fwrunner2017
New member
Hi all;
I am not a professional, but enjoy making "radio /dj style" mixes and adding fx to songs I have ripped from cd's or purchased one way or another.
I am currently using the on-board sound system on my Windows 7 (also have Win 10 dual boot) system, which is Realtek "High Definition" and uses the ALC892 chip.
I have been playing around with the trial version of Reaper, and have found that my sound system has too much latency to record anything live (I thought I might want to connect a microphone, or use a line-in source). I installed ASIO4ALL, VB VoiceMeeter Banana, and VB Virtual Audio Cable so I could have Reaper running with ASIO and still hear other Windows audio (like YouTube tutorial vids). This setup works fine for me, but I definitely think I need a better audio system.
I prefer the Interface rather than a PCI card; mainly because it is almost impossible for me to get behind my PC to connect or disconnect a cable without falling into the mess and breaking everything... and because I don't want to be stuck to PCI if my next PC build doesn't have PCI slots (I've read that PCI is disappearing in favour of PCIE).
As for input/outputs, I need line-in so I can connect various devices that have line level outputs. I don't have any instruments at all. I know that the Behringer UMC202HD can be set to either instrument or line level, which would work perfectly for me. And having the mic preamp would be nice, since I might want to play around with recording my own voice and adding fx.
I'm not sure what the difference between Line and Instrument and Mic levels are. Both the Behringer and the Steinberg have buttons to set the input impedance (Behringer labels theirs Line/Inst, while Steinberg calls it High-Z). I am going to assume that either of these products will work.
So here I am thinking that I am going to have to spend $200 or more on a decent Audio Interface, when I Google the term, and come up with so much info that I feel overwhelmed.
I found that I can now buy a Behringer U-Phoria UMC202HD for only $60, or a Steinberg UR-22 for $150.
The Steinberg UR-22 comes with Cubase AI6, while the Behringer UMC202HD comes with Traktion (now a free) DAW. Some reviews I have read say that they would choose the Steinberg if only for the fact that it comes with Cubase. I have never played with Cubase - only Reaper and Audacity (I don't really consider Audacity a DAW though), and for a few days I played with Magix Music Maker, and for a far more brief period I gave FL a spin. FL was too confusing for me, and far more than I want. I did install Traktion, but could not get it to work on my computer. I don't know why that was.
One nice thing is that if I were to purchase the Steinberg UR-22 with Cubase included, I would save the $60 I were going to spend to purchase Reaper.
Anyway, I'm asking you about hardware and here I am talking about the software. That said, I also read that Steinberg's drivers are more reliable than Behringer's.
So, what's your opinion?
Thanks
FW
Edit: Downloaded and installed trial of Cubase LE AI Elements 9 and for the life of me I will never use this software. I don't know how this version (the only one I could do a trial on) compares to what you get free with Steinberg hardware, but if that isn't a whole lot more intuitive then it is worthless to me.
That is one thing I have come to like about Reaper. sure -= it won't do anywhere near as much as Cubase will, but it does what I want and it does it well.
Also, to run Cubase, I would need to change my whole Windows desktop. When I first ran it, I got a notice that I needed to use one of the Windows 7 Aero themes. That is just weird. I have never run any software that would not run on the basic theme.
Not that this would be a deal-breaker. Whether or not I choose Steinberg over Behringer hardware is really not going to be decided by the software it includes. I just thought that, if I could use Cubase AI instead of Reaper, I would save the $60 license for Reaper - but I see that isn't going to happen.
I am not a professional, but enjoy making "radio /dj style" mixes and adding fx to songs I have ripped from cd's or purchased one way or another.
I am currently using the on-board sound system on my Windows 7 (also have Win 10 dual boot) system, which is Realtek "High Definition" and uses the ALC892 chip.
I have been playing around with the trial version of Reaper, and have found that my sound system has too much latency to record anything live (I thought I might want to connect a microphone, or use a line-in source). I installed ASIO4ALL, VB VoiceMeeter Banana, and VB Virtual Audio Cable so I could have Reaper running with ASIO and still hear other Windows audio (like YouTube tutorial vids). This setup works fine for me, but I definitely think I need a better audio system.
I prefer the Interface rather than a PCI card; mainly because it is almost impossible for me to get behind my PC to connect or disconnect a cable without falling into the mess and breaking everything... and because I don't want to be stuck to PCI if my next PC build doesn't have PCI slots (I've read that PCI is disappearing in favour of PCIE).
As for input/outputs, I need line-in so I can connect various devices that have line level outputs. I don't have any instruments at all. I know that the Behringer UMC202HD can be set to either instrument or line level, which would work perfectly for me. And having the mic preamp would be nice, since I might want to play around with recording my own voice and adding fx.
I'm not sure what the difference between Line and Instrument and Mic levels are. Both the Behringer and the Steinberg have buttons to set the input impedance (Behringer labels theirs Line/Inst, while Steinberg calls it High-Z). I am going to assume that either of these products will work.
So here I am thinking that I am going to have to spend $200 or more on a decent Audio Interface, when I Google the term, and come up with so much info that I feel overwhelmed.
I found that I can now buy a Behringer U-Phoria UMC202HD for only $60, or a Steinberg UR-22 for $150.
The Steinberg UR-22 comes with Cubase AI6, while the Behringer UMC202HD comes with Traktion (now a free) DAW. Some reviews I have read say that they would choose the Steinberg if only for the fact that it comes with Cubase. I have never played with Cubase - only Reaper and Audacity (I don't really consider Audacity a DAW though), and for a few days I played with Magix Music Maker, and for a far more brief period I gave FL a spin. FL was too confusing for me, and far more than I want. I did install Traktion, but could not get it to work on my computer. I don't know why that was.
One nice thing is that if I were to purchase the Steinberg UR-22 with Cubase included, I would save the $60 I were going to spend to purchase Reaper.
Anyway, I'm asking you about hardware and here I am talking about the software. That said, I also read that Steinberg's drivers are more reliable than Behringer's.
So, what's your opinion?
Thanks
FW
Edit: Downloaded and installed trial of Cubase LE AI Elements 9 and for the life of me I will never use this software. I don't know how this version (the only one I could do a trial on) compares to what you get free with Steinberg hardware, but if that isn't a whole lot more intuitive then it is worthless to me.
That is one thing I have come to like about Reaper. sure -= it won't do anywhere near as much as Cubase will, but it does what I want and it does it well.
Also, to run Cubase, I would need to change my whole Windows desktop. When I first ran it, I got a notice that I needed to use one of the Windows 7 Aero themes. That is just weird. I have never run any software that would not run on the basic theme.
Not that this would be a deal-breaker. Whether or not I choose Steinberg over Behringer hardware is really not going to be decided by the software it includes. I just thought that, if I could use Cubase AI instead of Reaper, I would save the $60 license for Reaper - but I see that isn't going to happen.
Last edited: