Windows 10 and Stereo USB Mixers/Interfaces (1)

RexBeckett
Posts: 122
Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:52 am
Location: Bedford, UK

Windows 10 and Stereo USB Mixers/Interfaces (1)

Post by RexBeckett »

These notes concern Behringer's range of analogue mixers with built-in USB interfaces and also the simple stereo USB interfaces (e.g. UCA202, UFO 202, UCA 222, UM2 and UMC22). They do not apply to the X18, XR18, MR18, X32, M32, UMC202HD, UMC204HD and UMC404HD products which have dedicated ASIO drivers.

Windows 10 supports simple stereo sound USB interfaces using its built-in drivers. When such a device is connected, Windows usually installs it as USB Audio CODEC. If the device has installed correctly, it will appear in Windows Control Panel -> Device Manager under Sound, video and game controllers:

Device Manager
Device Manager
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If it is not shown here, or has a yellow error flag, it did not install correctly. Find the device in the list - it may be marked as Unknown. Right-click on it, select Uninstall and disconnect the USB cable. Reboot the PC and reconnect the USB cable. If it still does not install correctly, try with a different USB cable and/or PC USB port. Some USB 3 ports can give problems with these USB audio devices so use a USB 2.0 port if possible.

The USB audio device should also appear as an option for recording and playback in Windows Control Panel -> Sound. Some applications (e.g. Audacity, Zoom) have settings that allow the device to be selected through Windows WASAPI interface. Applications that do not have sound input/output options will normally use the devices that are set as defaults through Control Panel -> Sound -> Recording and Playback.

Sound,Recording
Sound,Recording
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Sound, Playback
Sound, Playback
RexBeckett
Posts: 122
Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:52 am
Location: Bedford, UK

Windows 10 and Stereo USB Mixers/Interfaces (2)

Post by RexBeckett »

Windows may treat a new USB device as a microphone and use only the left channel. This can usually be corrected by opening the properties (right-click and select Properties), selecting the Advanced tab and setting the format to one of the 2 channel options. This is also where the sample-rate and bit-depth can be set. Some applications require specific formats to be set. The Zoom application, for example, requires 48000Hz sampling-rate for both input and output devices. Some of the audio enhancement modes can also cause stereo inputs to be treated as mono. I find it is usually better to turn off the enhancements for both recording and playback devices.

Recording, Advanced
Recording, Advanced
Playback, Enhancements
Playback, Enhancements
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Both the recording and playback devices have level controls. These can be seen on the Levels tab within the device properties. Some applications also provide these level controls on their GUIs (e.g. Audacity, Zoom). If your input or output levels are too low, check these controls. If Zoom is set to use automatic mic level control, it can leave the recording device level turned down when it exits.

Recording, Levels
Recording, Levels
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RexBeckett
Posts: 122
Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:52 am
Location: Bedford, UK

Windows 10 and Stereo USB Mixers/Interfaces (3)

Post by RexBeckett »

Recent versions of Windows 10 have a privacy feature that can prevent applications using the microphone (which includes any audio input). If your application does not receive any sound input from the selected device, check on Settings -> Privacy -> Microphone that access is enabled for desktop apps.

Privacy, Microphone
Privacy, Microphone
Privacy, Microphone, Apps
Privacy, Microphone, Apps

All of the above applies to applications that use the USB audio device through Windows sound management (WASAPI). Some Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) software (e.g. Reaper) also supports the ASIO sound interface which may provide better latency performance. The drivers for digital mixers and the UMC HD interfaces provide ASIO support directly. There is a special driver that can provide an ASIO interface for the simple stereo USB devices - it is called ASIO4ALL. This optional driver works with the standard Windows drivers to bypass some of Windows sound processing to improve latency. This only works for applications that support ASIO - it has no benefit for programs that only work with WASAPI (e.g. Audacity, Zoom). Before attempting to use ASIO4ALL, ensure that the USB audio device is installed and working as described above.
kmitchell
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Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2021 6:15 pm

Re: Windows 10 and Stereo USB Mixers/Interfaces (1)

Post by kmitchell »

Just a warning. Several laptop vendors (i.e. Dell, HP) use the same Cirrus Logic CODEC used by Behringer but have released enhanced drivers. I've seen Windows get confused when one of these simple USB interfaces is plugged in. It ends up trying to use the enhanced driver which may or may not work correctly with the simple interface.
RexBeckett
Posts: 122
Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:52 am
Location: Bedford, UK

Re: Windows 10 and Stereo USB Mixers/Interfaces (1)

Post by RexBeckett »

kmitchell wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 3:32 pm Just a warning. Several laptop vendors (i.e. Dell, HP) use the same Cirrus Logic CODEC used by Behringer but have released enhanced drivers. I've seen Windows get confused when one of these simple USB interfaces is plugged in. It ends up trying to use the enhanced driver which may or may not work correctly with the simple interface.
Did you find a solution to this, Ken?
kmitchell
Posts: 238
Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2021 6:15 pm

Re: Windows 10 and Stereo USB Mixers/Interfaces (1)

Post by kmitchell »

Duh. Sorry. Yes I did. Go into Device Manager and make sure the USB device is using the Microsoft driver and not the vendor specific one. Dell specifically only has a mono input so the symptom is you can't get a stereo signal in if you're using their driver.
RexBeckett
Posts: 122
Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2021 9:52 am
Location: Bedford, UK

Re: Windows 10 and Stereo USB Mixers/Interfaces (1)

Post by RexBeckett »

kmitchell wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 4:29 pm Duh. Sorry. Yes I did. Go into Device Manager and make sure the USB device is using the Microsoft driver and not the vendor specific one. Dell specifically only has a mono input so the symptom is you can't get a stereo signal in if you're using their driver.
Windows is rather inclined to treat USB audio devices as mono anyway. I usually fix it by forcing all enhancements off.

