Behringer UMC1820 USB Audio/MIDI Interface

Nothing beats it for the price.

Pretty good, even excelent for the price, drivers work really well on Windows, noise floor is awesome + ADAT support for future expanding.

Great product, fast shipping.

Needed to replace my multi channel audio input to work with an updated DAW - this was reasonably priced, works great.

VitalBodies Reviews

May 24, 2024

Love This Interface - Expandable - Great For A Band Or Surround Sound…

AUDIO INTERFACE: I really like this audio interface. I bought this 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 interface 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 8200 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.

I also like that this is rack mountable or not as it has little rubber/silicon feet. 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 (and what I would have bought budget permitting) 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 which is shown in the photo. I am still shopping for a rack.

Note the two screen captures with the 8200 connected to realize all 18 and 20 ports.

Don’t forget you need two ADAT cables if you add an 8200:

If this was helpful let me know.

DECEMBER

July 25, 2023

If you really can't afford anything better...

... this will get you by. Been using it 4-8 hours a day for almost 2 years. Never had any malfunctions but there are many flaws. LATENCY: I have above average PC specs but there's enough latency with this that it's impossible to record a fast rhythm on a hand drum thru mics. With mics on guitar amps, it's like a slapback delay between the sound from the amp and the sound from the monitors.

Any guitar gear connected to this puts that digital noise into the entire guitar signal, audible thru the amp. I have XLR DI outputs on my amps, a floor modeler with XLR outs, and I record the dry signal for reamping. I need an isolation transformer between all of these sources and the interface or there will be noise in everything.

I had a Line 6 Pod Go and if it was connected to the amp and interface, there was an extremely loud low frequency ground buzz. Even if the interface and PC were off. Loud enough to be heard over the guitar, making it unusable.

The MIDI output also adds noise to my analog drum machine and synth.

And reamping: by the time it goes from the DAW, out of the interface and into the amp, then back into the DAW thru mics, there's a massive amount of latency. I have to move the entire clip to correct it. 60-100+ms latency.

There's bleed-thru from the direct inputs into the monitor mix, mostly on the left side.

And when I'm monitoring a mono guitar track thru headphones, it always sounds louder on the left, like there's less high frequency response on the right side.

Everything I record with mics sounds muddy. I feel like it has to be the preamps.

I guess it's worth the price... you get what you pay for. It was $280 when I got it in 2021. The next cheapest interface is $550.

It's half-decent and will get the job done for most things, but if you take your work seriously and require precision and clarity then this will disappoint.

I've been struggling to get great sounding recordings for 2 years. I'm finally gonna get a Clarett+ 8Pre on a payment plan from AMS. Now I'm gonna have to re-record my songs yet again...

Arrived damaged, no padding

No bubble wrap, or any kind of padding. Unit was damaged. Power button pushed in beyond casing. No manual, no packaging at all, just a broken piece of gear in a box, wish I could give zero stars. Extremely disappointed.

Sent used unit! With no Power Adapter

This unit came with the box pretty beat up, also had a large scratch and seven knobs turned and buttons pressed in. On top of that I received the unit with NO POWER ADAPTER. they are sending me a new unit to exchange but way to kill the new purchase excitement. Also screwing up a session I had scheduled…

Got a returned unit

Got a returned unit. Package was slightly damaged. I Should have taken a photo before I opened it. Once it was open, I immediately noticed greasy fingerprints all over it, unwrapped cables just thrown in, and the "included" usb cable is missing. See the photo.

I haven't tried using the unit yet. I will once I get a usb cable to connect to my PC.

If I wanted a used unit, I could have got one cheaper from ebay.

Great product, but wrong weight informed.

The product is incredible, but the weight informed in the ad is wrong. The real weight of the package is 5.70 pounds. Even so, still a great product.

awful background noise and hum

any instrument you plug into this thing will (1) have incredibly, ridiculously low output and (2) have a ton of noise at anything above negative a billion db. i switched to this from my old focusrite that had crosstalk issues, but at least i could get a decent guitar track out of that without cranking the gain to max and desperately trying to use noise gates. not worth it. do not purchase - their tech support site is just as byzantine.

