Introduction
The Behringer UMC404HD is a compact audio interface that packs a punch for budding musicians and podcasters. With its user-friendly design and versatile features, it’s a worthy contender in the audio equipment arena.
Design & Build
- Sturdy metal construction
- Compact and portable
- Intuitive layout for easy operation
The UMC404HD is really strong so it lasts long, but it’s still small and easy to carry around. It’s made to be simple for newbies to understand how to use because its design is easy.
Audio Quality
- Crystal-clear audio recording
- Low latency monitoring
- High-resolution converters
The audio quality delivered by the UMC404HD is remarkable. It captures sound with exceptional clarity and precision, offering low latency monitoring for seamless recording in real time.
Connectivity & Compatibility
- Four combo inputs
- MIDI I/O connectivity
- Compatible with various devices and software
Featuring four combo inputs and MIDI I/O connectivity, this interface offers versatility for multi-channel recording. It seamlessly integrates with different devices and software, enhancing its usability.
Pros
- Superior audio quality
- Solid and portable build
- Versatile connectivity options
- User-friendly interface
Cons
- Some users report driver issues
- Limited bundled software
Conclusion
The Behringer UMC404HD is a really good audio tool. It gives great sound, lots of ways to connect devices, and it’s easy to use. Sometimes there are small problems with the software it uses to work, but overall, it’s a great pick for people who make content or play music.
vishal mohite –
Superb Quality
Martin C. –
I’ve been recording music and sound both professionally and for fun since the mid-90’s. I’ve been fortunate enough to get to use a wide variety of equipment at all levels, from cheap junk to top pro quality. My home desktop recording setup has centered around an M-Audio Delta1010 card for many years. In studios, I’ve used a variety of things, from Digidesign, RMC, Apogee, etc… I needed a simple and cheap USB interface to use with an old beater laptop for some mobile recording. After much research, I nabbed a Behringer UMC404HD. The price was cheap enough to be worth the gamble; I’ve used Behringer things a few times in the past, but never an interface, and was worried it might be too junky to be usable. But seeing that these are perpetually out of stock at most places, I figured it would be easy enough to flip if it ended up being a lemon. Thankfully, I won’t even need to worry about that, because this one is a winner! Best $99 I’ve spent on anything in a long time.
Sound quality is great. I’d say the quality of the conversion beats my M-Audio card (which was originally at least 6x the price!). I’m going to chalk this up to improvements in technology over the years, and it really makes the Delta show its age. A nice clear sound, not lacking in body, and doesn’t have any of the harshness I’ve encountered with other Behringer products of the past. I’m not going to say it’s “warm” sounding at all, but it really doesn’t need to be, honestly. It’s just a solid clear sound with a minimum of any noticeable hype or color. Behringer’s parent company recently bought Midas, and the UMC404 claims to have the same mic preamps as used in the high end Midas consoles. Which model of console is anyone’s guess, and it’s really more just an excuse to stick the name on there to play off the reputation of the name (though, Midas is a big name in live FOH consoles, not really anything to do with recording consoles). But whatever, the mic preamps do sound good. Noise isn’t too bad – recording piano with some dynamic mics didn’t get any bad noise issues. It will get a bit hissy if you have to max the gain out, but there are few situations where I see that happening, and if you really need lowest noise, you can always use a nicer external preamp and patch into the line inputs. The inserts included on each input is a nice touch! You can easily patch a compressor after the mic input – which is good news for tracking vocals. This is an extremely helpful feature that most other interfaces neglect.
One complaint about the mic preamps: they don’t work well with low-output ribbon mics. I tried it with my Cascade Fat Head II and it was a no-go. Not enough clean gain available. Had to max it out to get any signal and at that point the noise was too much. Ribbon users would need something like a Cloud Lifter or other external preamp to be able to use them with the UMC. Too bad, but that’s really not a huge letdown considering the price and how well the unit performs otherwise.
Control panel for the drivers is very spartan, but it does enough to tell you what’s going on and make a few adjustments. People like me who are used to the luxury of an onboard DSP zero latency monitor mixer (like the Delta has) will be a little disappointed by the lack of monitor adjustment with the simple analog input monitoring on the box itself, but it’s still work-able, just a bit unusual to lack a separate control for monitor mixing. But considering the price and general sound quality, this isn’t really a complaint.
As far as how well it plays with software, I’ve tried this with Adobe Audition, Reaper, and Tracktion. It works just fine doing multitrack using the ASIO drivers in Reaper and Tracktion, but it did NOT work well with Audition at all. Attempting to use the ASIO drivers to do a multitrack recording in Audition caused Audition to crash. Multitracking in Audition doesn’t seem to work at all with this, even when switching to the MME or WASAPI drivers. I’m blaming this on Audition because Adobe sucks. Tracktion was billed as “included” software, but it wasn’t actually in the box with it, and when I registered the product with Behringer to get my “free” download code, I have yet to get any reply from them. There’s a free version of Tracktion available and that’s probably what they’re talking about. Behringer pulled this crap before by including the freeware Audacity with interfaces and billing it as some great deal of included software (and Audacity sucks, BTW). Tried messing with Tracktion a bit, but really not a fan of the workflow. It’s quick and easy, but it’s too stripped and just not an interface I find comfortable. Reaper gave the best results for multitracking on the laptop, and then I used Audition for editing/mastering the final mix. My main software on desktop is Samplitude Pro X, but I haven’t plugged the Behringer into my desktop yet. The laptop is running Win10, so good news for Win10 users that the drivers seem to work fine with it.
