has been reliable and exhibits none of the shoddy construction and cheap electronics of the UM2. Course I also paid over $100 for it. Ya gets whats ya pay for!
Absolutely!
LOL, I love that you say "..level at one PM", as if 1 AM would be different 😁😁 Thanks for the review, it is a cheaper interface so as expected it's cheaply built.
… That’s a very good point 😅
My friend got the UM2 to do podcasts and the self-noise is a whopping -45 dB (!!!). To compare, my Komplete Audio 6 is -80 dB at the same volume settings. It's honestly shocking.
I don’t think you setup your UM2 correctly. Open sound control panel and set the percentage slider to 54%.
By default (100%) windows software boosts the UM2 by +30db, adding a ton of static noise. 54% is +0db, basically forces all the volume boosting to be done by the UM2’s surprisingly good built in pre-amp.
That's a sounds a bit high even for a something using those bottom end Behringer converters. Are you sure he isn't just in a noisy room?
How does it sound? The interface only gives it power and allows to use mics, modis, and inst. The sound will be determined by the type of XLR cable and microphone you're using not the interest itself
You’re saying that the quality of an interface’s preamps have no bearing on sound quality? I’m sorry, but that simply is not true.
I have a TONOR mic and got this AI. Been having some "hollow" sounding issues and I really don't know why. I disabled the laptop mic so, there is no conflict with recording. Could it be the Behringer?
Possibly, or the tonor mic.
@@TheGaragebandGuide Figured out the issue; Behringer has a problem with their drivers not being listed on their website and that can be a REAL problem especially with Win 10 and "off-brand" mics like the TONOR and it isn't a rare thing according to other users so, thankfully, I found a guy on here that has a link to the driver and full on tutorial on how to get everything in order; now both work great! This AI is just fine for a basic XLR mic, but for anything else, I am with you in that spending a bit more will probably yield much richer and professional sounding results. For a budget piece of equipment, this isn't bad at all.
are u kidding ? compare presonus ($200) with um2 ($50)
Presonus (£69) to UM2 (£30) actually.
The review is based off of personal negative feelings for the company, which seems to be more to this.... Perhaps political issues for some reason? To clarify, Behringer did not "rip-off" this device from anyone, that is true you can also point the finger to Pre-Sonus, M-Audio, Ect.. there are many USB audio devices out there. I've actually used this same unit over the years, bought it way under $40.00 USD at the time and I've actually gained payouts and other royalties for music that I record using it. I've had this for about 4 or more years now, with no issues. It's small and great paired up with a laptop.
Would you recommend it for recording metal music? Can it produce good quality sound if using amp sims with higher gain and distortion?
I know I’m late to the party, but the current version says it’s 24 bit/48hz…idk if they updated it
I am using UMC22 which is just a tad more expensive than UM2 and it works fine
Just got this, but can i use it to record my Alesis command ekit? cant really find the answer anywhere lol
Can it record stereo synth? Two different inputs make me doubt.
I use this interface as an audio amplifier for my 250 ohm headphones
What's a good alternative audio interface with the same price range then if this one aint that good?
M-Audio M-track Solo costs the same and is superior in every way: ua-cam.com/video/m6IMjX-XwVs/v-deo.html
Yeah its only 16bit the same as a standard cd quality. Cheap for a reason to give people with little funds to be able to make music. Thumbs up from me
I gettge ground noise when i use it with my ipad and its so damnannoying ,,,, any sugestion please .
Well, I only want one to occasionally record guitar covers and it sounds pretty good in this video.so I guess I'm sold...thanks for the demo
Awesome work great video. Pure dedication 🙌💯💯💯💯💯🙌
Thank you as always for watching my friend! 🙏
My pleasure thank you for all the great advice 🔥💯🔥💯🔥💯
Grab a Steinberg UR12 or Focusrite Scarlett Solo if you can stretch the budget. Or the Presonus that Patrick recommended.
Never had any problems with my Focusrite Scarlett solo.
My U-Phoria UM2 has been working well for over a year. My spec sheet says it records at 24 bit, not 16 bit as stated in the review
It's listed as recording at 16 bit on Behringer's website.
Should I buy this with a Akai mpd8 for 60 quid???
Purchased one two years ago, Works fine with Audacity but can't get the drivers for REAPER, and discover Behringer don't supply them!? For this reason I'm saving up for another unit... Anybody want to buy a UM2?
Not massively related but could i run a guitar pedal into gb? or would I have to record with a mic and amp
Yeah, just set up as if you were plugging into a guitar amp.
16 bit, noise, no headphone vol ...all dealbreakers for me.
