Behringer UMC22 audiophile 2×2 USB audio interface
Behringer UMC22 audiophile 2×2 USB audio interface with Midas microphone preamp
Getting Connected
On the UMC22’s front panel you’ll find the a combination jack that accepts balanced XLR, ¼ ” TRS and unbalanced ¼ ” TR connections, and an additional ¼ ” TRS. The rear panel is home to the +48 V phantom power switch, a USB 2.0 port for simple and easy connection to your computer and power, plus RCA playback options for direct connection to studio monitors. It just doesn’t get any easier than this!
Free Would Be Nice!
Because you’ll want to take full advantage of the UMC22’s recording and podcasting potential, we’ve included a download for all the software you’ll need for audio recording, editing and even podcasting – all free of charge and downloadable from behringer.com. You’ll be ready to go live on your PC or Mac right out of the box! We’ve also provided a free download of more than 150 virtual instruments and FX plug-ins – turning your computer into a powerful home-based or mobile recording studio from input to output.
Recording the Next Big Hit
The amazing UMC22 ultra-compact 2 x 2, 48 kHz USB audio interface allows you to record the perfect vocal or instrument tracks directly to your computer, thanks the Midas-designed Mic Preamp with +48 Volt phantom power for condenser microphones – and studio-grade 48 kHz converter for superb sound quality. Whether you’re a singer-songwriter, producer on the go, or just need a rocksolid interface for running backing tracks at the gig, the ultra-dependable U-PHORIA UMC22 will help you shine in the digital domain.
| Weight: | 730 g |
| Dimensions: | 25.78 x 16 x 9.27 cm; 730.28 Grams |
| Model: | UMC22 |
| Colour: | Black |
| Manufacture: | Music Tribe |
| Dimensions: | 25.78 x 16 x 9.27 cm; 730.28 Grams |
| Origin: | China |
So I switched to this years ago, and since I have had 0 problems with my audio, I often get compliments on how crisp and clear my audio is and using it for listening to music playback is great no static or distortion of any kind.
Having never done this before I don’t have any thing to compare to however after a YouTube tutorial or two I hooked up the interface and it works great. I investigated a few interfaces but seeing as this was first venture into sound recording I didn’t want to break the bank. I think for the price I’m pleased with the quality. If you’re a newbie I would think this is a good place to start.
I was in desperate need for an audio interface for my XLR mic so I could stop using the poor quality XLR to 3.5mm cable that would cause nothing but hiss on all recordings I used the microphone for. Since upgrading to this audio interface, I noticed major differences in not just the hiss but also the audio quality of the mic unleashing its true colours and potential. The audio interface was as easy as plugging in the included USB cable to my PC and the back of the audio interface and connecting my headphones and microphone. I used it primarily for my classes, and for a few twitch streams in between classes and during break periods. Audio quality of the headphones was marginally better than my motherboard’s integrated DAC, with richer tones and an overall higher frequency response and volume. Would highly recommend for someone who needs a quick and easy solution to hook up an XLR mic to their PC or needs high quality audio output without spending hundreds on sound cards and headphone amplifiers!
Behringer has always made great quality products both in the build quality and of course sound quality and with this little box, nothing has changed. clear, crisp balanced audio without any plugins. I personally use my interface for recording guitar and other instruments, and producing tracks on fl studio but this thing can be used for podcasts video calls and so much more.
For the current price tag, it’s listed for I couldn’t recommend this interface any more than I currently can a brilliant product at a really affordable and reasonable price compared to others currently on the market.
