Behringer U-Control UCA222 USB Audio Interface

I record live musical instruments using Audacity on the computer and needed a solution to the problem that Windows 7 has an inherent audio latency defect. When using the Line In audio jacks on a PC with Windows 7 there is about a quarter of a second delay between the time you hit a note on an instrument or sing into a microphone and when you hear the sound come out of your speakers. This makes Windows 7 useless for live recording or karaoke applications. Microsoft’s tech support went so far as to suggest that the problem can be solved by using a shorter cable between the mixer and the PC. My rough calculations show that the cable would have to be 46,500 miles long to cause a quarter second delay, but that’s getting off the point, which is to review this Behringer USB device and not to criticize, no matter how justly, the arrogance of Microsoft.

The UCA 222 is described as an ultra low latency audio interface. Since high latency is the problem I was trying to solve, 30 bucks or so seemed like a reasonable gamble to me.

When I received the UCA 222 I first tried to run the driver setup on the provided CD. It didn’t work, giving an error message that the setup wasn’t functional for Windows 7. I couldn’t find any Windows 7 or 64 bit OS version of the setup program on the CD. So I thought, what the heck, I’ll just plug it into the PC and see what happens. Voila! Windows said it detected and installed the device with no problem. I thought, hmm, fine, but let’s see if it actually works. I hooked up the mixer and my headphones and picked up a guitar for a test. Bingo, no latency problem so far. The notes are coming through as fast as I can play them.

The next test was to actually record a new track in Audacity playing along with a pre-recorded track and see if there is any latency.

Ugh, the same old quarter of a second delay showed up in the recording. However, Audacity – and most recording software – has a latency control where you can adjust it’s latency period. With a little trial and error I found that setting it to -275 resulted in perfect synchronization between recorded and live tracks. THIS SOLUTION DID NOT WORK PRIOR TO GETTING THE UCA222. No latency or buffer adjustment in Audacity was able to eliminate the delay.

So…. I’m a happy consumer. This low cost UCA222 gizmo from Behringer did exactly what I hoped it would, and solved a difficult problem which was rendering my expensive new PC more or less useless. Furthermore, no setup was needed. Just plug it in and you’re good to go!

Speaking of plugs, the USB cable on the UCA222 is about 5 feet long (I haven’t actually measured it, just an approximation) so there’s plenty of length to route it around from your computer to somewhere else on a typical office-sized desk. The UCA222 is small and light, though, so you might want to use some velcro to keep it in place wherever you locate it.

There are, however, a few points to consider before purchasing this product. First of all, when it’s plugged into your PC, it routes all of the PC sound through itself, instead of through the Line Out and Headphone jacks of your PC. If you have a 5.1 or 7.1 sound card with analog jacks to a sound system with front, rear, side, and sub-woofer speakers you won’t get any sound out of them while the UCA222 is plugged in. (The sound comes back when you unplug it, though.) So if you want to hear sound through speakers you have to hook your sound system up through RCA jacks on the UCA222 and those are only single Left and Right channels. This wasn’t a problem for me since I use a different PA system for live monitoring but it could be an issue for someone else.

The other thing is that the speakers don’t shut off when you plug your headphones into it. Again, this isn’t a deal breaker for me since my sound system has a mute button on the remote, so it’s not too much effort to just mute the speakers when I want to.

The UCA222 comes “massively” bundled with a bunch of audio effects software on a CD, mostly freeware stuff you can download off the net. I looked at it, but there was nothing really of use to me, personally. But I got this thing for the hardware, not the software, anyway.

All in all, if you want a very simple low cost solution to the Windows 7 audio latency problem when recording live input from an external mixer, and can live with plain old stereo instead of surround sound output, or with having to unplug the UCA222 when you do want to just listen to your surround sound system, or you don’t mind the headphones not automatically muting the speakers, then, like me, you will be very satisfied with the performance, and simplicity of installation, of this product.

Pode comprar sem medo funciona muito bem

Excellent product. I am using it for long. Excellent product. Best solution to connect our musical instruments to mixer units and Laptop for professional recording. There are different connectivity options and provision to connect headset for monitoring purchase, that too with a volume control option.

Me gusta la interfaz, en windows dice que la calidad de audio sólo alcanza a calidad de DVD, pero siento que con esa calidad basta para hacer grabaciones sencillas o capturar audio en general, ya si necesitas aún más calidad de audio, yo creo que están las behringer uphoria.