August 4, 2008

Rating: 1/10

This is a rip off.

When the Behringer F-audio info tells you it \'is an ideal companion for laptop musicians and ingeniously complements any studio...(with) Two ¼\" connector inputs and outputs for connecting synthesizers, mixers and more\' they don\'t mean more! it certainly doesn\'t mean for connecting instruments or mics directly. You have to buy another interface such as a mixer to go between it and the computer. 7 days is not adequate time to find this out for yourself which dolphin told me it was and will not allow me to return the product beyond this date even though the info is not adequate. I thought it was a problem with my software which dolphin told me! so i wasted time looking for solutions related to that. dolphin have been totally unfair and the product is not represented clearly. Eg

\"The hot FCA202 package also comes with the coolest sequencing software for mobile music production: the BEHRINGER Edition of Ableton Live Lite 4. Kristal and Audacity are also included and will empower you to face any recording challenge.\"

This is entirely untrue as my recording challenge was very simple - to record vocals and guitar, but it could not satisfy either of these.

very unsatisfied costumer

Gazz
April 22, 2008

Rating: 1/10

As far as cheep sound cards go, the truth of the matter is, they don\'t. If you\'re a serious Laptop DJ or producer like myself, it is something you should never scrimp on, frankly it\'s gotta be over £100. And the prime example of a terrible bit of technology is the Behringer F Control. Mistakenly named \'Control\', as it controls little when it never bloody works! The reliablity of this thing is hap hazard at best. It worked fine for me for quite a while sat stationary in a nice warm studio, but out and about, forget it. Very poor connectivity, the laptop not even reading it half the time. Lots of tests run on it. In the end it became a prop to open the window, and is all that it is worth. A terrible, terrible sound card. Behringer should be ashamed.

Keiron Anderson
March 21, 2007

Rating: 10/10

I bought this product to work on a home desktop and a portable laptop to work with various software packages including Sibelius 4 and Cubase LE. The product is easy to install, robust, comprehensively equipped and versatile. It can be powered from the firewire or by the power supply provided.

The installation was simple and effective and I have to say that the drivers are very stable and work in all the software packages with zero latency. There are mimimal inputs and outputs but had I wanted more, I would have had to spend more money. If you are happy with excellent sound, simple operation and the amount of ins and outs provided then this is an excellent, affordable, external soundcard solution.

The fact that no opening of the computer is needed and it can be transfered from machine to machine easily makes this a particularly good buy.

David Roberts
October 3, 2006

Rating: 8/10

When considering an audio capture device for your studio, you obviously want the best money can buy but, is that really necessary? I have been the proud owner of the Yamaha 01X, MOTU 896HD and MOTU 24i/o in the past and before you close this review down in disgust I am not trying to convince you that the Behringer is on par with these big guns however, take into account value for money and overall cost. All of a sudden the Behringer isn’t as small a proposition as it’s small well built tidy exterior first suggests. In a nut shell it’s a 2 in / 2 out 24 bit 96khz audio interface and believe me it nearly does fit in a nut shell.
Out of the box it was up and running in minutes and to this day I’ve had no trouble what so ever from a technical point of view. It integrates seamlessly with Cubase SX 3 / Windows XP with no latency issues at all (on my desk top or my laptop).
The quality of the sound capture is actually …. well…. excellent. I can just imagine all you Behringer bashers going nuts at this point but it’s true if you don’t believe me, then try it! If you’re rich enough to hate Behringer then a little over £60 for this excellent little unit should be peanuts to you.
The build quality is awesome. You know the saying that the only thing to survive a global nuclear strike would be the cockroach? Well guess what audio interface they’ll be using to make there music afterwards!

So in summary is this unit as good as a top of the range MOTU/Yamaha?

No.

Is the sound quality good enough for even the most avid audiophile?

It is for me!

Is it built to be fired into space and survive re-entry?

Yes (for some reason).

Is it good value for money?

No it’s outstanding value for money!

The only cons are possibly lack of I/O and phantom power so I guess you need to address how important these are for you. If you already have a decent channel strip then there is the latter solved?

Adam Heatley
August 12, 2006

Rating: 8/10

This impartial review aims to inform you of the application of the FCA202's many features. I do not intend to regurgitate information that is readily available to you from reading the product description. I will outline my experience with the '202 interface, which I have used with my powerbook as well as for bedroom/home studio use. This device really integrates seamlessly into any setup with firewire capabilities. Initially, setup was extremely simple, very plug and play. (without stating the obvious- this equipment is not in the same league as pro-class studio rigs) That said, I've made some very high quality, competitive recordings that even impressed my creative music tech lecturer. He has a background in microelectronics and audio systems and thinks it's great value. Not sure if I believe him when I see the amount of outboard and mastering equipment he has access too! With such a high bitrate the '202 certainly makes my friends other USB interfaces sound totally amateur. Recommend it for students and musicians alike who already have a decent mixer with good preamps, wanting a step up from plugging their guitars directly into their built-in soundcards. (haha, we've all been there!) Seriously, this is the only thing you will ever plug in to those unused firewire ports.

Happy recording,

Adam