Zoom UAC-232 - 32 Bit float - USB Audio Interface - Review

Summary

このビデオでは、ZoomのUAC-232インターフェースをレビューし、32ビットフロート録音機能の利点を探求します。UAC-232は、金属の足とプラスチック製のボディを持つ2チャネルオーディオインターフェースです。ダイヤルはスムーズで、出力とヘッドホンの音量を調整できますが、ヘッドホンジャックが近接しており操作が少し難しかったり、動的なレンジが非常に広いためゲインの調整が不要です。32ビットフロート録音は、ソフトウェアによっては完全にはサポートされていないものの、大きな動的レンジを確保し、クリッピングを回避できます。インターフェースは24ビットモードでも優れたパフォーマンスを発揮し、低ノイズアンプと高い出力ダイナミックレンジを持っていますが、ヘッドホン出力とビルドクオリティには改善の余地があります。

Takeaways

• 🎙️ ZoomのUAC-232インターフェースは32ビットフロート録音に対応しており、新しいトレンドを創出しているとされている。
• 🔊 UAC-232はデザインからすると従来の2チャネルオーディオインターフェースに似ており、金属の足と軽い重さ（360グラム）を持つ。
• 🔩 金属の足はマウンティングオプションやケーブルの固定に利用できるが、インターフェースがデスクにしっかりと固定されないという問題がある。
• 👍 ノブはスムーズに回転し、大きな出力ダイヤルとヘッドホン音量を個別に調整できる小さなダイヤルが前面に配置されている。
• 🔌 入力には2つのXLRおよびTRSコンボジャックがあり、マイクからラインレベルまでのものを録音できる。
• 💡 32ビットフロート録音モード時に青のステータスLEDが点灯し、インターフェースはそのモードで動作していることを示す。
• 🔄 UAC-232はAKMのAK-5534アナログデジタルコンバータを使い、4チャネルのストリームを2つのペアに分け、感度を切り替えながらシグナルをキャプチャする。
• 📊 周波数特性は非常に平坦で、聴覚範囲では非常に低い周波数まで良いパフォーマンスを示す。
• 🔊 ダイナミックレンジは非常に高く、136.5 dBに達するという驚くべき結果を記録している。
• 🔧 32ビットフロートはソフトウェアによっては完全には機能しないことがあり、録音フォーマットとしてまだ初期段階にあるとされる。
• 🎵 ミックスコントロールソフトウェアはインターフェースの機能を最大限に引き出すために必要なツールであり、録音レベルの設定やウェーブフォームプレビュー、ループバック録音、音楽モードとストリーミングモードの切り替え、レベルメーターが利用できる。

Q & A

32ビットフロートとはどのような技術ですか？

32ビットフロートは、デジタルオーディオデータの記録方法の1つで、非常に広いダイナミックレンジを記録できます。これにより、録音時のゲイン調整が不要になり、録音後にソフトウェアでクリッピングを復旧することが可能です。

ZoomのUAC-232インターフェースの特徴は何ですか？

UAC-232は32ビットフロート録音に対応し、非常に高いダイナミックレンジを持ち、ゲイン調整が不要な点が特徴です。また、金属の突起が付いておりケーブルの取り付けやマウンティングが可能で、プラグとダイヤルもスムーズに操作できます。

UAC-232のボディはどのような素材でできていますか？

UAC-232のボディはプラスチック製で、全体的に軽い構造となっており、金属製のインターフェースと比べると若干安っぽい印象があります。

UAC-232のダイナミックレンジはどの程度ですか？

UAC-232のダイナミックレンジは136.5 dBに達しており、他のインターフェースと比較しても非常に優れていると評価されています。

32ビットフロート録音がどのような利点がありますか？

32ビットフロート録音では、入力レベルが0 dBFSを超過してもソフトウェアで音声を復旧できるため、録音時のゲイン調整を気にする必要がなくなります。

UAC-232のソフトウェアであるMix Controlにはどのような機能がありますか？

Mix Controlでは、入力レベルの調整、ウェーブフォームのプレビュー、ループバック録音、音楽モードとストリーミングモードの切り替え、出力レベルメーターなどが利用できます。

