Previously I had reviewed and measured the Behringer UMC-204HD which retails for a paltry $79 with excellent results. See: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ds/budget-dac-review-behringer-umc204hd.1658/
Question was asked about its headphone performance. So I setup a quick test, driving both my Audio Precision analyzer with 300 ohms (not ideal but good enough) and a pair of Sony MDRV6 headphones for subjective testing. As a comparison, I also put next to it the Exasound E32 which retails for $3,500.
Subjective results/listening test
I played one of my audiophile tracks and listened using my Z-series HP laptop in-built headphone out. Sound was good although at max volume, not deafening. I then switched to the Behringer. I had to turn up the volume on it to mid-position to get it to be louder than my laptop output. There, it provided a slight improvement in fidelity.
I then turned up the volume further and the fidelity went to hell. As you go past 12:00 o'clock mid-level setting, distortion starts to set in and pretty quickly. I say my ears complained about it being too loud around the same place. At max volume, it was totally unlistenable. The output was very distorted.
I powered on the Exasound E32 DAC and listened using its headphone output. Boy, was this clean and it could go to ear bleeding leven with no hint of distortion. Comfortable level was at -15 db. It simply was no contest. Compared to the Exasound, the Behringer was like a clock radio.
I then listened at lower levels. There, the Exasound had cleaner highs and more delineation in notes. It had that "high-end" delicate sound which the Behringer lacks. Of course switching over took many seconds so this subjective assessment may not be reliable But there is.
Objective Measurements
I knew what to expect here but it is good to put numbers to fidelity. First I tested the Behringer at its mid-level volume setting which was louder than my laptop but not yet distorted. And compared that to Exasound at full volume:
We see that the noise floor is very low and comparable to Exasound. However, the peak level is much lower than Exasound so overall fidelity is much lower.
Numerically the differential between peak signal and highest distortion which was third harmonic was 89 db for Behringer. The Exsound produced 96 db differential so about 7 dB better.
Turning up the volume to max on Behringer produced these results:
Now you see both problems I mentioned. The noise floor of the Behringer has shot up tens of db. Yet is output is still lower than the Exasound.
Differentially the behringer signal to third harmonic is just 12 db!!! The Exasound as before maintains its 96 db differential.
Summary
Despite its excellent line output performance, the Behringer has a very mediocre headphone output. It gets distorted quick, does not have lots of power, and has raised noise floor at higher volumes. So if headphone usage is your main application, you should look elsewhere.
I plan to do more headphone measurements in the future with a better setup.
Question was asked about its headphone performance. So I setup a quick test, driving both my Audio Precision analyzer with 300 ohms (not ideal but good enough) and a pair of Sony MDRV6 headphones for subjective testing. As a comparison, I also put next to it the Exasound E32 which retails for $3,500.
Subjective results/listening test
I played one of my audiophile tracks and listened using my Z-series HP laptop in-built headphone out. Sound was good although at max volume, not deafening. I then switched to the Behringer. I had to turn up the volume on it to mid-position to get it to be louder than my laptop output. There, it provided a slight improvement in fidelity.
I then turned up the volume further and the fidelity went to hell. As you go past 12:00 o'clock mid-level setting, distortion starts to set in and pretty quickly. I say my ears complained about it being too loud around the same place. At max volume, it was totally unlistenable. The output was very distorted.
I powered on the Exasound E32 DAC and listened using its headphone output. Boy, was this clean and it could go to ear bleeding leven with no hint of distortion. Comfortable level was at -15 db. It simply was no contest. Compared to the Exasound, the Behringer was like a clock radio.
I then listened at lower levels. There, the Exasound had cleaner highs and more delineation in notes. It had that "high-end" delicate sound which the Behringer lacks. Of course switching over took many seconds so this subjective assessment may not be reliable But there is.
Objective Measurements
I knew what to expect here but it is good to put numbers to fidelity. First I tested the Behringer at its mid-level volume setting which was louder than my laptop but not yet distorted. And compared that to Exasound at full volume:
We see that the noise floor is very low and comparable to Exasound. However, the peak level is much lower than Exasound so overall fidelity is much lower.
Numerically the differential between peak signal and highest distortion which was third harmonic was 89 db for Behringer. The Exsound produced 96 db differential so about 7 dB better.
Turning up the volume to max on Behringer produced these results:
Now you see both problems I mentioned. The noise floor of the Behringer has shot up tens of db. Yet is output is still lower than the Exasound.
Differentially the behringer signal to third harmonic is just 12 db!!! The Exasound as before maintains its 96 db differential.
Summary
Despite its excellent line output performance, the Behringer has a very mediocre headphone output. It gets distorted quick, does not have lots of power, and has raised noise floor at higher volumes. So if headphone usage is your main application, you should look elsewhere.
I plan to do more headphone measurements in the future with a better setup.
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