I will say some features like USB-C that are missing from the interface can be seen as a missout but honestly at this price you wont miss it at all
Now said it was easy to set up and use but to be honest I wouldn’t have known where to begin if I hadn’t looked up some good videos on this product on Youtube. If ur new to these types of equipment then get on Youtube good ppl and check out how to set this up with ur microphone. I never knew how great a mic could sound once I connected it up tothis Audio interface but it sounds sweet as a nut guys.. This is a nice bit of kit for the price too. I have only just got it and I made a quick video and listened back thru my headphones and WOW!!! The sound was incredible to me. I had never heard my microphone sound so good before. I didn’t realsie I needed this so bad until right now. The boost in sound is incredible. I bought a sound card before, one of those V8 Soundcards and for the life of me I couldn’t get it to work for me so enough of that.. I hope this information helps u guys to decide. It’s great having this now. I hope u get it and try it out for yourselves and it makes a huge difference to ur podcasting or recording music. Take it easy good ppl
If you’re like me and aren’t musically inclined, but have a voice that’s described as being perfect for radio, this interface may be all you need to start. I was debating between this unit and the Focusrite Scarlett, but the price difference between the two meant that it was a no-brainer at the time. It’s plug-and-play simplicity at a price point that I can agree with. That and an MXL microphone helped upgrade me from the serviceable, but not exactly amazing, Blue Snowball microphone to something that can easily help me pull in more voiceover work than I have in the past. You can see a great review of this interface on the YouTube channel Podcastage, which really helped convince me to purchase this unit. I’ll reiterate many of the same points: an all metal chassis that feels and looks great; firm, well-set control knobs; a direct monitor switch for headphones and controllable gain that works great until about ~75-80%-ish means that you can amplify (or decrease) your input appropriately.
However, Focusrite didn’t make recording easy. I could never hear myself properly, and when I tried to overcome it by increasing the mic volume, it would clip (or my sound engineer would complain that my stems were too high).
Then I was without my Focusrite for a while (my son purloined it), so I needed to get another audio interface in. Due to my misgivings about Focusrite, I decided to take a chance, and chanced upon the Behringer. And, I have to say, the difference is night and day. With the Behringer, I can hear myself without clipping the mic. My voice is crystal clear. I can hear the track well, too. It’s not much to ask, but I was led to believe that when you’re recording, it’s normal not to be able to hear yourself (it was even implied my hearing may have been impaired, which it isn’t).
If this is your first audio interface, or you’re replacing your existing one, resist reputation, and go for this one. It meets the only two criteria a singer requires: hearing yourself, and hearing yourself clearly. Recommended.
As a beginner in the world of multi-track recording, this is the perfect bit of kit. excellent for recording guitar and voice, at a price you can’t argue with. However, getting to the point were you can actually record something is a mammoth task, not helped by Behringer’s lack of clarity in directing the customer to the software you require to record and mix tracks and to the device driver you need to get the device working on your pc. First of all the recommended driver from Asio dosen’t work properly, I only realised this when I worked out that the input set to record my guitar was actually recording through the Mic, as it wasn’t receiving the signal from my effects pedal. Apparently, this is a common problem, and in order to make it work as it should you need to scout the web for an older Behringer driver. This I did, and now it works excellently. Secondly, to get the recording software you need to register the product on the Behringer website. This is not as straight forward as it sounds, and it took a while. Once you get the software, you’ll need some time to master it. So, great physical product, which I would recommend to any budding recording artist, very poor instruction, and a device driver not fit for purpose, but at least there is an alternative. After spending some time wrestling with it I’m now looking forward to recording.
OK, I’m 53 and a bit techie but just got into learning the guitar a few months ago. I have no knowledge of this sort of thing though. I bought this as I didn’t want an amp but I wanted to have a bit of a mess around with simple effects. For the money, this is exactly what I need. On my Mac, it was a piece of cake. On my Windows computer it wasn’t so easy. I started with Audacity but this box needs you to install drivers and there’s very little instruction on the Behringer side of things so it took me a couple of hours of messing around. In the end I had to abandon Audacity and use Waveform (Traction?) instead. Just couldn’t work out how to get it working on Audacity.
It’s great to be able to plug your instrument in, plug some headphones in and away you go. OK, you haven’t got the control of some of the more expensive boxes but it’s 35 quid and it’s a brilliant place to start.
The other issue is that it’s powered by your computer so you can’t use it as a stand alone headphone amp unless you plug it into a powered USB hub. You can’t just plug it into a phone charger or something. Not really a massive problem, just an observation.
Overall, I’d say that if you’re just getting into this sort of thing then it’s a great bit of kit. I’ve learned so much in a few hours of playing around that I would be comfortable spending more in future without worrying that I’d wasted anything.
