Behringer U-Phoria UM2

I use the UM2 for connecting to my iMac for recording and controlling both Guitar and Mic inputs.

It is basically just plug and play. In Logic Pro X you are presented with two Inputs (1 & 2), 1 goes for Mic/Line 1 and 2 for Instrument fx. Guitar). Both inputs gain can easily be adjusted by the two knobs on the UM2. Sound quality from inputs are really good. Using the UM2 as sound output on the iMac is quiet nice, as the iMac has no other output than headphones or Bluetooth, where BT has a delay, using the UM2 there basically isn't any delay. My speakers have analogue RCA input, which works well with the UM2. Output sound quality is good, which means that the UM2 has a good D/A converter build in. Monitoring is also nice, it can be used easily to monitor the inputs directly throug headphones. I'm using both acoustic Western Guitar and Electric Guitar with the UM2, and the result for clean sound is awesome.

Pros/Cons: Build quality is actually quiet good, though the knobs would have gotten a better "touch" if there were made en metal instead of plastic, but that is just a cosmetic feel. It is very easy to use and adjust. It's good it has signal LED's to show when it can register signal, and it also has a clip LED so you easy can adjust input gain to a normalized level.

I am new to using instruments through the computer, but this made it really easy to get started.

This was my first ever audio interface. It was with this piece of equipment i learned how to record takes. It opened up a whole new world of possibilities.

It did not take long however untill I was left craving for more. It frustrated me that the sound I got into my DAW was not the same I heard from my instruments.

The interface has a very loud and distinct self-noise, almost chime like in the upper register. This annoying rattle becomes unbearable even when the knobs are set at the half-way point .

Despite the fact that I don’t trust this piece of equipment enough to create music with it; I can not deny the fact that it truly is plug and play. It has ‘industry-standard’ features which familiarizes the newbeginner with different parts of the process of recording stuff.

I say this, but I still remember having to spend a considerable amount of time installing ASIO drivers to make this thing work as i wanted it to when switching to Windows. (I suppose this is mostly a windows-problem rather than the interface’s fault, as it worked flawlessly together with my old trusty mac).

I also had difficulty setting it up for live streaming. But again, I don’t know if this is due to the interface’s manufacturing or other factors outside of Behringer’s control.

I have mixed feeling about this piece of equipment, as by the time I finally decided to upgrade, I’ve been through it all, and learned a lot about many things, which helped me make a well informed choice. In other words it was the perfect entry interface for me personally. At that point I’ve used this device on a weekly basis for more than 2 years.

But I would not recommend this to anybody who actually plans to use this to create stuff, as it will not do your takes justice.

I would recommend this to someone on a tight budget with a lot of free time, who wants to start experimenting, and better understand what it means to record stuff. But not necesarily record anything on a professional level.

It pains me to give it 2 stars, considering how much priceless experience I’ve got out of it myself. But it simply does not hold up to my needs no more.

The UM2 is a simple but effective interface that definitely does what you need to.

I had this coupled with an AT2020 and haven't had any issues with compatibility at all over the years. The only fault I could find was that if you raised your sound output to about 75% in the sound settings of your computer, you might find some static coming through your headphones/speakers. I tested this with my microphone unplugged so it's possible that Win10 might be argumentative at times.

Even with that, I can't fault it. It does what you need as a starter for any mic that needs phantom power and simple enough even for the newest of techies.

This audio interface works well and provides good sound quality in my opinion, it's my first and only interface so I can't really compare though.

The body and knobs are all plastic with only some bits of metal around the ports. It doesn't feel cheap though and I don't see it randomly breaking. Having both a jack and rca output is pretty nice too.

The biggest issue is that getting it to work was a bit confusing. Behringer doesn't provide official Windows drivers for this device anymore so I had to use asio4all. I either had incredibly high delay or a distorted crackling sound. I don't know a thing about sound sample rate and buffer size so I might be doing something wrong.

Overall I like the UM2, but if you're ok with spending a little more money I think it's definitely worth it getting something better and more up to date, asio4all is a pain to deal with.

Edit: A much better alternative to asio4all is to actually use the deprecated legacy drivers. They're easily found on Reddit or also available on the Behringer archive download pages if you're willing to search for it. Using the old Behringer driver allows for way better latency and also doesn't use exclusive mode, which means you can actually play along with a youtube backing track now.
I use Windows 11 and I have 5.3ms input lag at 256 samples in Tonelib.

Added a 5th star because I was simply using the device incorrectly