Behringer MIC500USB Tube Ultragain

There is much to like about this tiny powerhouse of a pre amp. It offers very good value with the USB port allowing you to insert it straight into a PC for recording purposes. It even offers a second channel as a line-in. It is constructed with dense, high quality metal and feels very rugged with a good weight and construction. You can simply FEEL the quality (unlike some other Behringer products!). I also LOVE the gunmetal grey colouration, it truly looks like a professional piece of equipment and the modern flat LED VU meter is a perfect finishing touch. The metal buttons click very nicely and the rings which light up around them perfectly compliment the soft glow of the tube inside. When in operation, this thing truly looks wonderful.

Sadly, looks are not what we really buy this equipment for the second channel, while present, has no mixing function at all - the audio arrives at the level and is stuck there which makes it hard to use in a practical sense.

The voicings are very good and unique, each EQ'd highly appropriately to each situation they are labelled for. I mostly used the Warm Tube Vocal with Limiter setting and the Low Cut Filter enabled and it made my microphone sound very warm, if sometimes a little muddy - but you didn't chose a valve for perfectly crisp, sharp, digital audio, did you? Well, even if you did there is the opportunity to bypass the valve entirely with this unit.

For anyone wishing to hook a single microphone up to a PC, with more gain than anyone can reasonably use at home, and deliver a unique, warm honey tone to record with their PC - this could be the perfect unit.

The main negative is that the output channels are pretty noisy - which makes it really not good to use as a pre-amp into a mixer. I feel Behringer let us down by not providing a clean XLR Out so that it can be truly used as a standalone unit in addition to the USB functionality.

In the final analysis, for the person seeking to use an XLR condenser microphone to record using a single microphone at home onto a PC, this is a very difficult product to beat for it's unique valve tone. But to use it as part of a larger set up, with additional mixers, not so much.

I bought this little preamp to add warmth to vocals and to add a little crunch to a solid state guitar amp and it does both jobs admirably. It uses the venerable 12AX6 tube in its circuitry which gives a nice glow when warmed up. It also has a 20db pad switch which is useful if playing a guitar with really hot pups, a 48v phantom power switch for use with condenser mics, a low cut switch to remove bassy subs and a phase reverse switch. The LED meter is great at helping to set levels when using the gain and output pots. It has a solid metal case that more than protects its internal circuitry and it has a XLR input for a mic and quarter inch jack sockets for other inputs and outputs. If you're looking for a vocal or instrument preamp, do yourself a favour and look no further than this great little box of valvey warmth.

Bought this interface to add some warmth and character to my vocals and to add a little bit of tube breakup to my guitar before amp emulation on my DAW. As a preamp it works ok, but the a-d converters cause some loss in quality. I swapped out the stock tube and there was a big improvement.

For electric guitar: the breakup is not a substitute for a good tube amp, but I find it complements my guitar's natural character beautifully. I'm very pleased with the results.

There are a variety of different pre-amp modes, but I'm not really sure I can hear any significant difference between them. The LED peak meter on the top of the device is GREAT, and that together with the -20dB pad renders the limiter functions a bit useless.

Bottom line, Beringer would have done better to invest in the preamp components rather than trying to expand to USB functionality. Without a dedicated driver or proper converters, it's still a decent, cheap tube preamp.