32ビットフロート録音はどの程度普及していますか？

32ビットフロート録音はまだ比較的初期段階にあり、すべてのソフトウェアやドライバーが完全に対応しているわけではありません。しかし、今後ますます普及すると予想されています。

UAC-232のヘッドホン出力の性能はどのようですか？

ヘッドホン出力の周波数特性は良好で、出力レベルも十分に高く、ほとんどのヘッドホンを十分な音量で再生できますが、出力インピーダンスが高く、非常に低インピーダンスのヘッドホンでは最適な音質が得られません。

UAC-232のラインレベル入力の性能はどのようですか？

ラインレベル入力の周波数特性は非常に平坦で、歪率も低いと評価されていますが、ダイナミックレンジはマイク入力と比べて若干低くなっています。

UAC-232を使用する際には注意しなければならない点はありますか？

32ビットフロートを使用する際には、ソフトウェアやドライバーとの互換性を事前に確認する必要があります。また、インターフェース自体にはゲインダイアルがなく、録音レベルの調整はミックスコントロールソフトウェアで行う必要があります。

Outlines

00:00

🎙️ UIC-232インターフェースの紹介と32ビットフロート機能

この段落では、ZoomのUIC-232インターフェースとその32ビットフロート録音機能について紹介されています。UIC-232は金属の角材とプラスティック製の軽量ボディーを持つデザインで、組み込み済みのアンプとケーブル固定オプションがありますが、デスクの安定性には若干課題があると指摘されています。インターフェースはダイヤルやボタンが付いており、32ビットフロート録音モードが有効かどうかを青いステータスLEDで確認できます。内部にはAKMの4チャンネルADCが使用されており、デュアルADCのセットアップにより広範囲のダイナミックレンジを捉えることができると推測されています。

05:02

🔊 UIC-232のオーディオパフォーマンスと32ビットフロートの利点

段落2ではUIC-232のオーディオパフォーマンスと32ビットフロート録音の利点について詳述されています。UIC-232は2つのADCを組み合わせることで非常に広いダイナミックレンジを提供し、ゲインの調整が不要になるという革新的な機能を持ちます。しかしながら、32ビットフロートはソフトウェアとドライバーの互換性の問題があり、OBSやDiscordなどではまだ完全に対応していないと報告されています。また、32ビットフロートが完全に機能するのは特定の環境下のみで、他のアプリケーションではクリップした音声を回復できない可能性があることも指摘されています。

10:04

👂 UIC-232のヘッドホン出力とミキサーソフトウェアの機能

この段落ではUIC-232のヘッドホン出力とミキサーソフトウェアの機能について説明されています。ヘッドホン出力は周波数特性が良好で、ノイズレベルも低く、駆動力も十分に強いと評価されていますが、ヘッドホンのインピーダンスに依存する周波数特性の変化には注意が必要なと指摘されています。付属のミキサーソフトウェアでは、入力レベルの調整、ウェーブフォームプレビュー、ループバック録音、音楽モードとストリーミングモードの切り替え、出力レベルメーターなどが利用できます。

15:05

📊 UIC-232の評価と推奨

最後の段落ではUIC-232の総括的な評価と推奨について語られています。32ビットフロート録音はまだ完全には普及していないものの、UIC-232はデュアルADCによって実現された広いダイナミックレンジと、24ビットモードでも非常に優れたオーディオパフォーマンスを提供していると述べています。ただし、ゲインダイアルの欠如やヘッドホン出力のインピーダンスの問題、プラスティック製ボディーの品質感などのいくつかの欠点も指摘されています。最終的には、32ビットフロートのサポートが向上する見込みがあると期待しており、その場合UIC-232はより魅力的な選択肢になると結論付けています。

Keywords

💡32ビットフロート

32ビットフロートはデジタルオーディオのサンプリング形式の一つで、より広いダイナミックレンジを扱うことができるという利点があります。ビデオでは、ZoomのUAC-232インターフェースが32ビットフロート録音に対応していると紹介されており、これによりゲインの設定が不要になり、録音時の柔軟性が向上することが示されています。例えば、ビデオでは32ビットフロート録音モードで信号が0dBFSを超過しても後から引き下げてクリッピングを防ぐことができるという利便性が強調されています。

