It's a power issue.
The whine is the USB handshake getting into the audio because the 5V from the computer isn't filtered.
It shows with a lot of USB powered audio interfaces. The same gear, if powered externally, doesn't show the problem. Of course, the Behri isn't USB powered. In this case, it's a ground problem in the computer.
I've got a test cable for such cases. The 5V wire is interrupted and connected to the lab supply set at 5V. That way, you can always power a device externally, even if it doesn't have a power connector. Thta usually solves the problem immediately.
Some mics, like my AKG C451's, draw too much current and behave oddly on any USB powered interface, including my Sound Devices USB Pre. The internal converter that turns 5V into 48V phantom power can't cope. Sometimes, they motor boat, sometimes it takes a minute to power up, sometimes it silently fails.
5V, 500 mA is only 2,5W. A mic preamp needs about 0,5W, the headphone amp needs about one W. There's no "headroom" in the power department.
Of course, some computers can supply a lot more power. But most can't. And USB3 should be able to supply a lot more, but I've seen computers that can't even supply 2,5 W on USB3. If you add a real skinny USB cable, it might drop the 5V to 4V. Not enough juice for the digital parts.
And then, some computers have a bad ground somewhere in the case. Mostly desktops and it can be solved sometimes. I've seen cases where tightening the screw on the ground cable solved it.
The same kind of interference can happen with Wifi and Bluetooth. There was a run of Mac Mini's where a tiny self-adhesive shield was missing or not placed properly and those all had problems with audio interfaces. That was an easy fix, once we knew where to look.
The problem hardly ever shows on Firewire, because FW supplies 9 to 30V and should also supply more current. Macs typically supply 15V, 1A. That's 15W to work with. And FW has better filtering, in general. That said, I've seen PC FW cards that supplied 5V on the FW connector. These will still work with a HD with external power, cause the HD detects the 5V and starts the disk. But it won't work with a FW powered external disk, cause these need 12V too. And it won't work with FW bus powered devices, like an RME FF400, cause that one needs about 11V at least. The internal converter doesn't work below 10V and it only works with 10-11V if there's enough current. FW PC cards that supply 9V in general only supple 1A max. Usually less. Not enough to drive a FF400.
And in some cases, it's a sign of a slowly dying PSU in the computer. Usually due to overheating from dust...