I already have a Focusrite Solo but need a second DAI for my desktop and I'm trying to keep costs low, no escaping the fact that I might have to get a second one.
Thanks for the warning, thumbs up.
Could someone help me, I have the tascam us-122 mk2 and it’s now discontinued and they no longer are making support patches for this device at least not for Mac. (I’m using Mac) and have for reasons other than my music have had to upgrade to the most up to date version of Mac OS and since, my AI has been not playing sound my Daw Doesn’t even play and even restarting my computer doesn’t fix the issue and sometimes resolves the solution when I disconnect and reconnect my AI but it definitely seems to be the problem and where it’s so old it’s just going to become worse and even more obsolete. So I have been trying to find An Audio interface compatible with recent Mac OS update and also must have at least 1 XLR input for my condenser Mic and also +48v phantom power capability and also must have phono red and white for main output to my amp. (because my AI out goes to my Amp input and then from my amp goes to my B&W CDM7 speakers) I’d really appreciate it if anyone could suggest any good ones as I don’t know what I can do now till I get a new one and don’t really want to have to buy a new amp aswell as audio interface
A good budget option would be the M-Audio M-Track solo shown in this video. Punches above its £40 price point. If you want to spend a bit more, you may struggle to find an interface that has those outputs.
Totally agree. They have no shame about it either!
Behringer are the bottom feeders of the audio production hardware world.... hypothetically speaking, of course.
@@TheGaragebandGuide yup they are the equivalent of Gameloft on iOS for very closely creating clones of big games. I’ve never owned a Behringer product I’ve liked
Fantastic analogy!
I've tried multiple Behringer midi/audio interfaces, and every damn one of them has been.. just awful. Their drivers are absolute crap. I've had no end of trouble getting those drivers to work on my PC. And here's the other stupidity. Most devices install their drivers when you plug them in nowadays. Not the Behringer stuff. You have to hunt up their website and find the drivers, and download them. Then you have to pray that they work. Which most of the time, they don't. Or if they do work, they work poorly. I can understand a cheap quality build for a cheap price, but you had better make sure that the software side of things works. Multiple computers here just.. hate Behringer drivers. They won't see the devices at all. I've given this company multiple tries due to their price over the years, and I had the same experience every time. I've had to return every Behringer product that I ever purchased due to this same driver issue. I don't know what they're doing with that software, but it's crap.
Can’t say I’ve ever used them with a Windows PC but honestly not surprised that they cause issues. Thanks for sharing, good to know 👍
OMG you PC guys and your constant hunt for f-king drivers. I remember this being an issue 15 years ago, doesn't it ever improve? Just dump your sh-t computers already.
@@jonvincentmusic fr, theyre blaming on Behringer when its their pc lmao
I have a PC and it works absolutely perfectly straight out of the box. Fucking Mac users and their overpriced shite
Use to be 25.00 USD two or three years ago, now they seem to be low in supply & 2x+ their original price since then with no change in quality or design.
Seen people that bought it try wrapping the case in copper tape to shield it from external RF noise.
I smell price gauging...
Got it as a stop gap. With local lockdowns and web based seller for Audient stuff going out of stock.
You hate Behringer... i dont know why ... but this is a good alternative (cheap interface) is good for the price ! 👁👍
I don't know how to take this video. From all the other reviews they say it is a very good interface for the price, and the 21k 4.5 star reviews on Amazon seem to agree with that. Im sure you get what you pay for but from what ive seen and read these days lots of budget interfaces are viable options paired with good software
I reckon matey here completely misses the point: this is not supposed to compete with upmarket units - it is aimed at bods bedroom recording, possibly as rough demos. A serious recorder/producer would certainly go for quality to get a quality. So this review is pretty much irrelevant.
Nah matey, it’s just not a very good audio interface. Plenty of better sounding, better built and more usable choices at this price point.
Is it good for dynamic mics.Some interfaces isn't that good for dynamic mics meaning the volume is super low for dynamic mics ??
Great question! I haven’t tested a dynamic mic, but you can check out this video from Podcastage where Bandrew does: ua-cam.com/video/gof9EGFCoV0/v-deo.html
I'm using the UMC4040HD and I couldn't find any other devices with MIDI in/out and XLR for speakers. They might not have the best preamps, but you get a lot of inputs and opportunities for the price tag.
Anyone making music has a literal denoise button
How are you not getting noise on the Behringer U-Phoria UM2??? I have it connected on my laptop and on both USB and RCA outputs I have an annoying noise. :( And I have a brand new Behringer C1 with a good quality cable. Help me, please!
did you charge ur laptop while using the um2?
@@DimasRizky Yes. It was plugged in.