💡ダイナミックレンジ

ダイナミックレンジとは、音源が持つ最も小さな音から最大限の音までの範囲を指します。ビデオでは、UAC-232が持つ非常に高いダイナミックレンジ（136.5 dB）について触れられており、これにより非常に小さい音から非常に大きな音までを捕捉することが可能となっています。この機能は、ゲインの調整を必要としないインターフェース設計に寄与しています。

💡ゲイン

ゲインは、音声信号の強さを制御する設定であり、録音やミキサーでの音量調整に不可欠です。ビデオでは、UAC-232インターフェースがゲインダイアルを持たない点に言及されており、これはインターフェースが自らのダイナミックレンジでゲイン調整を自動化しているためです。代わりにデジタルの入力レベルスライダーが用意されており、録音レベルを調整することができます。

💡インターフェース

オーディオインターフェースとは、アナログ音声信号をデジタル信号に変換したり、その逆を行ったりするデバイスです。ビデオでは、ZoomのUAC-232というモデルについて紹介されており、そのデザイン、ビルドクオリティ、機能性などが評価されています。特に、32ビットフロート録音やデュアルADC（アナログデジタルコンバータ）の活用がそのインターフェースの魅力となっています。

💡ADC（アナログデジタルコンバータ）

ADCは、アナログの音声信号をデジタル信号に変換するデバイスであり、オーディオインターフェースの核心を成すコンポーネントの1つです。ビデオでは、UAC-232が2つのADCを組み合わせて使用し、広いダイナミックレンジを実現していると説明されています。このデュアルADCの機能は、信号の強さに応じて自動的に切り替えることで、さまざまな音量の信号を捕捉することが可能となっています。

💡サンプリングレート

サンプリングレートは、1秒間にサンプリングされる音声信号の数を表します。ビデオでは、インターフェースのドライバーコントロールパネルからサンプリングレートを設定することができると触れられています。サンプリングレートは、音声の再生や録音の質に大きな影響を与えるため、適切な設定が重要です。

💡バッファサイズ

バッファサイズとは、オーディオインターフェースのメモリバッファに格納されるサンプルの数を意味します。ビデオでは、ドライバーコントロールパネルからバッファサイズを調整することができると説明されています。バッファサイズは、録音の遅延（ラテンシ）や音の断片を防ぐための重要な設定です。

💡ループバック

ループバックは、インターフェースが出力する音声を再び同じインターフェースで録音する機能です。ビデオでは、Mix Controlソフトウェアが提供するループバック機能について触れられており、これにより外部の音声を通さずとも、ソフトウェアからの音声を録音することができると説明されています。

💡ミキシングモード

ビデオでは、Mix Controlソフトウェアのミュージックモードとストリーミングモードが紹介されています。ミュージックモードでは、各チャンネルの入力を個別のトラックとして録音することができ、ストリーミングモードでは左と右のチャンネルを1つのミックスに組み合わせます。これにより、通信ソフトウェアでの使用や、他の人々と音声を共有する際に便利な機能となっています。

💡入力レベルスライダー

入力レベルスライダーは、デジタルで録音する際の信号レベルを調整するためのソフトウェア上のコントロールです。ビデオでは、UAC-232インターフェースにゲインダイアルがないため、Mix Controlソフトウェア内の入力レベルスライダーを使って録音レベルを調整することができると説明されています。これにより、アナログゲインを調整する必要がなくなり、デジタルドメインで信号の調整が可能になります。

Highlights

32-bit float recording is becoming a trend, with Zoom's UAC-232 interface leading the way.

The UAC-232 interface allows for automatic gain adjustment, eliminating the need for manual gain setting.

The interface features a classic 2 Channel audio interface design with metal rods for mounting and cable management.

Build quality is light due to the plastic housing, contrasting with heavier metal-cased interfaces.

Smooth dials on the front control output and headphone volume, with a minor design flaw regarding the proximity to the headphone port.

Direct monitoring feature with adjustable amount in software, enhancing user control.

Independent phantom power buttons for mic inputs and a switch for line/guitar input levels.

Blue status LED indicates when the interface is in 32-bit float recording mode.

Use of an AKM AK-5534 4 channel converter suggests a unique approach to capturing a wide dynamic range.