JonTheCanadian

August 20, 2020

Great for Streaming Rig

I use this rig to stream shows on Twitch. The UMC1820 is the primary USB interface to the computer and it comes in handy as it can provide Phantom power if needed for a variety of microphones. The USB interface shows up as inputs on a Windows machine which gives you a fair bit of flexibility if you are using it to record. Plus, the Midas Pre-amps are great. I'd recommend this product to anyone who needs more than 1 USB input on their computer (and multiple microphones - like Streamers or podcasters).

Craig G.

January 10, 2020

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.

T. Moog

December 29, 2019

Multiple Channels in, Multiple Channels out. Simple!

If you need a multi-channel audio interface with gobs of software-controlled internal routing, mixing and bells and whistles, this one isn't for you. But if you are looking for a dead-simple multi-in, multi-out interface, then this is the one you want!

Now, the only thing I will ever use this for is to put line-level analog audio into the computer and to send analog line-level audio out of the computer. I will never use the preamps or any of the other features of this interface, so I can't speak to the quality or ability of those features.

I needed a replacement for my firewire interface. I was using a Focusrite Saffire Pro40. Windows 10 never liked the firewire and it was becoming more and more of a problem every time Windows updated. I had to keep installing "Legacy" drivers and lost more and more reliability over time. I initially bought the Scarlett 18i8 USB interface as a replacement (Functionally identical to the Pro40 but with USB) but it didn't work any better, so, back it went.

Then I bought this unit. I was skeptical of the unit because... well... Behringer. I have never had good luck with their stuff. I looked at it for a couple of weeks, trying to find something... not Behringer. Price was not an issue. I would have shelled out much more for something else if I had to. After looking at it, researching it and reading reviews on it, I decided to take a chance on it... After all, if I didn't like it, I could send it back, right?

Upon unboxing, I saw that it had all the same audio connections on the back as my Focusrite. Swapping them out was a breeze. Having a Behringer UMC 202HD, I didn't HAVE to install new drivers, but I did anyway because there were updated ones. Yes, they both use the same drivers. The unit comes with a power cord. I understand that you don't have to plug it in and that it can be bus powered. I don't know whether or not that is the case. I plugged mine into AC mains straight away. I don't use phantom power but I have LOTS of USB stuff and didn't want to overtax the system.

Your first step should be to go to their website to download the drivers for it. No, there isn't a disc in the box, but the optical drives seem to be going the way of floppy disks and Firewire anyway. The last 2 laptops I bought don't even have optical drives. So, downloading drivers is nothing new.

Once you have installed the drivers, plug it in to the USB port. The computer sees it instantly. The drivers come with a software app that allows you to make simple changes to the interface - gain, sampling rate, bit depth... The interface shows up in windows as several different stereo audio interfaces. The first thing I noticed was that while it is ASIO compatible, it does not force ASIO. This is great for people with DAW software that does not support ASIO. With the Focusrite, if your software did not support ASIO, you couldn't use multi channel functionality. First BIG win for the Behringer. I can use it with any software DAWs, and DJ software I want.

I use this interface to send 3 stereo channels from different sources into the computer and 4 stereo channels to input channels on the mixing console. It's perfect for what I need.

As a side note, I also have the smaller 202HD connected to the same computer along with 2 Lexicon interfaces and they all play nice together.

To summarize:

Ease of hook up: 10

Ease of installation: 10

Ease of operation: 10

Audio quality: 10

In the box:

Interface

USB cable (6' maybe)

AC Power adapter

User guide

ROMEL SOMAR

August 3, 2019

New. And great

Great item. And fast shipping. Very satishfied.

Penacka42

November 6, 2018

Ripped open - didn’t seem to be in new condition.

Everything inside seemed to be okay. I hope it works as it should. We bought it new, yet it doesn’t seem to be in new condition. Very unhappy. If this was a gift, it would have been ungiftable since it was all ripped open.