r/musicproduction • u/mastermemeskywalker • 12h ago

Hardware UMC404HD vs Focusrite Solo 3rd gen

I have a Focusrite Solo 3rd gen but often I like to record some live acoustic covers in my bedroom every once in a while but since I only have one XLR and one jack input I can only use my condenser to record both Vocals AND guitar at the same time making it so it sacrifices quality.
I like the Focusrite but I feel the inputs are limiting my recording freedom hence the question. The Behringer has 4 mixed inputs and that would really help me, that way I can plug an SM57 to record my acoustic guitar and my AT2020 to record vocals (or the other way around it doesn’t really matter lol).
Is it a downgrade? I also record other stuff where I don’t need the 4 inputs, I also mix and master them, is the headphone output better on the Focusrite and is Behringer a bad choice?

3 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

4

u/LostInTheRapGame 11h ago

I doubt you're going to notice a difference. I wouldn't sweat it.

2

u/Ereignis23 11h ago

Probably pretty much identical internally in terms of preamp quality and converters. I ran a Umc404hd for several years without issue

1

u/alex_esc 4h ago

The umc404 is a great interface! But if possible I would recommend you that you keep both!

You can leave one permanently connected at your desk, with speakers hooked up to one interface. And another interface in your backpack, ready for portable recording with a laptop without having to rewire your entire home studio lol!

You can solo use your 404 as a MIDI interface. Some keyboards need a 5 pin MIDI cable, and the 404 as those ports. So you can also use it to play keys on a live setting AND also without unplugging your desk setup!

1

u/keep_trying_username 3h ago

It's not a bad idea to have a few more inputs than you expect to use. UMC404HD uses Behringer's "Midas" preamps which aren't super special in any way, but they're a step up from their older preamps like the ones in the UMC22. Technically the UMC404HD has more self noise and less dynamic range than the Focusrite Solo 3rd gen. But when I record with my UMC404HD I don't hear a bunch of noise.

Headphone geeks like me can be very particular about the amps driving their headphones. Plenty of us think the preamps in the newer Behringer interfaces are adequate even for nicer headphones, and a standalone DAC won't have a noticeable improvement.

You might have trouble driving high impedance headphones with either the UMC404HD or the Focusrite Solo 3rd gen. UMC1820HD can drive high impedance headphones, but if you don't have high impedance headphones then you don't need to worry about it.