Which audio interface should I get?

[will0hlep]

Hi all,

 

I'm looking for an Audio interface to use to connect Myriad 5 software on my PC with my DX2000USB Mixer (https://www.behringer.com/product.html?modelCode=P0968). The Audio Interface would need to be capable of giving 4 outputs.

 

Now, the makers of Myriad 5 did use an AUREON XFIRE8.0 HD (https://www.terratec.de/details.php?artnr=12002&lang=en) in their demos but I thought I might as well ask if anyone has any better ideas as the earliest delivery I can find for an AUREON XFIRE8.0 HD is 2-4 weeks.

 

Thanks in adcance.

[The Flying Sloth]

UMC404HD seems like the cheapest option if budget is an issue,
Personally I use a UMC1820
Focusrite Scarlett 4i4 would also work,
Really just go to thomann and sort interfaces by IO

[IAmNik]

FTW, Focusrite Scarlett 4i4

[H713]

Right now the answer is probably "whatever you can get in the next six months", since most of these interface companies are going through hell with supply chain issues.

 

If given the choice, Focusrite 4i4. If you can stomach the idea of giving Uli Behringer your money (which I can't), then the UMC404 might be another decent option.

[Eumel2]

6 hours ago, H713 said:

If given the choice, Focusrite 4i4. If you can stomach the idea of giving Uli Behringer your money (which I can't), then the UMC404 might be another decent option.

The used market for Scarlett's is not bad, you might have a chance there.

 

If seen comments in Behringer multiple times now, what did he actually du to deserve this much hate?

[H713]

3 hours ago, Eumel2 said:

The used market for Scarlett's is not bad, you might have a chance there.

 

If seen comments in Behringer multiple times now, what did he actually du to deserve this much hate?

My issue with Behringer (and Music Group Music Tribe in general) is related to their level of respect (or lack thereof) of intellectual property. That's pretty hard to stomach for someone who works in engineering. 

 

[Eumel2]

20 hours ago, H713 said:

My issue with Behringer (and Music Group Music Tribe in general) is related to their level of respect (or lack thereof) of intellectual property. That's pretty hard to stomach for someone who works in engineering. 

 

Oh yeah ok that makes sense

[Ariolander]

On 4/20/2022 at 10:44 AM, H713 said:

My issue with Behringer (and Music Group Music Tribe in general) is related to their level of respect (or lack thereof) of intellectual property. That's pretty hard to stomach for someone who works in engineering. 

 

Good news is if you buy used you aren't directly supporting them and aren't giving them any additional money they haven't already received. That was my rationale when picking up a 404HD. Got it at a really good price, $90 shipped for a used unit,

[Ahoy Hoy]

On 4/19/2022 at 2:51 PM, will0hlep said:

Hi all,

 

I'm looking for an Audio interface to use to connect Myriad 5 software on my PC with my DX2000USB Mixer (https://www.behringer.com/product.html?modelCode=P0968). The Audio Interface would need to be capable of giving 4 outputs.

 

Now, the makers of Myriad 5 did use an AUREON XFIRE8.0 HD (https://www.terratec.de/details.php?artnr=12002&lang=en) in their demos but I thought I might as well ask if anyone has any better ideas as the earliest delivery I can find for an AUREON XFIRE8.0 HD is 2-4 weeks.

 

Thanks in adcance.

Can you not use the built in audio interface of the DX2000USB. Its in the name to be fair.

[Heats with Nvidia]

On 4/20/2022 at 3:57 PM, Eumel2 said:

If seen comments in Behringer multiple times now, what did he actually du to deserve this much hate?

Another big problem with many Behringer products is the quality of the really important mechanical parts (or lack threreof) and overall un-repairability. There are many products that use the cheapest faders and potentiometers they can get, which then fail early and these products often are designed to be easily manufactured and really hard to be repaired. Also i have often seen microchips with removed markings and so on... So from my perspective: Many of them fail early and are almost completely unrepairable.

