[LAU] Question about Behringer UCA202 USB audio device

[Giso Grimm]

Fons Adriaensen wrote:
> On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 11:10:28AM +0100, Arnold Krille wrote:
>> Which might be true for the digital part. But my general experience with that 
>> specific manufacturer is that the over-all design both in electronics and in 
>> other hardware is not as good as the originals they are copying. Begins with 
>> cheaper plastics for the knobs, goes on with not-top-of-the-line pre-amplifiers 
>> and doesn't end with cross-talk from the pfl-listening into the pre-fader-aux 
> 
> Last year I did some equivalent input noise measurements on 
> the mic inputs of various interfaces, including a Behringer
> Ultragain Pro 8.
> 
> To my surprise, noise level was not bad at all _at full gain_.
> But the spectrum at max gain, which should be flat, had some 
> strange bumps (I really wonder how they do it). Also, a good
> mic preamp should have roughly the same EIN over a range
> of at least 20 dB below max gain, but Behringer's goes up
> very fast once you move the gain knob. This indicates very
> bad analog design. And then there are the cheap gain pots
> with their silly mechanical detents. Moving one notch down
> can give you anything between -5 and -15 dB below the max,
> and in the upper range even matching to channels for a 
> stereo mic is almost impossible. Again this is bad design.

Also about a year ago I measured frequency response, total harmonic
distortion (over the full dynamic range) and noise floor for a number of
aduio interfaces, including Behringer Ultragain Pro 8 digital, and RME
ADI8 Pro. I did only look at technical performance, not at handling. The
difference between those two was surprisingly small, except for the THD,
which was significantly higher for Behringer especially at high gain. I
did not observe extremely strange frequency responses at the Behringer,
only a small ripple (below 0.3 dB). I cannot find the data right now. If
I find it I can send it to the list (or present it at LAC, my
presentation there will include delay measurements of audio devices anyway).

Giso