UMC204HD Turns Off When Recording Video

[ChiroVette]

Okay, first off, I love this thing. Has been useful for a myriad of things, like performing with backing tracks through my PA, and interfacing with my DAW.

Today, I decided to try and record footage from a game, on my PC, which is Windows 11 64 bit. I am using either a Shure SM58 or EV ND757 for the commentary.

Anyway, for some reason, the second I start recording any gaming footage, the UMC204HD shuts off. The LED light on the unit stays on, and apparently it is still recording everything, but the audio to my headphones just stops dead in its tracks. I then have to stop recording, go to the sound settings in Windows, switch to another audio output, such as the built in crappy laptop output or the HDMI output, then go back to the Speakers (UMCHD204 192k) output, and it comes turns the sound back on.

Obviously, this is untenable, since I can't hear anything I am recording while I am recording it, and can only hear all the audio, including the mic and in game sounds when playing the recording.

Oh, and this consistently happens whether I am recording with a program called FRAPS or NVIDIA Shield.

[pmaillot]

Could it be a Windows error of some sort?
Do you have a way to trace the sinal that should notmally come to you?

[ChiroVette]

Could it be a Windows error of some sort?
Do you have a way to trace the sinal that should notmally come to you?

I would assume it is a Windows error of some sort. At first, I thought it was a problem specifically with GeForce Experience, but then I tried it with FRAPS, and the same thing happened. So it doesn't seem to be isolated to a specific recording software. I'm not sure what you mean by tracing the signal. The UMC204 connects directly to a USB port in the computer, and everything else is on the PC, except for the headphones and the microphone. But I assume that this is a problem with how the UMC interfaces with Windows, because if I use any other sound source, such as my monitor via HDMI or the built-in laptop sound, it doesn't turn off those outputs.

For some reason, any time I record footage on my PC, it seems to be disabling the UMC204, but only the sound output live. It is still recording all sounds. I just can't hear it while recording.

[kmitchell]

Video games and utilities for use with video games, such as screen capture utilities, are notorious for acting as if they are the only thing running on the PC. I suspect the recording software is "shimming" itself into the audio path and that is was is cutting off audio to your headphones. While i know how FRAPS works, I can't picture how you are using a shield to record your PC's screen.

More details on how the shield is being used might help.

Also, Is this a new Windows 11 installation or did you upgrade from Windows 10? If an upgrade, you may want o re-install the UMC drivers to see if that helps.

[ChiroVette]

Video games and utilities for use with video games, such as screen capture utilities, are notorious for acting as if they are the only thing running on the PC. I suspect the recording software is "shimming" itself into the audio path and that is was is cutting off audio to your headphones. While i know how FRAPS works, I can't picture how you are using a shield to record your PC's screen.

More details on how the shield is being used might help.

Also, Is this a new Windows 11 installation or did you upgrade from Windows 10? If an upgrade, you may want o re-install the UMC drivers to see if that helps.

I'm not sure, but I can't remember installing any drivers for the UMC. I believe it was just plug-and-play. This is a new laptop I purchased last year, and it came with Windows 11. Oh, and it wasn't actually a shield. In my first post, I meant to say I was recording with GeForce Experience not NVIDIA Shield.

For whatever reason, it cuts off the audio to the headphones, as you say, but it still seems to be recording from the microphone.

[kmitchell]

I"m not running Windows 11 yet but let me look into the UMC drivers. I know for Windows 10 it was not plug-and-play if you wanted anything other than basic stereo audio. This might be the cause of your issue.

[ChiroVette]

I"m not running Windows 11 yet but let me look into the UMC drivers. I know for Windows 10 it was not plug-and-play if you wanted anything other than basic stereo audio. This might be the cause of your issue.

Okay, you found the solution, thank you! I wasn't even aware there were drivers for this, so I went to Behringer's site, found the latest one for the UMC204HD, downloaded and installed it, and it worked. I was able to record a test video without losing my headphones, and without the audio on my computer needing to be switched off the UMC, onto something else, then back to the UMC to use it again.

One weird thing, however, is that when I go into my sound/volume settings, there are now three different entries for the UMC204HD. Each one says (Behringer UMC 204-HD 192k) to the right, and to the left each line says Out 1-4, Out 3-4, and Out 1-2, respectively. The computer seems to have chosen Out1-2 (Behringer UMC 204-HD 192k) by default, and it works fine so far.

Thanks again!

[kmitchell]

You are seeing multiple output options because Windows now knows that the UMC204HD supports multi-channel audio. The UMC204HD is a 2 In, 4 Out audio interface. Most Windows apps use Out1-2 which is likely why that was selected as the default.

[ChiroVette]

You are seeing multiple output options because Windows now knows that the UMC204HD supports multi-channel audio. The UMC204HD is a 2 In, 4 Out audio interface. Most Windows apps use Out1-2 which is likely why that was selected as the default.

Figured it was something like that. Thanks again!