Posts Tagged behringer

Behringer UCA202 tricky crosstalk

Behringer UCA202 (see product page or little video introduction) is a neat little box that’s plugged into your mixer (or whatever else in the analog signal realm) via two pairs of RCA cables and than it has another USB cable to your computer. With ASIO drivers you can see it in your favourite DAW and record sounds going into the UCA202 or send master via the same box out (to monitor via your mixer for instance). Simply put – it’s USB Audio Interface. It has absolutely awesome price – you can probably buy it under $30, I bought it for 34€. Obviously in this price tag you can expect some cons. First are pretty obvious – it’s only USB 1.1 which probably determines the sampling frequency (max 48kHz) and bit resolution (16 bit for every channel). And it’s stereo, no multi-input. But hey, that’s CD quality (48kHz is actually a bit better), it’s low latency device, so what do you want for that price?

Well, there is one twist I’ve discovered after some time. I wanted to practice an electric guitar, so I started REAPER, loaded some jam track in it started a playback. Immediately I noticed some signal on a guitar track (that was armed for recording) – signal that wasn’t there before. Now I thought that my out and in ways are well separated, I suspected that maybe it’s a problem in mixing console (also Behringer and also budget solution). But after some time of connecting and disconnecting various cables I found out the sinner. Even when UCA202 is plugged only to the computer (no RCA cables in or out) it sends part of the output back to the input. I’ve found some measurements for this box here and we discussed the issue with author of the blog where this comparison is linked – see the post and the discussion. Funny thing is that stereo crosstalk on the output is lower than this leakage into input. That probably means that there is some design flaw on the board – or maybe in some chip, I really don’t know.

Does it mean that UCA202 is unusable? Well – no. But you should know how much of the monitored music will go into your recorded track. In my case it’s quite alarming -48dB at 100Hz (which is normal frequency for bass, kicks, etc.). Other man mentioned -50dB and Behringer’s support confirmed -58dB. You can actually fight it pretty easily – just lower your master when you record. The unit has quite strong headphones output, so you can monitor there or further amplify your headphones on a mixing console. In that case you can get another 10-20dB which should be OK. But this fact is clearly the biggest flaw of the unit in my eyes. I can live with the CD quality, but this really affects my recorded track. It’s good to know.

Today I was also informed that UMA25S has the same problem like UCA202. I didn’t know what UMA is ;-) so I went to check it out and it’s basically like their former UMX25 (25 midi keyboard with some freely assignable knobs, when your SW can support it) but with USB audio interface actually built-in (UMX has UCA202 in the package). It’s a great idea – probably not their, but I just never thought of that before. So you have one unit with only one USB to your computer and then those RCA connectors on the Midi keyboard plus there is a headset and cool bag. Now I sound like an agent… but hey! Obviously the USB audio unit in the UMA25 has the same problem, which is kinda sad. And it’s still only USB 1.1. Man – imagine M-Audio AXIOM 25 with USB audio device built-in. But then… you still can buy two units – each making what you really want. But UMA25 is a great combo in one peace in case you’re starting with home recording. There is a good video review on this unit.

And the point? I would never expect this kind of problem – however cheap the unit is. It’s probably some design flaw that wasn’t thought of, because it’s crazy if you hear more from let’s say left output on any input than on the right output (that would be stereo crosstalk, right?). It’s unlucky that these Behringer’s units suffer from this (the real values vary piece to piece probably) but you can still use that “lower-your-master” workaround and the price is very interesting. But if you’re willing to pay more, go for something better – and maybe find out information about this kind of crosstalk too. :-) Good luck with your home recording.

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My new home recording… studio?

Whatever… it’s cheap, but it’s my studio anyway! It’s been some time since I’ve composed my latest song. I’m a man of more hobbies than I can handle, I know. Gamer, programmer and wannabe musician too. (Not to mention I’m a father and husband too. :-) ) I can’t play well any instrument, but I compose my songs with acoustic guitar, ideas, chords and my weak voice. The desire to have my own recording studio – even the modest one – is pretty old. Nowadays you can acquire the needed stuff for literally a few bucks. My whole recording chain with both guitars with notebook included (but not bought for that reason) is around 1300€ – I’m sure you can do the same or better under 1000€ (or maybe even under $1000, as prices here in Slovakia are rather higher). I’ve got two guitars, I’ve got Midi keyboard, some microphone too… the last piece of the puzzle I really wanted was a mixing console.


My extremely modest home recording studio… no special room obviously

Of course, you can probably live without it with overdubbing yourself in the DAW (Digital Audio Workstation software) – but there are few good reasons to have a real mixer. I have one microphone input on my old Audigy sound card. I’ve bought converter from big jack (6.3mm) to small one, mono (not common in every shop, I assure you :-) ). First, the jack connector on my sound card was stressed more and I had to crawl under my desk every time I wanted to change microphone for guitar. Should I go for extension cable? Hell no! Buy a mixer and manage all your inputs there. Now I can also record voice from dynamic microphone and guitar from condenser microphone at once too! (No, stop telling me I could hack stereo line-in for that! :-) ) Real mixer has also better pre-amps for sure. I went for really affordable Behringer XENYX 1202FX and I’m more than happy, believe me.


Mixing console Behringer XENYX 1202FX

While mixer (and a bunch of cables) was the last piece of the hardware puzzle, there was one more thing to decide. The software. So called “Digital Audio Workstation”. While I used Audacity before, it has few disadvantages (and even more pops out when you learn what the real DAW is). I’ll name two for all – it can’t mix audio and MIDI tracks and it doesn’t come with ASIO support – although it is ASIO-capable and you can build it with it. Even as skilled Linux user I refused to do that when there is one better alternative – REAPER! I tried Reason first, I liked the sound (don’t beat me, it was the first proper synth I used after Audigy built-in wavetable :-) )… but I wanted to try more, not to mention I wasn’t sure I can afford it. So I tried FL Studio demo version too. I nearly even bought it – and if you like it don’t hesitate because it has great live-time upgrade policy (LOVE that!). But I’ve found it difficult to use with MIDI – pitch or modulation wheel did not work right out of the box for instance. I also didn’t like the overall interface to be honest, but that’s probably rather personal. Reason – on the other hand – reportedly isn’t good if you want to record voices too. I could import WAV, but I didn’t find the way how to record it directly into the Reason.


Boring Reaper screen-shot with lame project

I wanted ONE software solution to manage my project and then Reaper got onto my radar. Software that reminded me Audacity in terms of multi-track recording, with ASIO support for low latencies, awesome with treating audio and MIDI tracks the same way when possible – but with built-in MIDI editor (piano roll), good built-in plugins, VST support, you name it! With installer not bigger than 4 MB. Yes, mega, not giga. I really was skeptical at the start, but Reaper simply convinced me. And if you want to record normal true audio/vocal/acoustic (metal/rock/whatever) music, you should give Reaper a try. Yeah, and it’s cheap – only $50 for personal use, $225 for commercial use, but you can try it for 30 days officially and even more unofficially if you’re not convinced. I’m not sure I’ll pay right away after 30 days, but… I guess so. Somehow I like it and I can’t see any reason why not to support it.

Try this for 10 random Reaper screen-shots

Now you know why (aside from other reasons) I’ve been a bit inactive recently on my blog. Real life stuff, that’s it. I’ll definitely get back to this topic in future posts. Do I do anything else as well? Yes, I even played PWI on Saturday. :-) However, I have a lot of stuff to learn now because once you record yourself, you’ll probably find out a lot of things to improve. Even if you don’t take yourself seriously.

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