Have you come across any users who found the ancient Behringer USB driver V2.8.40 on the web and installed it? I think it dates from Win XP and it can play havoc with Windows 10. If you uninstall it, it apparently leaves inf messed-up so Windows will not then install any simple USB audio device.
kmitchell
Posts: 238
Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2021 6:15 pm

Re: Windows 10 and Stereo USB Mixers/Interfaces (1)

Post by kmitchell »

RexBeckett wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 4:51 pm
kmitchell wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 4:29 pm Duh. Sorry. Yes I did. Go into Device Manager and make sure the USB device is using the Microsoft driver and not the vendor specific one. Dell specifically only has a mono input so the symptom is you can't get a stereo signal in if you're using their driver.
Windows is rather inclined to treat USB audio devices as mono anyway. I usually fix it by forcing all enhancements off.

Have you come across any users who found the ancient Behringer USB driver V2.8.40 on the web and installed it? I think it dates from Win XP and it can play havoc with Windows 10. If you uninstall it, it apparently leaves inf messed-up so Windows will not then install any simple USB audio device.
TBH, I mostly deal with Macs, which is a good thing when it comes to audio. For Windows 10, the users I assist don't have administrator access and, in reality, have little dinosaur arms that don't reach very far. Again, that's a good thing.

There was some terrible YT videos showing people how to manually install those old drivers and I just remember shaking my head when I saw that.

Ken
alsy
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jan 18, 2022 9:37 am

Re: Windows 10 and Stereo USB Mixers/Interfaces (1)

Post by alsy »

Hello guys, I have a Behringer UM2 and I have annoying crackle or scratching sounds from Mic/Line 1. Here is the sound of it. https://mtcrm365stor2.blob.core.windows ... 164538.m4a

Sometimes it sounds barely alright for good 10 minutes and then it would go nuts like my ex girlfriend. I narrow it down to the somewhere in MIC/LINE 1. I basically tried everything; USB 2 port, ASIO driver, old driver, different pc, cable and mic. The problem still persist. I'm at the verge of binning this thing. I asked for tech support at behringer music tribe community too, if you can recommend me a forum like this to ask people that have dealt with this thing please do tell me.

Sorry if I post this in the wrong thread. I searched UM2 and decided to just ask in the top thread shown on the search. Thanks for your time.
Last edited by alsy on Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:10 am, edited 2 times in total.
Alan T
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Oct 16, 2023 6:54 pm

Re: Windows 10 and Stereo USB Mixers/Interfaces (1)

Post by Alan T »

Hi all.

I have a Behringer DX2000USB mixer and I seem to be suffering some kind of USB connectivity problem, perhaps related to those outlined in this topic. I have logged a support ticket with Behringer's support agents but I'm casting the net as wide as possible cos I need a quick answer/solution.

My problem is this. My DX2000USB USB output is connected to my Acer (fully updated Windows 10) laptop USB port. Tried different cables and different ports on the laptop, but each time when trying to record the stereo signal (using Audacity) from my mixer I only get one channel (which I think is the right hand channel). That single channel gets copied onto both tracks of the stereo recording when using Direct Sound - but only as single channel mono when using WSPI - in that mode it only offer one channel in the options. I should add that the stereo sound on all mixer outputs (main, monitor, record etc) is full stereo with both channels present so I am 100% convinced that the issue is on the Windows side.

I have been over and over the Audacity settings and tried all the sources. The core issue seems to be that the incoming USB source is seen by Windows as a microphone USB source and - using the helpful notes in the previous reply - I have been able to ascertain that despite me installing the ASIO4ALL driver that I downloaded from the Behringer support site I still only have a USB Mic input - I'm seeing no "Line input" from USB. I can't see any settings to change (in controlpanel->sound or in device manager) for the USB device and I definitely have the right one because it comes and goes in Device manager when I unplug it. I'm wondering if the Cirius device drivers clash with USB drivers might also apply on my Acer laptop - but so far as I can see, the USB driver in use is the Microsoft one and not the one that was mentioned. Also, although the ASIO4ALL driver installed without error (i tried it twice, with an uninstalla and reboot each time) I can't see it being used on any of the USB devices listed in device manager or in sound devices which is - I think? - a bit odd.

I'm out of ideas on this one and thinking about buying an external audio USB interface which would hopefully come with its own driver.
Can anyone lighten my darkness?

Thanks in advance for any ideas on this.

Alan T
Cornwall UK.
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