Behringer umc1820 v Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 2ndGen

[merlyn]

One difference between Music Tribe and Focusrite PLC is that Music Tribe is a private company, and Focusrite is a public company, i.e. Focusrite has shareholders.

[ef37a]

One difference between Music Tribe and Focusrite PLC is that Music Tribe is a private company, and Focusrite is a public company, i.e. Focusrite has shareholders.

The point being? And, AFAIK Focusrite have never ripped off my old employer's amp designs!

Dave.

[tea for two]

I have now been offered a Focusrite 18i20 3rd gen for cheap money

I just watched Julian Krause's review of 3rd gen 18i20 Scarlett.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zUkdO7sow ... gyMA%3D%3D
Has button on front to choose between Line and Instrument for the front 2 inputs : which is better than having to do with software which on my Clarett 2pre usb mk1 I had to use software drove me round the bend lol.

Prolly the main thing from the review Julian mentioned to use higher than 80 Ohm impedance headphones for the headphone outs else if lower impedance might get some distortion.

Presonus 1824C is another option butt Julian didn't review it. Sonics likes uses Presonus.

[merlyn]

One difference between Music Tribe and Focusrite PLC is that Music Tribe is a private company, and Focusrite is a public company, i.e. Focusrite has shareholders.

The point being? And, AFAIK Focusrite have never ripped off my old employer's amp designs!

Dave.

Is it not cricket, old chap? For business in general it hasn't been cricket for a long, long time.

[Arpangel]

The Berry "does not" have built in dynamics or any effects at all.

definitely, maybe it comes with access to a Behringer bundle of VST things for DAW use ?

I would expect so. The G4M site says, "Free audio recording, editing & podcasting software with 150 instrument/effect plug-ins at Behringer.com"

It doesn’t have built in software DSP, end of story.

[ef37a]

One difference between Music Tribe and Focusrite PLC is that Music Tribe is a private company, and Focusrite is a public company, i.e. Focusrite has shareholders.

The point being? And, AFAIK Focusrite have never ripped off my old employer's amp designs!

Dave.

Is it not cricket, old chap? For business in general it hasn't been cricket for a long, long time.

Are you saying Merlyn that copying other companies products has been going on so long now that it has become acceptable? If so then I strongly disagree. When I was a R&TV service tech there were perhaps half a dozen big firms making CTVs. Some convergence of design is inevitable, the end result is the same and in any case most of them had to drive the same CRT. But, the power, line and vertical scanning circuitry was all quite different. Indeed it seem a point of pride that each boffin dept would roll their own!

I can accept that the internals of a valve guitar amplifier cannot stray far from the valve data books but there is no excuse for making a clone copy of a competitor's front and back panel and cabinet style! Right down to the 'king knobs.

Dave.

[merlyn]

As Nigel said, Enough! but of all the things on earth to get one's knickers in a knot about, the provenance of Music Tribe audio electronics isn't one of them.

[ef37a]

As Nigel said, Enough! but of all the things on earth to get one's knickers in a knot about, the provenance of Music Tribe audio electronics isn't one of them.

Well...Ee started it!

Dave.

[OneWorld]

I have now been offered a Focusrite 18i20 3rd gen for cheap money

I just watched Julian Krause's review of 3rd gen 18i20 Scarlett.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zUkdO7sow ... gyMA%3D%3D
Has button on front to choose between Line and Instrument for the front 2 inputs : which is better than having to do with software which on my Clarett 2pre usb mk1 I had to use software drove me round the bend lol.

Prolly the main thing from the review Julian mentioned to use higher than 80 Ohm impedance headphones for the headphone outs else if lower impedance might get some distortion.

Presonus 1824C is another option butt Julian didn't review it. Sonics likes uses Presonus.

Thanks for the heads up about the Presonus, that too seems worth a look.

[sonics]

Yep, I'm a fan of the PreSonus Studio range. I have several. You could probably find an older USB-A model used at a reasonable price. They updated the range and simply changed the connector to a USB-C one, IIRC. (For example the 1824 became the 1824C.)

A few years ago I compared one against some much more expensive interfaces and was very happy with the performance for the comparatively low price.

[Arpangel]

One difference between Music Tribe and Focusrite PLC is that Music Tribe is a private company, and Focusrite is a public company, i.e. Focusrite has shareholders.

The point being? And, AFAIK Focusrite have never ripped off my old employer's amp designs!

Dave.

Is it not cricket, old chap? For business in general it hasn't been cricket for a long, long time.