 

Because of that, if you take a Behringer product to a repair shop, many of them will not even try to repair it.

[Ariolander]

7 hours ago, Heats with Nvidia said:

Because of that, if you take a Behringer product to a repair shop, many of them will not even try to repair it.

 

Often Behringer are half to a third the cost of the real product they are knocking off. Of course it will be less worth it to repair a $100 mixer over a $300 mixer in terms of both parts and labor you are better off buying a new one.

 

Behringer make perfectly fine entry level and beginner friendly products. Many space traditionalists dislike how disruptive (and uncaring of IP) they have been but they make perfectly fine products for their price points.

 

If you have a problem with Behringer's build quality then you need to seriously reevaluate your budget and expectations.

 

You don't buy a Behringer expecting a Yamaha.

You but a Behringer expecting a Behringer, and as a plus you get to pay the Behringer price, and everything that entails.

[Heats with Nvidia]

4 hours ago, Ariolander said:

 

Often Behringer are half to a third the cost of the real product they are knocking off. Of course it will be less worth it to repair a $100 mixer over a $300 mixer in terms of both parts and labor you are better off buying a new one.

 

Behringer make perfectly fine entry level and beginner friendly products. Many space traditionalists dislike how disruptive (and uncaring of IP) they have been but they make perfectly fine products for their price points.

 

If you have a problem with Behringer's build quality then you need to seriously reevaluate your budget and expectations.

 

You don't buy a Behringer expecting a Yamaha.

You but a Behringer expecting a Behringer, and as a plus you get to pay the Behringer price, and everything that entails.

My problem with Behringer is more that its very often a much better idea, to just buy a used mixer or whatever you need, for around the same price as the new Behringer product. It will work better and be repairable and not buy something, that is destined for a landfill in just a couple of years. Many of these Behringer products are made in a way that really makes repairs unnecessary expensive, if possible at all. While most older mixers are quite easily fixable, in most cases even for less, than they are still worth.

 

In short: Even most used $100 mixers are a better deal than a new Behringer. And also a lot better for the environment.

[The Flying Sloth]

12 hours ago, Heats with Nvidia said:

In short: Even most used $100 mixers are a better deal than a new Behringer. And also a lot better for the environment.

No, very much no, 
Mixers with USB connectivity usually are single channel recording unless we're talking significantly higher price and quality gear that a Behringer interface, beyond that, the mixer is unlikely to have ASIO drivers and further is likely to be made from the absolute cheapest components available in order to keep the price low while having many many faders / knobs / connectors etc etc.

 

Sure Behringer interfaces aren't exactly the highest quality gear and if I was to compare them like for like against hardware from Motu, UA or RME there is no competition BUT the price is so significantly below those that I often recommend Behringer gear as it is the absolute peak value for money in non-critical environments.

 

I've seen and used Behringer kit in commercial music studios, the ADA8200, BCF2000, Klark Teknik CT1 or Midas M32 (Upgraded Behringer X32) for instance and they do their job damn well, for sure  Behringer gets a bad rap for stealing designs and sure often their products often may not be the pinnacle of quality but much of their kit is damn good for the price and some of it is just damn good full stop.

[Heats with Nvidia]

3 hours ago, The Flying Sloth said:

No, very much no, 
Mixers with USB connectivity usually are single channel recording unless we're talking significantly higher price and quality gear that a Behringer interface, beyond that, the mixer is unlikely to have ASIO drivers and further is likely to be made from the absolute cheapest components available in order to keep the price low while having many many faders / knobs / connectors etc etc.

Ok, mixers with USB Inputs may be good enough. I simply don`t know them at all. I can only write about the stuff that i have seen and worked on/with. And for example the small analog mixers tend to be pretty crappy and their natural state seems to be broken in some way.

Maybe the USB ones are better. Also the Behringer M32 seems to be overall better than the really cheap stuff from Behringer.