The UAC-232 has an impressive dynamic range of 136.5 dB, outperforming other interfaces.

No audible artifacts when switching between high and low sensitivity ranges of the ADC.

Potential issue with strong ultrasonic signals impacting the signal-to-noise ratio in the audible range.

32-bit float recording is advantageous for storing signals that exceed 0 dBFS without clipping.

32-bit float functionality is currently limited by software and driver support on different platforms.

Mix Control software is essential for setting input levels and accessing full functionality of the interface.

Round trip latency (RTL) performance is acceptable but not the best, with better times at higher sample rates.

The UAC-232 offers a decent audio performance with low-noise preamps and good dynamic range, despite some limitations.

The interface is a promising step towards new era recording with automatic gain and 32-bit float capabilities, but has some growing pains.

Transcripts

32-bit float seems to be all the Rave

right now and zoom is likely one of the

companies responsible for this new trend

with their recorders and now the uac-232

interface with 32-bit float recording

but do you really don't have to set your

gain anymore and is this the beginning

of a new era let's find out hey Julian

cross here and in this review I'll talk

about my experiences with the UIC 232

have a closer look at the audio

performance and of course the 32-bit

float operation which is quite

interesting in multiple ways full

disclaimer I bought the USC 232 with the

help of my awesome patrons shout out to

these absolute Legends other than that

this video has not been sponsored in any

shape or form let's have a look at the

interface itself before we dive deeper

into the audio topics from a design

point to the 232 resembles a pretty

classic 2 Channel audio interface in a

squarish box two things stand out right

away first of all the metal rods on each

Corner which can be used for mounting

options for the interface or help to tie

down cables one thing thing I've noticed

though is that the rubber pads are round

on these rods and because of that the

interface does not firmly sit on the

desk but tends to slightly roll around

from side to side not a huge deal but I

would have preferred this to be more

stable the second thing I noticed is the

build quality the 232 is quite light at

360 grams that's the weight of a three

to four month old Hedgehog for all the

Americans here but that's because the

whole housing is made out of plastic it

is still relatively robust but it just

it doesn't compare two interfaces with

the metal housing like for example a

focusrite 2i2 the knobs are also plastic

as well so as a whole the interface does

feel a bit on the cheaper side the dials

are smooth to return though so that's

great speaking of dials on the front you

get a big output dial which adjusts the

output volume of the main outputs the

smaller dial controls the headphone

volume independently my only complaint

is that the dial is a bit close to the

quarter inch headphone Port below and

with a big head jack inserted it can

make the adjustment of the volume a bit

trickier a few more millimeters distance

between the part and the dial wouldn't

have hurt on the front you can also find

four buttons one to turn on Direct

monitoring which is quite nice and you

can even dial in the exact amount in the

software which I will get to later two

phantom power buttons which individually

toggle 48 Volts for the mic inputs and

the button which targets the first TRS

input between a line level or a high Z

guitar input in terms of inputs you get

two XLR and TRS combo inputs which can

record anything from mic to line level

and if you weren't sure that this

interface is capable of recording in

32-bit float well it always reminds you

with this blue status LED which is

turned on when the interface is in

32-bit float recording mode switching to

the back you can find the aforementioned

TRS main outputs to connect your studio

monitors there's also a set of midi in

and output connections a kensing locking

point and two USB C ports one is to

connect the interface to a PC and in

most situations this handles the data

connection and simultaneously delivers

power but in case you use a mobile

device that doesn't deliver enough power

via USB then you can power the interface

with for example a power bank via the

second Port now it would be a shame if

somebody were to open the interface and

reveal the 32-bit float magic so I'm not

going to as you can see the UIC 232 uses

an akm ak-5534 analog to digital

converter which is actually a 4 channel

converter and here's how I think that

works this is pure speculation and I

have no idea if this is totally correct

so take this with a big grain of salt I

think Zoom is capturing all four streams

of the ADC and have the adcs set up in

pairs so that you have one as high

sensitivity and one that has a low

sensitivity and then switch between them

depending on the signal strength and

this is likely done by the arm

microcontroller if that's completely

over your head you can watch my dual ADC

explanation video but in the end all

that it means is that the 232 is merging

the dynamic range of two analog to

digital converters and thus can cap

capture a huge range of signals which is

why you don't have to set your gain

anymore with this interface it simply

