Behringer ADA8200 Microphone Preamp Black

I'm a “one man band” Multi-Instrumentalist operating out of a well-equipped home studio, playing and recording each instrument individually. It's not unusual that one of my productions consumes 25 tracks or more. My previous recorder was a standalone Tascam DP-32SD. Although this is a great unit for home studio starters, following the actual recording I had to export tracks, transfer them to my PC via USB, then mix/master the completed song using my Windows-based DAW. While this worked okay, the process was getting to be quite the tedious hassle, not to mention the fact that REAPER (in my opinion, the best DAW on the planet) has so much more recording function than the Tascam standalone it's almost unbelievable. That said, I decided to purchase a Behringer UMC1820 and give direct-to-DAW recording a try. Man, the difference was like night and day, especially sampling at 48kHz/24-bit. Plus, all of the required post-processing work I previously discussed is now a thing of the past. The only remaining problem was, I use 8 drum microphones. This required cabling my mixer to one of the UMC1820 inputs to accommodate the 8th sub-kick drum microphone, and all other instruments. So, I took it a step further, purchased a Behringer ADA8200 and attached it to the UMC1820 as a slave using Toslink fiber cables, providing me with 8 additional inputs. I should note that Windows and REAPER immediately picked both interfaces up without the need to install any additional drivers whatsoever... They're truly plug-and-play. To avoid being redundant and going over all the features of these two excellent interfaces which are already listed on their product pages, I think it would be much more beneficial to continue discussing my personal experience with them, along with the end results. This configuration has allowed me to totally dedicate the UMC1820 to my drum microphones, and use the ADA8200 for all other instruments. I was also able to keep my mixer involved by cabling it to one of the inputs on the latter interface. I then topped the whole thing off by mounting them both in a “Procraft 2U 9" Deep Equipment Rack”. This is one super-high quality rack, and an incredible value: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CDG8QLI/ The bottom line: Between these two interfaces I now have 16 MIDAS pre-amplified XLR/TRS inputs fed directly into my PC with all controls at my fingertips, sitting directly under my DAW displays (see photo). Most importantly, I'm able to take full advantage of REAPER's myriad of recording functions, which completely blow the Tascam standalone recorder away. If you're thinking about using direct-to-DAW recording, this combination absolutely can't be beat for the money. The only regret I have is, I'm kicking myself in the butt for not going to A/D interfaces long ago. Look up my latest song “May You Never” on SoundClick, and judge the sound for yourself. In closing, these Behringer interfaces have exceeded my wildest expectations. I can certainly say without hesitation they're deserving of my highest recommendation, and if I was able would rate them both at 10 stars in a heartbeat.

I'm using this unit with a Focusrite Scarlett 1820 audio interface and it gives me an additional 8 channels via a single ADAT cable. Setting up was easy. Make sure you order an ADAT connector...this one works perfect although a bit pricey: just search B005LJQMZC. I am now able to have all my synths, drum machines, and an old rack TX81z hooked up ready to go when my fellow musicians show up each week. You can do quite a bit with 16 inputs total and although most get used up, it saves a lot of time to have them all set up by levels in Ableton Live with VST effects on each channel as needed. As to the sound? It sounds okay to me. I don't run a pro studio so I'm not going to spend my time and money looking for the pristine sounds of high end gear. The guys I play with just want to make music and enjoy and these extra inputs help with that. We've consistently made some very good-sounding songs. For the price it is just unbeatable. Now, my only gripe is that all the inputs are on the front so be prepared to have all those wires running across the front of the unit an partially blocking your view of each channel and the on/off switch and lights. I'm using velcro tie-downs to keep things in place. It's not a deal-killer but it's also not too cool. I would much rather have had inputs on back and controls for inputs in the front...then it would be perfect. So, I'm giving it a "5" since the price is just too good. But the real rating would be about a 4.5. Why quibble?

This is an insane value IMO. I record at 44.1kHz. PERIOD. There is no reason to use a higher rate - PERIOD. There are technical reasons that this is true but I'm not here to create a debate. For those that don't waste money and computer resources so that they can brag about their new $5000 192kHz interface, the Behringer ADA8200 is the ideal expansion unit for adding channels to any ADAT light pipe equipped audio interface. The preamps sound color free and very clean and quiet but with plenty of gain. They can also handle very high input levels without clipping. I can't say enough good things about this unit. It's much shallower and lighter than the ADA8000 it replaced. The detents are gone on the preamps (an improvement) and the power supply is now switched mode rather than linear. The result is ZERO hum and light weight. Suffice to say you'll be hard pressed to find an input source that exceeds the S/N ratio of this unit. It's not the best AD/DA on the market by any means, but today's converters are so good the line between the best and the budget converters is beginning to blur. You won't be disappointed with the quality of this unit. Learn the Nyquist theorem and abandon the folly of high sample rates. They aren't needed with modern digital filters and they hog valuable computer resources, limiting the number of tracks and plugins you can run.

I got this to add 8 additional channels to my Focusrite Scarlett 18/16. I have a lot of synthesizers and use this for live streaming. Sound quality is excellent. It was super easy to connect. No discernible latency. If you need quality reliable, inexpensive expansion - this is it.

