Behringer ADA8200 Audiophile 8 In/8 Out ADAT Audio Interface with Midas Mic Preamplifiers

Item is exactly what it claims to be. Works beautifully as a slave to my Scarlet interface and allows me to run all of my drum mics while leaving the scarlet open for the guitar amp mics. I don’t have a need for the on board phantom power in my current setup but tested it and works flawlessly!

I'm a “one man band” Multi-Instrumentalist operating out of a well-equipped home studio, playing and recording each instrument individually. It's not unusual that one of my productions consumes 25 tracks or more. My previous recorder was a standalone Tascam DP-32SD. Although this is a great unit for home studio starters, following the actual recording I had to export tracks, transfer them to my PC via USB, then mix/master the completed song using my Windows-based DAW. While this worked okay, the process was getting to be quite the tedious hassle, not to mention the fact that REAPER (in my opinion, the best DAW on the planet) has so much more recording function than the Tascam standalone it's almost unbelievable. That said, I decided to purchase a Behringer UMC1820 and give direct-to-DAW recording a try. Man, the difference was like night and day, especially sampling at 48kHz/24-bit. Plus, all of the required post-processing work I previously discussed is now a thing of the past. The only remaining problem was, I use 8 drum microphones. This required cabling my mixer to one of the UMC1820 inputs to accommodate the 8th sub-kick drum microphone, and all other instruments. So, I took it a step further, purchased a Behringer ADA8200 and attached it to the UMC1820 as a slave using Toslink fiber cables, providing me with 8 additional inputs. I should note that Windows and REAPER immediately picked both interfaces up without the need to install any additional drivers whatsoever... They're truly plug-and-play. To avoid being redundant and going over all the features of these two excellent interfaces which are already listed on their product pages, I think it would be much more beneficial to continue discussing my personal experience with them, along with the end results. This configuration has allowed me to totally dedicate the UMC1820 to my drum microphones, and use the ADA8200 for all other instruments. I was also able to keep my mixer involved by cabling it to one of the inputs on the latter interface. I then topped the whole thing off by mounting them both in a “Procraft 2U 9" Deep Equipment Rack”. This is one super-high quality rack, and an incredible value: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CDG8QLI/ The bottom line: Between these two interfaces I now have 16 MIDAS pre-amplified XLR/TRS inputs fed directly into my PC with all controls at my fingertips, sitting directly under my DAW displays (see photo). Most importantly, I'm able to take full advantage of REAPER's myriad of recording functions, which completely blow the Tascam standalone recorder away. If you're thinking about using direct-to-DAW recording, this combination absolutely can't be beat for the money. The only regret I have is, I'm kicking myself in the butt for not going to A/D interfaces long ago. Look up my latest song “May You Never” on SoundClick, and judge the sound for yourself. In closing, these Behringer interfaces have exceeded my wildest expectations. I can certainly say without hesitation they're deserving of my highest recommendation, and if I was able would rate them both at 10 stars in a heartbeat.

What a great unit for the money! Easy to use, I love the digital interface! I use it for mobile recording & the sound is very good.

What can I say, it works perfect, sounds great and nothing can touch it in this price range easy way to add 8 inputs via ADAT.

I wrote this review in two parts, a summery and then an in depth review. Summery: Short version, the Behringer ADA8200 works and is an affordable way to expand IO at around $200. For basic tracking and general use, it gets the job done. However, after upgrading to a Ferrofish Pulse 8, the difference in clarity and overall capture quality was very noticeable. If you are running higher end gear, converter quality matters more than you think. Read below for the detailed comparison. In Depth I originally bought the Behringer ADA8200 to expand the IO on my Apogee interface via ADAT. It offers: • 8 mic preamps • 24 bit conversion • ADAT optical in and out • MIDAS designed preamps • 48V phantom power For $200, that is solid value. For budget studios, live tracking, or simple expansion, it works fine. Where it falls short is conversion quality compared to higher end units. I replaced it with a Ferrofish Pulse 8, which costs about 3 times more, and the improvement was immediate. I run a 2 channel 1073 style preamp on my drum bus. Through the Ferrofish, the punch, stereo width, transient clarity, and low end depth are clearly better. Through the ADA8200, the same signal feels flatter and less detailed. It works, but it slightly limits what high end gear can deliver. If you are connecting expensive microphones, preamps, or outboard gear, the converter becomes critical. Otherwise you are investing in great front end gear but capturing it with a weaker back end. With that said I love Behringer and this is one of the few products I have this much criticism for.

I wanted the extra 8 channels that the Behringer offers out of the box and this beauty appeared to fill that criteria. Just like several other reviewers of this product, I own the Scarlett 18i20 interface and was hoping it was a straight out of the box connection. My device works just fine, but I have to say it was not an intuitive connection and I wanted to share how I got this beautiful kit working with Logic Pro X. A couple of handy tips, don't forget your world clock cable, and optical cable (you only need one) and connect them before getting started with the Logic Pro X connection. Remember to open up your Scarlett software and change the channels 9 through 16 to ADAT input and choose whatever output channel you need. In Logic, remember to use channel eleven and select one the ADA8200 to enable channel selection. I could not find this very needed information readily on the internet, so wanted to share. Once this is complete, all 16 channels are available. Happy recording and great product!

Simple, durable pre-amp that I use for my band. Vocals, Kick Drum, etc. benefit directly from pre-amping and I struggled to find one with a decent amount of inputs. This fits the bill EXCEPT its primary design is for a pre-amp AND digital interface. So if I didnt read the prior reviews about purchasing a TOSLINK , I wouldve wound up returning it as inoperative. But glad I caught it and glad I bought it. A must have, utility device in a Pro PA setup with powered speakers.

I'm using this unit with a Focusrite Scarlett 1820 audio interface and it gives me an additional 8 channels via a single ADAT cable. Setting up was easy. Make sure you order an ADAT connector...this one works perfect although a bit pricey: just search B005LJQMZC. I am now able to have all my synths, drum machines, and an old rack TX81z hooked up ready to go when my fellow musicians show up each week. You can do quite a bit with 16 inputs total and although most get used up, it saves a lot of time to have them all set up by levels in Ableton Live with VST effects on each channel as needed. As to the sound? It sounds okay to me. I don't run a pro studio so I'm not going to spend my time and money looking for the pristine sounds of high end gear. The guys I play with just want to make music and enjoy and these extra inputs help with that. We've consistently made some very good-sounding songs. For the price it is just unbeatable. Now, my only gripe is that all the inputs are on the front so be prepared to have all those wires running across the front of the unit an partially blocking your view of each channel and the on/off switch and lights. I'm using velcro tie-downs to keep things in place. It's not a deal-killer but it's also not too cool. I would much rather have had inputs on back and controls for inputs in the front...then it would be perfect. So, I'm giving it a "5" since the price is just too good. But the real rating would be about a 4.5. Why quibble?