Quick and dirty PC audio interface for songwriters
By Don • Oct 10th, 2006 • Category: Songwriting Advice
We have talked before about quick and easy ways to capture audio, and if you already have some recording software on your computer, Behringer has just released a cool little USB audio interface box called the U-Control, that I have been using – with decent results. For under $30, it’s not a bad deal.
Previously I had an M-Audio FastTrack, and was disappointed with the latency when trying to dub new tracks in my recording software. The marketing material from Behringer suggested their little interface might not have this problem. The reviews on Musician’s Friend were actually pretty favorable as well.
So when I got it I plugged it in to the USB port on the back of my laptop. Windows XP immediately recognized the device and when I opened my recording software, I was already getting signal perfectly.
So I setup a microphone and ran it through my little mixer and recorded a quick guitar part. I then went back and threw some vocals on track 2. Then I overdubbed a counter-melody with my lap steel. Sweet! Worked like a charm with no latency.
It is a VERY inexpensive device, so the only inputs and outputs are limited to RCA jacks only. You will need some adapter cables if you want to run a microphone directly into the device. There is a “headphone out” as well, so this helps with the monitoring process.
Anyways, my experience with the Behringer U-Control has been very positive. Even after I get my Digidesign Pro-Tools rig, I still plan on keeping the U-Control as a backup.
(Affiliate Link)
Behringer U-CONTROL UCA202 USB-Audio Interface at Musician’s Friend
Tons of used and new recording interfaces at Recordster.com
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Don is the founder, writer and editor of BloggingMuses.com. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina, USA.
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So… what does it actually do? Why use this instead of recording through your soundcard?
There’s a few reasons actually. My main reasons were (1) my soundcard wasn’t that great, and (2) the amount of wacky adapters for the various cables to get down to 1/8-inch stereo cable was getting a bit ridiculous and were sometimes so bulky I couldn’t run my audio out (again 1/8-inch stereo) because the thick adapters and y-connectors got in the way, and (3) everything is arranged nicely on the U-Control – RCA Out/In as well as a headphone jack. (4) I can run a vocal mic into the left channel and an instrument mic (like an acoustic guitar for example) into the right channel and have to “almost” isolated channels in a live recording scenario. That makes for GREAT SOUNDING acoustic demos (in my opinion).
I suppose if you have a laptop designed with well-spaced ports and an ultra-high end soundcard that will work just fine without an audio interface. But my regular laptop was not designed for audio recording (although it has a lot of processing power and RAM). Plus, for less than $30 it made sense to spring for the U-Control.
Does that answer your question?
Yup, makes sense. Thanks for the clarification. I just hadn’t encountered such devices before, that’s all.