Behringer are just cashing in on one of the most important aspects of business, cheaper always sells, quality comes second place, and in Behringer's case the quality is "good enough"
It's not just poor young bedroom producers that cant afford anything else, I went to a big studio recently, and there was loads of Behringer stuff there, mainly synths, all of the Behringer range, that freaked me out.

[N i g e l]

in the interest of balance, I should point out, that I think the focusrite comes with free VST stuff as well.

not fact checked but possibly...

- Antares Auto-Tune Access
- Relab LX480 Essentials
- Softube Marshall Silver Jubilee 2555
- XLN Audio Addictive Keys
- XLN Audio Addictive Drums 2
- Focusrite Red Plug-in Suite
- Brainworx bx_console Focusrite SC
- 2-month subscription to Landr Studio and five free masters to be used any time

[howen]

I want to buy a spare audio interface for an experimental DAW setup.

I looked about and saw a review of Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 2ndGen in SOS Mag from some years ago, giving the Focusrite absolutely glowing comments, happy to work right down to 32 samples. Good support, quality build, sounds impressive. I have owned Focusrite before and was pleased.

However I saw a user review of the Behringer umc1820,m abnd the user, a pro user by the way, said he was astounded at just how good it was, both in build quality and the sound.

Additionally the Berry has DSP effects and dynamics, very useful I would have thought. Thing is I see very few other reviews

Has anyone experience of either of these interfaces? I just missed a Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 2ndGen on eBay for £200, the seller stating it was in 'as new' condition, I think I missed a bargain there, there are a couple of Berries at £200

I have the 2ndGen Scarlett, their 3rd gen seems to take one step forward but a huge leap backwards. The new front panel with touch and just strange changes might cause me to change.

The loopback is a nice feature but the way they redesigned the front is just a no go.

[OneWorld]

I want to buy a spare audio interface for an experimental DAW setup.

I looked about and saw a review of Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 2ndGen in SOS Mag from some years ago, giving the Focusrite absolutely glowing comments, happy to work right down to 32 samples. Good support, quality build, sounds impressive. I have owned Focusrite before and was pleased.

However I saw a user review of the Behringer umc1820,m abnd the user, a pro user by the way, said he was astounded at just how good it was, both in build quality and the sound.

Additionally the Berry has DSP effects and dynamics, very useful I would have thought. Thing is I see very few other reviews

Has anyone experience of either of these interfaces? I just missed a Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 2ndGen on eBay for £200, the seller stating it was in 'as new' condition, I think I missed a bargain there, there are a couple of Berries at £200

I have the 2ndGen Scarlett, their 3rd gen seems to take one step forward but a huge leap backwards. The new front panel with touch and just strange changes might cause me to change.

The loopback is a nice feature but the way they redesigned the front is just a no go.

I actually settled on a too good to miss deal, a used but TASCAM US-16x08 £60 and it works an absolute treat. Very basic, but's that's how I like 'em. Installation was a breeze, and I can work down to 32 samples with it even breaking into a sweat. And having 10 inputs is just perfect, as I have 2 mincs and 4 hardware synths

The cost was only £60 and yes it is legit, not a fallen off the back of a lorry

[Drew Stephenson]

I have one of those and agree that they're solid bits of kit. Works as a useful standalone pre-amp as well.

[raidfire]

A word or 2 on USB-C and claims to lower latency.

Usb-c is made to be backwards compatible so you can use a usb-c to usb-A/B/mini/micro cable but and this is a big big but...

USB-C is the first generation of USB that allows active cabling, if you buy a 10$ usb-c to usb-anything cable it will be a straight thru cable just like an audio cable, if you pay many more bucks for an active cable inside the connector at each end is at least 1 processor, ram, several power supplies, they can ask a device how much current it requires but the advantage for audio devices that affect latency is the processor looks at the incoming data and packages it for transmission (similar to ethernet) then the connector at the other end unpackages it and passes it to the device resulting in a much smoother and higher data rate, if they claim lower latency with the usb-c usb-c connection then the bundled cable must be active. This high speed active 'mode' only works if both ends are connected to a USB-C port with no adapters.

Adam savage (mythbusters guy) has a good video on his your tube channel showing a CT Scan of 10$ vs 130$, the 130$ has 7 layers of circuit boards in each connector, the 10$ has nothing.

[sonics]

Thanks for your input, but the interfaces under discussion are both USB 2.0 devices...


Perhaps a new thread to discuss USB3 and latency might be more useful, if that's what you wish to do.