I wrote this review in two parts, a summery and then an in depth review.
Summery:
Short version, the Behringer ADA8200 works and is an affordable way to expand IO at around $200. For basic tracking and general use, it gets the job done.
However, after upgrading to a Ferrofish Pulse 8, the difference in clarity and overall capture quality was very noticeable. If you are running higher end gear, converter quality matters more than you think.
Read below for the detailed comparison.
In Depth
I originally bought the Behringer ADA8200 to expand the IO on my Apogee interface via ADAT. It offers:
• 8 mic preamps
• 24 bit conversion
• ADAT optical in and out
• MIDAS designed preamps
• 48V phantom power
For $200, that is solid value. For budget studios, live tracking, or simple expansion, it works fine.
Where it falls short is conversion quality compared to higher end units. I replaced it with a Ferrofish Pulse 8, which costs about 3 times more, and the improvement was immediate.
I run a 2 channel 1073 style preamp on my drum bus. Through the Ferrofish, the punch, stereo width, transient clarity, and low end depth are clearly better. Through the ADA8200, the same signal feels flatter and less detailed. It works, but it slightly limits what high end gear can deliver.
If you are connecting expensive microphones, preamps, or outboard gear, the converter becomes critical. Otherwise you are investing in great front end gear but capturing it with a weaker back end.
With that said I love Behringer and this is one of the few products I have this much criticism for.
Fredy Matute
★★★★★
Excelente producto por un bajo precio
Muy bien producto, me funciona a la perfección..!
VitalBodies Reviews
★★★★★
18 And 20 Realized! Great For a Band or for Surround Sound.
AUDIO INTERFACE: I really like the UMV1820 audio interface. I bought it rather than the various cheaper and more popular 2x2 or 2x4 versions so as to leave all my options open, including surround sound. Most audio interfaces that are offered assume you want to create stereo 2.0. But what if you want to go further than that? You might have heard of 2.1, 5.1, 7.1 or even Dolby Atmos 11.2. There are other surround sound options like 3D audio and Spacial Audio and more. So take Dolby Atmos 11.2 as an example. For 11.2 you need 13 OUT ports for all those speakers. Or scale back to 5.1. You still need 6 OUT ports for your 5 speakers plus your 1 subwoofer. Most Studio Audio Interfaces do not support that many outs.
This UMV1820 supports 20 outs but you need an additional piece of equipment to fully realize that - see below. Without that addition, Behringer UMC1820 will still give you 10 OUTs. 10 is enough for 7.1 for example. So really consider if you want to be able to create surround sound or just stereo. Or at least be able to, without having to start over and buy another interface.
The ADA8200 is the ideal unit to add to the Behringer UMC1820 and it is made for it. This adds the other 10 OUTs. And yes, more INs also.
While the 8200 is called a mic preamp it also supports 10 more OUT PORTS. Not just IN and not just mics, but INs for instruments too.
This threw me for a while, because the name “Mic Pre Amp” is what most people focus on, which is have enough INs for the whole band and a drum set. OUT is not always the focus as most small home studios only create in 2.0 stereo. You can also pair two 1820 units together as long as your DAW allows you to align the wordclock for the unit you want to be the master. The Behringer ADA8200 is less expensive though than another 1820 and has a switch for the wordclock built in.
Some might concern that the bit rate and resolution is not as high as some other audio interfaces. However, even Dolby currently uses this bit rate and resolution and so does the current new (2024) Apple Logic Pro for surround sound. Thus, this is still state of the art for most types of surround sound.
My other top choice was this unit which is built from the ground up for surround sound.
Clean Power is the foundation of any rack so I started with a Furman Power Conditioner:
Don’t forget you need two ADAT cables:
If this was helpful let me know.
E
Edward Stone
★★★★★
A buyer should know certain things.
When I received the Behringer ADA8200, the Quick Start Guide was in Japanese. I couldn't read that.
Then I found that the ADA8200 is not passing a signal from a mic. to the analog outputs. I found out that if I was to use this as a standalone preamp, I had to connect a [ADAT] cable from the ADAT output to the ADAT input.
Nothing in the manual to indicate this configuration.
Craig G.
★★★★★
Fantastic for DAW recording
I'm a “one man band” Multi-Instrumentalist operating out of a well-equipped home studio, playing and recording each instrument individually. It's not unusual that one of my productions consumes 25 tracks or more.
My previous recorder was a standalone Tascam DP-32SD. Although this is a great unit for home studio starters, following the actual recording I had to export tracks, transfer them to my PC via USB, then mix/master the completed song using my Windows-based DAW.
While this worked okay, the process was getting to be quite the tedious hassle, not to mention the fact that REAPER (in my opinion, the best DAW on the planet) has so much more recording function than the Tascam standalone it's almost unbelievable. That said, I decided to purchase a Behringer UMC1820 and give direct-to-DAW recording a try.
Man, the difference was like night and day, especially sampling at 48kHz/24-bit. Plus, all of the required post-processing work I previously discussed is now a thing of the past.
The only remaining problem was, I use 8 drum microphones. This required cabling my mixer to one of the UMC1820 inputs to accommodate the 8th sub-kick drum microphone, and all other instruments. So, I took it a step further, purchased a Behringer ADA8200 and attached it to the UMC1820 as a slave using Toslink fiber cables, providing me with 8 additional inputs.
I should note that Windows and REAPER immediately picked both interfaces up without the need to install any additional drivers whatsoever... They're truly plug-and-play.
To avoid being redundant and going over all the features of these two excellent interfaces which are already listed on their product pages, I think it would be much more beneficial to continue discussing my personal experience with them, along with the end results.
This configuration has allowed me to totally dedicate the UMC1820 to my drum microphones, and use the ADA8200 for all other instruments. I was also able to keep my mixer involved by cabling it to one of the inputs on the latter interface.
I then topped the whole thing off by mounting them both in a “Procraft 2U 9" Deep Equipment Rack”. This is one super-high quality rack, and an incredible value:
The bottom line: Between these two interfaces I now have 16 MIDAS pre-amplified XLR/TRS inputs fed directly into my PC with all controls at my fingertips, sitting directly under my DAW displays (see photo). Most importantly, I'm able to take full advantage of REAPER's myriad of recording functions, which completely blow the Tascam standalone recorder away.
If you're thinking about using direct-to-DAW recording, this combination absolutely can't be beat for the money. The only regret I have is, I'm kicking myself in the butt for not going to A/D interfaces long ago. Look up my latest song “May You Never” on SoundClick, and judge the sound for yourself.
In closing, these Behringer interfaces have exceeded my wildest expectations. I can certainly say without hesitation they're deserving of my highest recommendation, and if I was able would rate them both at 10 stars in a heartbeat.
