Member
Joined 2003
M2 is much better choice than Behringer.
I did not tested it but I have read some reports.
In September I will publish new ARTA release 1.9.7., that brings some new features, among others the better to compatibilita with sound card hardware and drivers. It is especially important for low priced high quality sound cards. Most of these souncards have slow responsive drivers to change of sampling frequency.
In ARTA version 1.9.7 a special delay can be inserted to bypass that transient time.
I hope that it will make M2 almost a perfect.
Ivo
I did not tested it but I have read some reports.
In September I will publish new ARTA release 1.9.7., that brings some new features, among others the better to compatibilita with sound card hardware and drivers. It is especially important for low priced high quality sound cards. Most of these souncards have slow responsive drivers to change of sampling frequency.
In ARTA version 1.9.7 a special delay can be inserted to bypass that transient time.
I hope that it will make M2 almost a perfect.
Ivo
I had some cheap ones that fit the boot on paper. The stupid driver's made them unusable for measuring purpose. Read the reviews from customers at large retailers before ordering. May give you an idea about software and latency problems, what ever that will do to ruin your day.
PS I send back a Behringer and some other low cost interface. Then took 50$ in my hand and now everything is fine.
PS I send back a Behringer and some other low cost interface. Then took 50$ in my hand and now everything is fine.
Member
Joined 2003
I would not say so. If you are not chasing the ultimate THD zeros, it is worth its money, simple and does its job.
Member
Joined 2003
The cross talk can be addressed with a fairly simple mod.
behringer-uca202-fixing-the-low-frequency-cross-talk
Member
Joined 2003
No argument here.
But isn't this diyAudio where people thrive on fixing and modding bargain products?
Can you provide an example of another(better?) product in the $30 price range with 2 inputs, 2 outputs, plus SPDIF output?
That would be awesome.
I have tried quite some cheap USB interfaces, as I neeed more of them. I don't like ripping them out of the chain for mobile measurements. They all had software/ driver problems, too much distortion or noise. Maybe doing the fix in the Behringer might be an option, if you want cheap and your time + loosing warranty doesn't care.
Consider buying used. I got a Focusrite 2i2 for 65€, very close to the Beringer including P&P.
If you don't measure distortion, just frequency response, the built in Realtec sound chips are quite good, as any software has a compensation function build in.
So you may just need a pre for powering your microphone or one for USB.
Consider buying used. I got a Focusrite 2i2 for 65€, very close to the Beringer including P&P.
If you don't measure distortion, just frequency response, the built in Realtec sound chips are quite good, as any software has a compensation function build in.
So you may just need a pre for powering your microphone or one for USB.
I said 15-20 bucks more.
You won't find anything for $30.
But there are many for around 45-55.
The Behringer UMC202-HD can sometimes be found on sale for $89.99 USD. Mine is perfectly serviceable for taking frequency response measurements. I had a usable dynamic range greater than 80 dB, and given my in-room ambient noise level was never better than 35 dB SPL, 80 dB SNR is plenty. I was able to get distortion measurements down to 0.4%, which is good enough to reveal problems. I think it is a good option for people on a budget.
Might that be what leads to weird signal form in sine bursts in STEPS when I do a distortion limited Max. SPL run at 192 kHz (needed to measure HF response) on a native (Windows) 48 kHz setting?
Can be heard here:
Signal form looks like:
While we're at it, I also have a minor bug report: in ARTA, in SPA Mode, in the Signal Generator Setup, after I've loaded a filter once, from then on setting the Output Filter for Multitone will automatically select my microphone calibration file, and I have to manually switch to the actual output filter each time I start ARTA.
If someone still uses a desktop PC, the Sound Blaster Audigy internal soundcards have incredible good data at a very moderate price point.
I know that SB is not considered to be a high quality product by many pro's, but they know how to do hardware.
Today I use only laptops, so no more SB, but I never again saw so low distortion and noise numbers on any external, bus powered USB interface.
I know that SB is not considered to be a high quality product by many pro's, but they know how to do hardware.
Today I use only laptops, so no more SB, but I never again saw so low distortion and noise numbers on any external, bus powered USB interface.
Member
Joined 2003
Many on-board sound on PC motherboards can be quite decent these days. I have an ASUS TUF B550m motherboard where the on-board audio is very decent apart from a brick wall filter at 20kHz. Still missing phantom power for condenser mic, so USB audio interface is the obvious plug and play solution.
FWIW, here's the distortion numbers on my external, bus powered USB interface (Motu M4).
Loopback measured at 2V output, input level adjusted for about -3dBFS.