captures all the signals coming from the

microphone doesn't matter how soft or

strong okay enough about that let's

check out the audio performance starting

with the mic inputs first up here is the

frequency response which should be as

flat as possible to record all

frequencies equally well you can see

that the frequency response is very flat

in the audible range and it only rolls

off at very low frequencies but that's

below the human hearing range and that

can actually help to avoid infrasonic

Rumble in your recordings all good here

next up is dynamic range which is the

ratio of the strongest signal that the

interface can capture and its noise

floor and this is where it gets Mighty

impressive the zoom UAC 232 comes in at

136.5 DBA I actually had to change the

scale of my comparison chart because it

never went that high the 232 easily

beats all other interfaces by an

additional 14 Bots that's pretty crazy

of course keep in mind that this is the

result of merging the signal of two adcs

which is obviously beating a single ADC

solution and there are definitely some

downsides to the switching which we will

talk about in a second still this is

something that hasn't been done like

this before at least not in this price

range and I think that's very exciting

so in practice this means that the UIC

232 can capture incredibly small but

also incredibly strong signals without

any need of adjusting the gain in fact

there is no gain dial on the interface

the only thing you get is an input level

slider in the mix Control software the

important part here is that this is

digital amplification which only takes

place after the signal has already been

captured there is no analog gain control

on this interface a positive thing I

want to mention here is that Zoom seems

to have done their homework as I've done

multiple tests with a specifically

created test signals which forced at the

ADC to toggle between the high and low

range range and I could not hear any

artifacts in the transition that's great

because in normal use I do not expect

the switching between the adcs to be

audible I mean that's what you would

expect but nevertheless it's great to

see that this holds true in practice one

downside of the switching behavior is

that any signal in the adc's frequency

range seems to toggle the switching once

it surpasses a certain threshold this

means that a theoretically a strong

signal in the ultrasonic range could

cause the ADC to toggle till the lower

sensitivity one which would negatively

impact the signal to noise ratio in the

audible range this is a very rare

scenario but I would have wished that

its signals that are above half the

sample rate would not be able to toggle

the switching of the adcs additionally

some adcs tend to have a rise in the

ultrasonic noise and this also holds

true for the 232 when the ADC switches

ranges a thin noise arises noticeably in

the ultrasonic range and this noise

modulation might become audible when you

pitch down ultrasonic frequencies into

the audible range again this is

definitely more of an edge case but for

recording ultrasonic stuff the 232 might

not necessarily be the best option

notice that I haven't mentioned the

third YouTube with float mode so far and

in fact the incredibly huge dynamic

range of the 232 can still be fully

contained in 24 bits so you might ask

yourself the question what's the benefit

of the dubit float then it has to do

with how the signal is stored

historically 16 and 24 bit integer

formats don't support values above zero

dbfs so they clip the signal while the

32-bit float retains this information if

you turn up the input level in the mix

control the signal you record gets

Amplified and here is the point where

you can clip when using 24-bit mode so

that's where you still have to be

careful to set your input level properly

to not clip if you're in 30 with float

this does not matter because even if the

signal goes above zero dbfs you can

still pull it down and post so even in

24 bit mode you benefit from the Dual

IDC setup and the huge dynamic range and

theoretically you could just leave your

input level at zero and then set your

level and post with a third two-bit

float you have the additional benefit

that you can bring the signal level up

to a typical recording level and even if

it were to clip you can simply restore

it but there's a big catch in my testing

I found that the 32-bit float was only

fully functional with the azio drive on

Windows and I think this is important to

mention because only because the

interface shows a nice 32-bit float

indicator you could still be clipping in

an application where you can't recover

the audio OBS and Discord are still

clipped at a 0 dbfs maybe there will be

a future update but at the time of

making this video 32-bit float did not

prevent clipping in these applications

so the best thing to do is actually to

make a quick test of clipping and then

pulling down the signal to see if you

can restore it I am not an Apple user so

I can only tell you about windows but it

seems that at the point of making this

review there is no application that

supports a 32-bit float via the standard

mme or vasapi driver when I was using

azio the 32-bit float worked fine with

for example Adobe Audition but without

azio if for example in audition the

audio was not recoverable when going

above 0 dbfs despite being in the 32-bit