Especially the rackmounted version, because it simply doesn`t have the parts that fail the most.

 

Also the Klark Teknik and Midas stuff is from the same company but not 100% optimised for the lowest price and lowest quality that barely survives the warranty period.

 

Even Behringer sometimes has decent products, like some of their older PA amplifiers and DSPs, that were really a bang for the buck product, but the majority, especially analog mixers that i have seen, were made so bad that they barely survived home use for long enough before the fader startet to scratch etc...

 

And yes, i have also seen Behringer stuff in professional studios, but only in some rare occasions its more than a headphone amp and more rarely, this stuff is actually used for a long time. The other brands that are owned by Behringer tend to be more of a mixed bag. Some products are really good, some are not.

[The Flying Sloth]

5 hours ago, Heats with Nvidia said:

Ok, mixers with USB Inputs may be good enough. I simply don`t know them at all. I can only write about the stuff that i have seen and worked on/with. And for example the small analog mixers tend to be pretty crappy and their natural state seems to be broken in some way.

Maybe the USB ones are better. Also the Behringer M32 seems to be overall better than the really cheap stuff from Behringer.

Except that OP isn't looking for Analogue mixers, they're looking for an audio interface..
So when you say

21 hours ago, Heats with Nvidia said:

to just buy a used mixer or whatever you need, for around the same price as the new Behringer product

It's not relevant to this topic unless we begin to talk about mixers, Behringer has the Wing, the X32 and the M32 in ongoing production and they are excellent, there are no similarly priced mixers with flying faders that could be used in a studio, sure we could go back and look at the MIDAS Legend or Heritage line but those mixers only have recall, not motorised faders. Nobody here is defending the quality of the Behringer Xenyx mixers, they suck, as does every other small format mixer in a similar price range and I'm happy to concede that the Xenyx line isn't great, but we are talking about audio interfaces not mixers. 

5 hours ago, Heats with Nvidia said:

Also the Klark Teknik and Midas stuff is from the same company but not 100% optimised for the lowest price and lowest quality that barely survives the warranty period.

The CT1 I mentioned is a solid-state inline mic preamplifier (and I happen to own one) that is built quite rugged if I'm honest and Is built of high enough quality parts that it is no immediately obvious how it could break without serious abuse, the soldering is decent, the case is ~quarter inch solid metal (likely aluminium), the connectors are relatively decent quality too. Sure their clones of high-end compressors aren't great but their EQs are pretty decent and beyond that my argument was only that they make some really nice products that still see use in studios, not that all their products do.

 

5 hours ago, Heats with Nvidia said:

And yes, i have also seen Behringer stuff in professional studios, but only in some rare occasions its more than a headphone amp and more rarely, this stuff is actually used for a long time. The other brands that are owned by Behringer tend to be more of a mixed bag. Some products are really good, some are not.

Then it seems we are in agreement, you concede "Some products are really good, some are not" which is my entire point.

[H713]

Some of their products are decent, others are less so. Depends on what design they stole and what deal they got on parts at the Shenzhen market that week. 

 

On the subject of mixers: I don't care who made it: Don't buy a mixer unless you really need it, and if you do need it, pay up. A mixer is basically a box filled with a few hundred of the least reliable electrical components around - pots, switches and connectors. A good mixer is really nice, but it's going to cost you a pretty penny, and you'll still need a good interface to pair with it.

 

Also, Midas and KT might be better than the stuff branded Behringer, but is a far cry from the Midas or KT that made those names famous. Don't think for a second that the Midas console you buy today has anything in common with an XL4. I really wish they would stop using those old names...

 

In any case, I see Behringer as a bully, but they sell a usable product for a very good price. I won't be buying it, but that doesn't mean their products don't do a passable job. Just remember that they cut costs as far as they can. Look at your application and decide if that's a risk you're willing to take. Sometimes cheap hardware can cost you a fortune.