What a great unit for the money! Easy to use, I love the digital interface! I use it for mobile recording & the sound is very good.

Absolutely amazing for the price. Be sure to buy two adat cables if you’re using it with a focusrite 18i20. Super easy to connect and lock. Feels a bit on the cheaper side. But does a great job and sounds good.

I wrote this review in two parts, a summery and then an in depth review. Summery: Short version, the Behringer ADA8200 works and is an affordable way to expand IO at around $200. For basic tracking and general use, it gets the job done. However, after upgrading to a Ferrofish Pulse 8, the difference in clarity and overall capture quality was very noticeable. If you are running higher end gear, converter quality matters more than you think. Read below for the detailed comparison. In Depth I originally bought the Behringer ADA8200 to expand the IO on my Apogee interface via ADAT. It offers: • 8 mic preamps • 24 bit conversion • ADAT optical in and out • MIDAS designed preamps • 48V phantom power For $200, that is solid value. For budget studios, live tracking, or simple expansion, it works fine. Where it falls short is conversion quality compared to higher end units. I replaced it with a Ferrofish Pulse 8, which costs about 3 times more, and the improvement was immediate. I run a 2 channel 1073 style preamp on my drum bus. Through the Ferrofish, the punch, stereo width, transient clarity, and low end depth are clearly better. Through the ADA8200, the same signal feels flatter and less detailed. It works, but it slightly limits what high end gear can deliver. If you are connecting expensive microphones, preamps, or outboard gear, the converter becomes critical. Otherwise you are investing in great front end gear but capturing it with a weaker back end. With that said I love Behringer and this is one of the few products I have this much criticism for.

Item is exactly what it claims to be. Works beautifully as a slave to my Scarlet interface and allows me to run all of my drum mics while leaving the scarlet open for the guitar amp mics. I don’t have a need for the on board phantom power in my current setup but tested it and works flawlessly!

Aunque a muchos no les agrada la marca, cumple con su función, sobre todo la lineas activadas con el phantom, pues esto le da un realce de potencia sin subir a tome la ganancia.

Den funkar klockrent!

Precio calidad es perfecto. Una manera barata de ampliar las entradas de tu tarjeta de sonido, siempre y cuando tenga entrada óptica.

入力/出力が直結出来る 光ポートのIB/OUTを1本のTOSLINKケーブルで接続すると 入力→内蔵プリアンプ→A/D→光出力→光入力→D/A→出力となりました クロックは44.1KHz設定 ファントムは8点一括で入切となるのが残念

Ob der räumlichen Distanz zwischen PC und Keyboard eine Aufnahme- (und auch Wiedergabe-) Lösung geplant, und das ADA zunächst mehr als günstigste Lösung erworben - das Keyboard kann eh digital auch, war mehr das "irgendwie einen Begleittrack beim Keyboard ausgeben" und das folgende "und was, wenn man ein anderes Instrument gerade dort dazugesteckt hat". Wäre auch gar nicht nötig gewesen, das war einer gewissen Ignoranz geschuldet (ein herumliegendes Firewire-Interface, das mangels funktionierenden Firewire am PC nicht als Interface einsetzbar ist, ließe sich, wie sich später gezeigt hat, auch als 8/8-ADAT-IO umkonfigurieren...), aber weil noch einige andere Teile der Installation gefehlt haben, dann das Behringer gegen einen ebenfalls roten, aber deutlich teureren Mitbewerber antreten lassen - Mikrofon dran, Freundin hinter das Mikro gestellt und dieselbe Passage mehrmals singen lassen, mit ein paar Änderungen an der Verkabelung. Die Erwartung war eher dahingegehend, dass das billigere Behringer womöglich etwas mehr rauscht, aber sonst nicht viel Unterschied sein würde. Und es war überraschend: Tatsächlich war ein klanglicher Unterschied zu bemerken, der zumindest subjektiv positiv war - über das ADA war die Stimme etwas "wärmer", "räumlicher" (ich muss das hier selbstverständlich apostrophieren, weil es sich um enorm subjektive Empfindungen handelt, und auch die Reproduzierbarkeit in der Kürze nicht gewährleistet war, wenngleich wir soviele Faktoren wie möglich versucht haben zu eliminieren). Ich würde also speziell den nichtdigitalen Teil des Behringer als gelungen bezeichnen (der digitale Teil tut einfach, was er soll, problemlos, aber wäre auch völlig unbrauchbar, wenn nicht), die Preamps schlagen sich klanglich hervorragend. Ich würde nicht versuchen, ihnen 60dB Gain zu entlocken und dabei eine rauschfreie Performance zu erwarten - und für solche Fälle ehrlich gesagt generell zu einem spezialisierten Preamp greifen. An einem Kondensatormikrofon machen sie eine gute Figur, beschönigen vielleicht, was weiß man schon. Alles in allem bin ich äußerst positiv überrascht, wieviel man hier für sein Geld bekommt; wenn man mit maximal 48kHz sein Auslangen findet und mit ein paar recht moderaten Einschränkungen leben kann (nur globale Phantomspeisung z.B.) kann man hiermit für fast kein Geld 8 zusätzliche Kanäle nachrüsten (um z.B. ein Pärchen Bassdrums mit je 4 Mikros abzunehmen, wenn man das will).