@@3AgL3DeeJay i guess that's why it's noisy, or you could try lowering the mic level on ur laptop
This thing is NOT 16 bit, it's 24 bit. Checkout the product documentation.
It’s 16 bit dude.
@@TheGaragebandGuide Sorry mate, seems like it's 16 bit. I checked out the product documentation😁 The 24-Bit one is UMC202HD. Twice more expensive.
Well I know it ain't great but I guess I got a good volume and background noise is pretty respectable at 75% and under, and I like the 48V being on the back so I don't touch it accidentally in my opinion. for 50 bucks I'm happy.
If you are not going to produce music or mix and it is only to use an xlr microphone, is it a good option?
Yes
Does it output via the USB?
Ok so what is bothering you is that they manage to make the same quality with a decent and fair price..You were biased from the very first second of your video.This is not a review.
Same quality? Absolutely not.
Just asking, but does it have computer loopback? Thanks!
is there a link to the driver for mac? i’ve been trying to record but it isn’t working
If u don't have money just get it rem it depends on the artist not the tool have a good day
Is UMC22 better than um2? UMC22 has MIDAS preamps and it is a bit more expensive than um2.
Behringer UMC22 owner here.
The UMC22 is basically the UM2 but with a metal shell. The only difference you’re gonna notice is the absence of electromagnetic interference
Based on my experience, it’s kinda decent for the price. I recommend getting something better tho
Yeah I think you’re alone with this one my guy.. read the room.
Read the room? This video was made 2 years ago my guy..
Hello..thanks for the review, I like to play along guitar with mp3 track and record, can I use this ?
Yessir
SMH 🤦♂️ so you hate them basically for making the same product everyone is making for cheaper. Not everybody has the same budget as you maybe you can afford the pricey preamps and audio interfaces doesn’t mean everybody can and that’s not the grounds to which you should judge how good a product is. Clearly this is aimed a specific customer and you should judge it based on how much it is able to satisfy that customer without sacrificing much. Plus if you’re saying they are copying everybody: dude all audio interfaces look the same and have the same controls. It’s like phones : they all basically have the same shapes, buttons, camera placement etc.
No, I think you’ve missed the point. I don’t hate them for making a cheap product and I recommend a better budget interface at the end of the video (I guess you didn’t watch that far before commenting?).
I DID judge the UM2 on its ability to do what it describes. It is a poor audio interface.
All audio interfaces absolutely do NOT look the same, what a strange thing to say.
Never used beringer because of reviews and quality. This review seems to be taking heat from users who have either set expectations low, or have never used better products maybe.
It is about personal opinion and experience. I’d never touch them as a company, but if you are on a budget and settling for lower end results, it makes sense I suppose.
You’ve hit the nail on the head there mate!
Many thanks
Is this good for amp simulator on guitar
This one isn't the best for it but could work. My friend uses the motu m2, it's 100 dollars more but is much better
I have non stop issues with mine every PC restart.
With tons of noise on the monitor line. And random clipping from mic feed into OBS as well as pops artifacting etc.
Was cheap and available ( 2020 hard to come by) But defiantly looking for something else.
Thanks for the Vid!
Yup, I’ve heard similar stories from many users. Thanks for watching!
Cheap priced products are not just for beginners, they are for poor people, people who cannot afford more expensive gear, people who do not live in first world countries.
But yeah lack of 24 bit and the latency is not good. Best to get a good secondhand interface.
it 96.7% looks like an m-audio fast track that I used to have in 2010
This guy started he's video out disliking Behringer, sounds personal to me. In my personal opinion, this is a great device. As for the noise, something off on your side, check your system. You went into this with your mind already made up. Sorry dude you are way off. Great devive for the price!!!!!!!!!
Behringer is pretty good. I use it with a bm 700 mic and it still work perfectly good.
I’m glad it works for you man 👍
I mean you can get a neural DSP plugin and the guitar wont sound like shit.
Ok but this is for people who can’t afford expensive audio interfaces but wanna make music it just bugs me those faces you made with the knobs 😂 we know what we’re getting ourselves into
can you give that to me. i dont have any audio interface.
Man snobs really hate behringer lol most people want lower prices sorry I guess
Nothing snobbish about it. There are far better options at similar prices from better companies. M-Audio M-Track Solo for example.
@@TheGaragebandGuide Hey thanks for the pointer man, I didn't want to come off rude the way I did. I see you're dealing with lots of fanboys in the comments. Have a good one!
@@sithconsole it’s all good, I appreciate you saying so 👍
So first you rant on Behringer for copying / stealing and selling at a lower price than the original and then you buy one from Amazone? Makes sense.. NOT