Haven’t tested the MIDI yet, and therefore haven’t used any realtime softsynths with it, so I can’t make any judgment about the latency. The control panel gives you some control over this, so I’m sure I could probably get it to where it feels good for realtime synth. But as this is being used almost exclusively for recording, low latency is really not on my list of needs.
Time will tell about the long-term reliability of a $99 interface with this much packed into it, but overall construction seems solid and I’ve had no feelings about it being too delicate to carry around in my backpack. Should hold up well to regular mobile use.
Giving something like this 5 stars seems excessive, because there’s certainly better out there. But at this price? Not even close! In the very crowded world of sub-$200 audio interfaces, I will put the UMC404HD up there as a clear winner.
Oskar –
Perfetta per chi non pretende di avere un sound da studio top, ma fa comunque un buon lavoro
David –
Haven’t tried a mic run into it yet, but guitar sounds perfectly fine. Sometimes it has a buzzing sound, but nothing a little noise reduction can’t fix!
Marcus Vinicius Cardoso Sa Barreto –
Voce que não tem $$ para uma interface de ponta, essa atende perfeitamente para um home Studio.
David –
Es muy básico y sencillo de plástico se ve que si se te cae de tu escritorio te quedas sin interfaz por lo que se debe cuidar mucho, los materiales se ven durables y de acuerdo al precio 1000 pesos mexicanos creo que vale la pena ya que hay mejores pero por un costo mayor, solamente lo conectas con el cable usb que incluye a la PC o Laptop y listo.
Como contras lo que tiene es que para configurar el sonido lo tienes que hacer desde tu PC debe estar entrada de audio interfaz codec usb y en salida la misma ademas de estar en sonido monoaural, tuve que ver varios tutoriales pero hay muchos por lo que veo que todo tiene solución, una vez que configuras el sonido en tu computadora todo esta super bien, conecto una guitarra eléctrica en la linea 2 que dice inst y la interfaz ya trae como un pre ampli que incluso hace que se oiga un reverb muy útil si no tienes pedales de fectos, distorciones o preamplificador, en la linea 1 también puedes conectarlo pero se oye muy mal ya que este esta destinado para un micrófono, tambien algo que no me agrado es que forzosamente tienes monitorearlo desde la interfaz ya que desde la PC hay bastante delay, y la salida para auriculares es de 6.35 o 1/4 ha sido un dolor de muelas encontrar unos audifonos con ese plug ya que todos tienen 3.5 mm o 1/8 y los adaptadores que compre aquí mismo en amazon no embonan bien en la entrada de 3.5 he tenido que comprar unos con esa salida exclusivamente, salvo esos detalles creo que si vale la pena no me arrepiento y puedo grabar todo desde la PC en mi caso con Audacity y OBS
Matthew Brooks –
What drivers? I didn’t need a driver once. Of course, I’ve updated my installation of Windows (10) correctly. I suggest you do the same before continuing. A lot of people DL or buy Win10 thinking it’s ready to use, but no. It actually requires updating straight away, and unless you do that by downloading the offline installer (Google it) and spending 90+ minutes actually updating the computer, you’ll be in for a heck of a time with Win10 compatibility all across the board. As far as the Behringer is concerned, with an updated version of Windows (10), it worked immediately and simply. I couldn’t tell you what would happen if it weren’t updated, but I imagine it’d be harder.
I’ve found that the system needs the 48V boost to be on in order to work (for me, that is; I’m pairing it with an MXL 770, which is itself exemplary.) The gain knob is terrific, the dial is actually smooth. Almost feels like the dial on a guitar amp. This feels like a unit that was constructed using every bit of its price tag. It’s plastic, but that’s fine. The unit has weight and sophistication. I don’t understand why there is a single bad review… scratch that, it’s human error. That or poorly maintained OS updating/operation. Get your Windows working and you’ll be fine.
I haven’t played with the secondary input, or even the onboard earphone out jack. Haven’t needed to. The unit makes no hum or noise. All I hear is my voice, my mouth smacking and the CPU/case fans I have yet to reconcile in my setup. Completely satisfied. I’ll update this if the unit ever fails. So far, so good. P.S. I’m using my own USB cable, which is gold plated. Perhaps that’s adding to the experience, perhaps it’s placebo. In either case, the cable the unit comes with is amply long and looks pretty solid. Not even thin, like what HP gives you with their printers. It’s a standard USB… no micro, no mini, no bloody “C”. It’s an original USB that has the big square shape with the tapered side that looks as big as an old Apple Firewire. Don’t know how or where a boost of forty-eight volts is coming from or even possible. The unit has no supplemental power. Hopefully it isn’t frying my MoBo or USB port.
It just seems to WORK! and I like that a lot. Glad I didn’t spend more money on the Focusrite, although there may be a benefit there. For the purpose implied, this Behringer U-Phoria UM2 is perfect and the price is more than right. Go ahead and buy it, and ignore these negative plebeians, unless they have a professional reason for not liking the unit. I maintain that it’s due to improper setup. Didn’t notice any interference, and I’m also using a USB Logitech headset, the kind they use for phone calls at call centers. If a Logitech unit’s drivers are getting along with another USB audio device, then you know you’re going to be fine.
Personally, I love this thing and can’t speak highly enough about it… knock on wood!