Ok now for the not so great: set up was a bit of a kerfuffle. Unlike most devices that require plugging into pc/laptop via usb, this one doesn’t install any drivers for it, you need to go to behringer website for them and finding the right one might be a bit of a b@ll ache if you’re not used to having to find tge right drivers for stuff. However there is a great video on YouTube, I’m not sure if it’ll allow me to provide a link here but if you simply type in behringer umc22 setup it should come straight up, just do what the man says and you should be away. He takes you through setting it up through his DAW which was different to mine but another quick YouTube video later on setting up through my acid pro I was able to begin recording ideas and whatnot.
This AI was well worth the money considering that a lot of them are more expensive, a bonus for me was that I got mine a tenner cheaper due to it having most likely been returned after a user had not been able to set it up. There was nothing wrong with it, just it really can be a bit of a mess around to set up, was probably a bit too much for whoever had it first. How do I know someone else had it first? You can just tell, the usb cable wasn’t packed as you’d imagine a brand spanker, no cable ties, not particularly wound up very well and you could tell the box had been opened. But at a tenner cheaper you can’t grumble
So yeah I would definitely recommend this, I’m sure there will be better ones out there but you’ll be paying extra for them when this one really does do the job nicely
–Note to the seller, please let people know upfront that they’ll need to take an extra step to enable INST2 on WIN10. It will save the manufacturer unnecessarily bad reviews.—
The issue was that INST 2 didn’t initially work – I’ve now resolved this (see below)
Apparently many others have had this issue. I couldn’t get Instrument line 2 to work on my Zoom call on my brand new Win10 laptop. To see if it was my cable or the input jack, I tested the line by using a Direct Line to speaker output and was able to get sound to my Bose speaker, so the cable or jack wasn’t the issue. I downloaded the newest Behringer drivers, but still no sound coming into the computer from L2.
*****The Fix to get INST2 to work*****
It looks like Microsoft is the problem. This fix worked for me.
1) Right click on the loudspeaker icon in the Taskbar and select “Sounds”
2) Click on the link “Sound control” (or similar)
3) Close the “Sound Settings” window.
4) In “Sound Control Panel” (or whatever it’s named), select the “Recording” tab
5) Ensure that the default device is set to any available device that is NOT the device that you want to change.
6) Right click on the device that you want to change and select “Properties”
7) Select the “Advanced” tab
8) Select the Channels / sample rate that you require (e.g. I selected 2 channels at 16bit)
9) Click “OK”
With these steps I got L2 working so I could plug in an instrument.
Behringer should really have provided an insert to let purchasers know about this issue, but again, once I did the above, it all worked fine.
Why only 4 stars?
Firstly, the gain had to be cranked nearly all the way in order to get a decent level of mic sound on the Zoom call. Apparently a Youtube review says the same.
The Behringer Support section on their website has no support telephone or email listed. Instead, you have to register on their Tribe website (do I really need another online account?) and go through an extremely slow website and a tedious number of dropdowns and input boxes before your support ticket is created. You receive a “do not reply” email and hope that someone contacts you. On a positive note, I received the email from them with a recommended fix the next day, which was good.
Overall, at 39, for a non-pro artist, it’s a pretty good deal and a decent product with a good build quality, ideal for Zoom. Again, just be aware of the extra step in Windows required to enable the INST2 (i.e. 2nd line).
I hope this helps
It also supplies the correct voltage for my microphone, and plugs in just over USB and works well with my USB Hub from UGREEN which allows me to not need a really long cable to plug into my PC or MacBook as the one included is a bit shorter than I’d like. Luckily it is a standard Mini-USB cable so you can always get the right one to fit the length you need. Speaker output is also a big plus.
However, I have not got the headphone output on this device to work yet. I specifically purchased a 6.35mm to 3.5mm jack adapter so that I could listen through my earbuds but don’t hear the inputs from the device and if I select the UMC22 as the output device in Windows, the output is quiet and tinny. I’m going to say that this is on my part for not having 6.35mm headphones though, and didn’t use the feature when setting the device up for the album I was working with someone on.