Behringer U-PHORIA UM2 Audiophile 2x2 USB Audio Interface with XENYX Mic Preamplifier | for Recording Microphones and Instruments

The Behringer U-Phoria UM2 USB Audio Interface is an absolute game-changer for anyone looking to elevate their audio recording setup. I recently paired it with my Rode PodMic, and the results have been outstanding. This audio interface delivers crystal-clear sound quality, allowing the Rode PodMic to shine and capture every nuance of my voice. Whether I'm recording podcasts, voiceovers, or music, the UM2 ensures that my audio comes through with pristine clarity and accuracy. I also appreciate the ease of use and versatility of the UM2. With its plug-and-play functionality, I was up and running in no time, and the intuitive controls make it easy to adjust levels and settings to suit my needs. Overall, I'm extremely impressed with the Behringer U-Phoria UM2 USB Audio Interface. It's the perfect companion for the Rode PodMic, delivering professional-grade sound quality and performance at an affordable price point. If you're looking to take your audio recording to the next level, I highly recommend giving the UM2 a try.

Amazing little interface for the price. I picked up the UM2 to drive an inexpensive XLR condenser mic, and it works great. Its pretty no frills, but you can't go wrong for the price. Behringer did a nice job with the DAC's and they are very clean and noise free for me. I did see a subtle difference with the website driver vs the generic Windows installed driver but I didn't use any of the other software. Dual input is a bonus at this price, even with the single XLR and 1/4 TRS input jack, they are driven with independent GAIN settings. The next one up offers some extra features like a pad feature and an improved MIDAS preamp, but honestly the little UM2 sounds just fine for my needs, it is pretty on part with some more expensive ones out on the market, and I'd be hard pressed to no choose that over a little USB mixer board for the $70-100 price point of some of the others. It depends on what you want though, if you have 1-2 inputs and you don't care about compressors and all that fancy stuff or just need a no frills clean interface than this works great. Computer sound can be pumped out the outputs (RCA and 1/4 TRS), and mixed with a monitor button. The monitor blend button does quiet the output somewhat but it lets you hear the inputs overlaid with he audio. The indicators are small but nice to have, good to see some signal activity and clipping. The only cons that I have are that the USB input is driven with a single mixed channel input, so if your looking for virtual interfaces, eh you won't find it at this price point.

Channel 1 seems to work great and I have recorded several songs using this but channel 2 doesn't seem to work at all. Other than that it seems to be an ok interface.

I was struggling to get good audio into my PC... noise and RF interference even with good filters just never gave me the audio I knew I could get from my ribbon velocity mics. Tried various sound cards over the years, even bought the 8 channel Beringer 1204 USB model where (for different reasons) I still struggled to get the sound I wanted. Out of desperation and frustration with hours of research and years of dust collecting in the studio, I took a chance on this guy, fully preparing to regret a second beringer purchase. To my amazement, plug & play this little box gave me near perfect audio from the first test. No bells or whistles.. but also no noise and a clean punchy gain control with default driver settings. I was able to use this little box to troubleshoot the (ASIO driver) issue I was having with my 1204, (recording level needs boosted to 88 on the driver tab, and sliders need to go +5db with gain at 3:00 for my Sure and RCA mics).. not ideal, but happy to have my mixer back in the mix) - this little guy will be my go-to mobile interface and back-up unit. Super happy with its design, performance, and price point to solve an issue I've been fighting for years. Would buy again.

I do a lot of teleconferencing (Jitsi Meet, Zoom, MS Teams, Webex, you name it) for work, and some streaming on the side. I'm using an XLR mic and over-the-ear headphones. This device makes an ideal audio interface for those applications. Here are the specific things I like: o- Option to directly monitor mic input through headphones. This lets me hear my own audio through a zero-lag path with no "speech jammer" effect. o- Works with stock USB audio drivers on Linux and Windows 10. Nothing to download, nothing to install. Just plug it in and it goes. o- Selectable 48V phantom power. o- Clean pre-amp. Maybe not world-class, but way better than it has any right to be at this price point. The noise floor here is not going to be your limiting factor if you're using this on a conference call or Twitch stream. o- Simple controls with clear labels. Does one job with minimal hassle or clutter. The only down sides I see are: o- I'd like linear pots (sliders) instead of rotary knobs. o- The only level indication on the device itself is a set of "signal" and "clip" lights. It would be nice to have something a little more detailed. o- It would have been nicer if the XLR combo jack were on the back rather than the front. As it is, you'll have an XLR cable sticking out of the front and a USB cable hanging from the back. This can make placement awkward, depending on your setup. All in all, a very nice product which does a great job meeting my specific needs.

I bought this for someone's basic streaming setup and it's perfect for that. The drivers are based on asio4all so obviously they cut some corners, but it works great. While it's not the best sounding microphone preamp out there, it's probably the best you can get at this price. If you need studio quality sound this might be good, but you're probably looking elsewhere, but this will make you sound better than 99% of the headsets out there if you pair it with something like an at2020 or akg p120. Hell even an sm58 would work. Also this would be good for a very basic home music studio utilizing virtual instruments. You will probably graduate to something else, but if you're just playing around and you want to get rid of that audio processing lag on virtual instruments from your built in sound card, this will do it. Pro: cheap, easy to setup, good audio quality for the price. Con: no channel panning for direct monitor or multiple XLR inputs (most people who buy this won't find either of these necessary or useful unless you just know you need multiple microphone inputs.)

This is an entry level interface. Not much else to say on it. For the price isn't bad, but, if you're a beginner, this is going to cause some growing pain heartaches for you. There is a lot of engineer and techincal things you need to do if you're looking to make professional things with it. I purchased this as a travel interface so I wouldn't damage my studio interface in case I needed to book on the road. The self noise is high. I have to go to the computer settings and weaken it. Then from there, fenagle and struggle in my DAW to make sure my levels are where they need to be. The phantom power on it is subpar and no matter what mic I use, it's lackin in that department. I have to constantly juggle what I feel like engineering to fix- A loud staticy white noise in a highly room treated audio? Or a tiny powered voice that I have to amplify and then repair afterwards? I've changed mics, cables, and cords to troubleshoot and frankly . . . it remained with the interface. The good of it. IT's a great way to get accustomed to it if you know you want to pursue voice acting. If you're looking to do just do youtube or podcasting or don't have a problem outsourcing to an audio engineer and hemorrhage money out to them every time you need something fixed, it's not too bad. Or if you have a load of time. Bottom line, it's a beginner interface that isn't beginner friendly/high learning curve with it. It's something I would only buy again for someone I thought would need to learn or isn't sure if they'd pursue it.

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!