float mode on the uic232 I think there's

a very good chance that this will be

updated in the future and I imagine that

there will be more and more 32-bit float

adoption but you have to be aware that

depending on the application you use and

also on the driver 32-bit float might or

might not always work as intended you

have been warned Zoom actually has a

table showing different software and

indicating whether it supports a 32-bit

float recording and if the audio above

0dbfs is recoverable I think they should

also mention the driver there because as

I mentioned before it can make a

difference if if you use azio on Windows

or the Windows standard driver

if azio is available that's definitely

the preferred option not only because of

the 32-bit float what would be really

cool is if there were a 24-bit limiter

mode which would behave like a normal 24

bit interface but when you go above zero

of dvfs the interface deploys the

digital limiter to keep this signal in

range this way you could use the

interface like any other and with all

applications but make use of the

incredibly High dynamic range to prevent

clipping that would be really useful in

for example streaming situations where

you want your signal to sit at a decent

level but you also do not want to blow

out people's ears when you suddenly get

a bit louder so if you're watching you

know what you have to do I know the

whole 32-bit float thing can be a bit

confusing but in one of my next videos I

will explain it in more detail and

you'll see that it is quite easy to

understand subscribe if you don't want

to miss that video besides dynamic range

the preamp performance is quite

important especially if you use Dynamic

microphones as an example for worst case

scenario here I have connected the

infamously low sensitivity issue sm7b

directly to the UIC 232 and I'll be

quiet for a second so you can have a

listen to the nozzle of this setup

great to hear that this is a pretty low

noise floor I was a bit afraid as the

last two Zoom interfaces I reviewed

didn't fare too well in this test but

the USC 232 has a very respectable

preamp noise of

-128.3 DBA weighted which is right in

line with other interfaces in its price

range have a listen

the preempt noise of the 232 is

definitely low enough that you do not

need an additional inline preamp and

because the input level slider can

provide you with an additional 60

decibels of amplification you will have

no problem bringing even low sensitive

mics up to a proper recording level

lastly here's the Distortion graph with

a typical mic signal and you can see

exactly where the 232 switches ADC

ranges generally we see a downwards

Trend which is exactly what we would

like to see and only in an audible

amount of distortion is creeping in just

before the input Clips but Julian the

232 cannot clip wrong at some point even

the 232 will clip this point is so high

that under normal circumstances you will

never hit this level but technically the

input can and will clip at some point

now I don't want to bore you with the

line level input performance because it

is very similar to the mic inputs the

frequency response is very flat there is

only an Ever So slight hump around 25

Hertz but this is really not something

you can hear the THD plus n looks quite

special once again you can see where the

interface switches between the adcs but

on average distortions are at or below

minus 80 decibels and this should be

inaudible the dynamic range is slightly

lower compared to the mic inputs but

still higher than anything else I've

ever measured before all in all no

surprises here before we check out the

software let me quickly show you the

performance of the main output in the

headphone output the frequency response

of the main output is perfectly flat and

the audible range so that's great the

dynamic range of the output is quite

good with about 113 DBA but it didn't

quite make it into the excellent

category still I would say that for the

most part this is very good and you

shouldn't hear any noise from your

studio monitors with this interface the

Distortion performance is decent I have

definitely seen better ones but you can

see where the line levels out and that

Distortion components sit -90 decibels

below the test signal which in my

opinion is not audible also nice to see

that the 232 delivers quite a nicer

signal strength of about 16 gbv which

should bring any studio monitor to a

very loud level as always I have made

multiple measurements of the headphone

output and you can compare them all here

in this colorful mess I'm not going to

go through all of the measurements but

let's have a look at the ones that stick

out while not directly Apparent from

these numbers you can see that the

frequency response of the headphone

output depends quite a bit on the

impedance of the headphones with lone

pins headphones the roll off in the

lower frequencies is quite a bit more

pronounced and while I don't think that

this is extremely apparent on playback

it could have definitely been more flat

and less dependent on the headphones

impedance Additionally the output

impedance is on the higher side that

means that the frequency response of

your headphones could change even more

depending on their impedance because of

that I would avoid using very low

impedance headphones or iems with 16

ohms or so and would go at least with 32

