UMC22 Input 2 issues

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sshrinivasan

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Hi all from Vancouver, Canada!

I just starting out my journey to learning to play guitar and sing with some friends on Zoom. To that end, I wanted a way to use a mic and play acoustic guitar (with a passive pickup I borrowed) and transmit that via Zoom when we play along. This is my setup

  1. UMC22 Behringer audio interface connected via USB to my laptop (Windows 10 or MacOS 10.15, I have both)
  2. Behringer XM8500 cheapo dynamic mic connected to the input 1 using XLR
  3. Guitar via the pickup jack connected to input 2 (INST2) directly
  4. Cheapo Monoprice headphones connected to the headphone jack
  5. No DAW on either machine (no GarageBand since its a work Mac)
  6. Using Zoom to test the recording (I know its not a DAW but it should work to test the setup). I just play and sing something, and record it via Zoom.
  7. Also for live listening Im using the headphones connected to the UMC22 via an adapter (3.5mm to 1/4")

I was hoping this setup would allow me to sing, play guitar, and listen to it on the headphones while practicing, but I am having the following issues.
  1. I get no sound from the INST2 acoustic guitar input. After cranking the gain to max, it barely registers the LED and I cant get the CLIP LED at all. Recording on Zoom, no sound.
  2. The mic seems to work. I start a Zoom call and record the mic, and it sounds pretty clear and nice. The Signal LED turns green, and if I crank the gain, the CLIP LED lights up as well. But I'm getting nothing from the headphones when listening "live". I can obviously hear what I recorded when playing it back from the computer, but no live sound as sing.
So to see whether the UMC22 was defective, I have a Fishman Loudbox mini amp. I connected the acoustic guitar to that, and then connected the amp to the UMC22 via XLR. I can get what sounds to me like proper guitar and vocals. I havent played too much with the gain and other settings but I can hear the guitar pretty well on the Zoom recording. Ideally Id like to skip the amp altogether in our online sessions, and only use the interface.

So my questions are
  1. What are some reasons a direct guitar input into the UMC22 is not working? Could it be that the pickup is not great (though it works fine when connecting to the Fishman amp)? For some reason it seems like the signal needs to be boosted (as shown by playing guitar via the amp rather than directly). Another possibility is the INST2 input is broken I guess.
  2. Could it be that I just have crappy headphones, and that the UMC22 isnt strong enough to drive it?

I am pretty tech savvy but definitely not audio savvy, so things like selecting proper inputs in the Zoom and OS settings etc have been checked. However advanced audio stuff like bitrates, stereo and mono channels, sampling rates are pretty new to me.
 
What model is the passive pickup that you have for your guitar? Some basic piezo pickups are very low output. It may be that the pickup is a bit too low for the UMC22 unless the gain is completely maxed. Adding the Loudbox to boost the signal, then recording it would certainly help.

You might see if you can find someone with an active pickup system in a guitar, and see if it gives you more signal to allow you record directly into the 22. It could even be a normal electric guitar. Not having a UMC22, I don't know how sensitive the instrument input is, but most are able to easily be driven by a basic guitar.

The Monoprice headphones you listed are rated at 100dB/mW which should be plenty loud. I doubt that is your problem.
 
I do no quite get all the connotations here (I know nothing of macs but see *) but I might be able to help the OP and 'short circuit' some time wasting frustrations?
I am going to assume Zoom is like Skype in that is is relentlessly "mono" and will also only 'see' input One from an interface. My son had the same problem. He in France, I UK and he talks to me very clearly over a Mackie EM-91c microphone. He also has an SM57 in ch2 of a UMC204D and dad got none of that. When he tapped the mic he got a good level on the interface LED but nothing sent over Skype. I am guessing Zoom is the same.

I then dragged out an A&H ZeD10 USB mixer and rigged two mics to that, both panned to 'left'. He now got both mics. He does not at present have a spare mixer but then it is not often he needs to send two sources.

Now, my usual Skype setup is using a Senneheiser headset, the two 3.5mm jack plugs go into a "TEKNET" dongle and the setup works well. Just for the craic I also plugged in a Citronics LDC USB mic and was rather surprised to find that was routed to ch1 as well and so Skype sent both microphone signals. So, two possible solutions but both I am afraid involve more kit!

*The DAW Reaper can be used directly from a USB stick. I did this to record and play tracks on a company (Vista FCS!) laptop which I was locked out from in terms of installing more programs. "Works mac" suggest to me a similar situation? Try Reaper on a stick. N.B. Won't solve the "ch 2 problem" tho'but.

Dave.
 
To clarify Dave's comments on Zoom - Zoom will see whatever you send to it. There is even a 'stereo' input setting, which will put out separate left and right signals to those with stereo listening setups.

To the OP: Make sure you have 'Inst' selected on the Behringer channel (push button in) and don't have the 'pad' button pushed in.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. Mike B, my interface does not have INST and PAD buttons. As for the input on Zoom, I believe I have set that up correctly, since I get proper vocals and guitar if I go through my amplifier first and then the interface for the guitar, as opposed to going into the interface directly. So it seems like I am missing signal level on my guitar when plugged in directly, as TalismanRich above suggested.

I still have not figured out why I cant get audio out of my headphones while the mic is plugged in, but that an issue for another day (even if I dont use the guitar at all, I would expect to be able to hear my vocals through the headphones). The computer can clearly year the audio since my Zoom recordings sound great, they just dont seem to come out of the headphones.
 
Not knowing all the settings you are using right now, this info might be valuable. You SHOULD be able to hear both channels.

Important: On Windows, Zoom will only be able to receive audio from the first two inputs of an audio device. This is because it does not support multi-channel ASIO driver types. You will need to ensure that you connect your microphone or instrument to Input 1 or 2.

By default, Zoom will sum these inputs to mono. This means your caller can hear both inputs in both sides of their headphones/speakers. If you are recording a stereo source and wish for the caller to hear Input 1 in the left side and Input 2 in the right side of their headphones/speakers, you can select Enable Stereo sound in the Audio Settings tab of Zoom.


mceclip3.png
 
I think I will start with one device at a time. For starters, I want to focus on the mic. There is no guitar input, just the mic into the UMC22, and headphones. Even that I cannot hear on the headphones, so I'll focus on that first. Im not sure where the problem lies, since I know the headphone jack does work (when I play audio from my Zoom recording on the laptop through the UMC22, I can hear it on the headphones)
 
You should be able to direct monitor by hitting the direct monitor button and then turning up the output knob. That reroutes the input straight to the headphone jack, so there is no delay from routing through the computer. If that works (it should) then you can turn the direct monitoring off and if you don't hear anything, check the routing in your Zoom software and in Windows. Make sure you have the proper outputs selected.
 
I wish that worked! Thats the first issue, no Direct Monitor headphone sound. Ill try a better headphone and/or adapter
 
Ha it was the adapter after all. Got a different one from Amazon and it works fine. Thanks for your help!
 
Sometimes it turns out to be the simplest of things. Glad it's working for you now.
 
True. However that only solves one part of the problem. I still need to figure out the low line input to INST2 for my acoustic guitar, but at least now I can work with it if I go through the amplifier first. Would be nice to not have to use the big amp and only use the interface. Ill try a different pickup and also an electric guitar, hope that will help.
 
A lot of Amazon reviews indicating that input 2's gain is fairly minimal for passive instrument input.
 
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