Behringer UMC1820 vs Focusrite Clarett 8Pre

The USB on this is stereo, but it has the 8 Direct Outputs for connecting to an audio interface, such as the Behringer U-Phoria UMC1820. This is about $175 used.

Then we have eight optical ports, which allow us to expand the I.O. capability of the Claret Plus 8Pre. Next to this, we have MIDI input and output fo...

Scarlett series (2nd gen) devices in the past but have switched to Behringer and couldn't be happier. Currently using a UMC404HD in my live rig and a UMC1820 expanded with an ADA8200 in the studio. Build quality is on par with the Scarletts and signal to noise ratio is actually better. Sure, there are interfaces with better pre-amps but for the money a UMC1820 will give you a lot of bang for the bucks

So like I mentioned earlier for the past five years I've been using the Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 as my main audio interface for all my vocal recording...

In my estimation, the average user who is simply looking to create their own content, or upgrade from a laptop or PC soundcard will be very well satisfied with this device. My primary gripe against this device for which I dropped one star is the installation support, which is none from Behringer. PC compatibility is a problem as it is not usable on a system without installing the right codec. Behringer has made this a messy process, and in fact without support, as it has no proprietary codecs or software for the device

And it sounds as good as anything out there, as long as you're not using the wrong headphones.

Tracktion was billed as "included" software, but it wasn't actually in the box with it, and when I registered the product with Behringer to get my "free" download code, I have yet to get any reply from them. There's a free version of Tracktion available and that's probably what they're talking about. Behringer pulled this crap before by including the freeware Audacity with interfaces and billing it as some great deal of included software (and Audacity sucks, BTW). Tried messing with Tracktion a bit, but really not a fan of the workflow

Support is nonexistent, most help that would be gotten are for the Scarlett series of interfaces, which from personal experience, actually work and are simpler to install. I was hugely disappointed in the product. I expected better of Focusrite.