ohms and higher if sound accuracy is

important for you besides that the

headphone output has quite a bit of

power and you should be able to drive

most headphones to loud listening levels

THD and the noise levels are also quite

good and you shouldn't perceive any

noise or Distortion with the headphone

output all in all not a high-end

performance but a definitely a decent

headphone output quality especially if

you use High ampens headphones as

promised let's check out the software

that comes with the UAC 232 because it

is pretty much mandatory to use to get

the most out of the interface first up

here is the driver control panel which

gives you access to the buffer size

sample rate and format the latter one is

where you can switch between 24-bit or

32-bit float operation this is

straightforward but to get the full

functionality of the 232 you also need

to install mix control here you can set

the aforementioned input level and you

also have a waveform preview which gives

you a very basic glimpse of what you're

recording the software also provides the

loopback which allows you to record the

audio that is output by the interface in

addition to the inputs then there's a

switch which toggles between music and

streaming mode in musical mode the

inputs are recorded as separate tracks

and you can individually set the level

of direct monitoring for each Channel

and pen with the knobs above streaming

mode combines at the left and right

channel into one mix and with the diets

you can now control how much of each

Channel contributes to the overall mix

this can also be useful in communication

software which doesn't see the second

input of the interface in music mode but

if you're in streaming mode both inputs

get sent to the software and can be

heard by other people last but not least

you also have a level meter for your

outputs which you can use to gauge your

output level that you're listening to I

think the mix control is quite a useful

tool but it does of course not provide

more elaborate mixing or routing

functionality like in bigger interfaces

then again with the two channel

interface that's probably not often

needed I also checked the round trip

latency which is specifically

interesting for people who want to

monitor the audio in real time with

effects applied here you can see the RTL

with 48 kilohertz and different buffer

sizes it's definitely not the worst but

it's also not the best times I've

measured when you record with a higher

sample rate the rtls get slightly better

and even more competitive although it

could still have been a bit better I

think the RTL performance is acceptable

but nothing special alright verdict time

is this the future of audio recording do

you just plug in your microphone and

never have to worry about gain again

well kind of but we're not quite there

yet the UIC 232 does pretty much what

Zoom is advertising and that's recording

an insane dynamic range which pretty

much captures all the audio from your

microphone and because of that there is

really no need to set the gain anymore

and with the 32-bit float recording mode

you can recover audio that has been

clipped in software now the issue is

that 32-bit float is not universally

supported by all software it is of

course not the fault of the interface

but you have to keep in mind that at the

point of making this video we are still

in a relatively early stage of 32-bit

float at least when it comes to it as a

recording format and the reality is that

there is a lot of software and Driver

combinations that don't fully work with

a 32-bit float yet some programs might

not work with 32-bit float at all while

other programs let you record in it but

then don't retain the audio information

above 0 dbfs which can lead to a very

unpleasant surprise so if you plan to

use the interface in 32-bit float I

highly recommend that you make a test

first where you clip on purpose and then

see if you can recover the audio just to

make sure that everything works on

Windows use azio wherever you can

because this seems to work most reliably

without float when it works the 32-bit

float recording is a pretty handy thing

to have you essentially record like

always but you have the possibility to

restore your signal if you ever go above

zero dbfs so there are definitely still

some quirks that have to be ironed out

before I can confidently recommend a

32-bit float interfaces that said in the

UIC 232 still benefits from its dual ADC

conversion and if you set it to the

24-bit mode you can still capture an

insanely huge dynamic range and that's

already supported in pretty much any

audio software today just be aware that

if you buy this mainly as a 24-bit

interface it does not have any gain

dials and you will need to either set

your recording level in the mix Control

software or you will have to verify the

recording to the desired volume and post

besides the Dual ADC and a 32-bit float

the UIC 232 overall delivers a decent

audio performance similar to other

interfaces in its price range the

preamps are very low noise the dynamic

range of the outputs is good only the

headphone output and pins could have

been a bit better and the build quality

a bit less plasticky okay that's it for

now please give this video a thumbs up

and subscribe for more content and I

will see you all in the next one

foreign

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