MIC interface .... What should I do?

[sjs94704]

I am so frustrated and could use some help here.

First, I am NOT a hardware expert, in fact quite the opposite! Dealing with hardware and installing drivers as well as all the settings for them in Reaper is very scary for me! We all have 'something' that causes us anxiety, and this is mine!

I have a Behringer B-1 condenser microphone that I have had for years. I also have a Behringer U-Phoria UMC22 interface and it has been suggested that it is an older interface and it is possible that support for the drivers for this interface has dropped off from the manufacturer. I don't know if that is true for this interface or not?

What is happening is that once I open up Reaper, it 'hijacks' my soundcard. In order for me to get control of it again to do anything else such as listen to my music service or a YouTube video, I have to restart my entire PC altogether every time. I know that if things are set up properly I should not have to do that!

Instead of screwing around too much with interfaces and drivers, etc, if anyone can say for SURE if I need a new interface or not. If I do, what features in a new interface should I look for?

I got some money from a medical settlement and used some of it to purchase a custom PC. Here is a list of what I have:

Windows 10 HOME
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 six-core 3.20 GHz
Memory: 16 GB
64-bit Operating System, x64 - based processor

Hardware:

ASUS Radeon RX 560 14CU 4GB EVO OC Edition GDDR5 DP HDMI DVI AMD Graphics Card (RX560-O4G-EVO)
Samsung 970 EVO 250GB - NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 SSD (MZ-V7E250BW)
Corsair CX Series 550 Watt 80 Plus Bronze Certified Modular Power Supply (CP-9020102-NA)
MSI Gaming AMD Ryzen B350 DDR4 VR Ready HDMI USB 3 ATX Motherboard (B350 PC MATE)
AMD Ryzen 5 1600 Processor with Wraith Spire Cooler (YD1600BBAEBOX)
CORSAIR CARBIDE 275R Mid-Tower Gaming Case, Window Side Panel- Black
G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2666 Desktop Memory Model F4-2666C15D-16GVR

[sjs94704]

My use of Reaper is probably very different than most of you.

I like to sing. I do not write my own music. I buy pre-recorded music from a website that each instrument is on it's own track. In addition to those tracks I have a couple tracks for my vocals.

The most number of tracks in a single song is about 6-11 tracks.

Here is the website I get my music from: https://songgalaxy.com/audio-files and look at the Gold multi-tracks.

So, I am not the typical music 'mixer' so I don't get that into all these settings, etc. and because I don't is the reason I don't know a lot about it and am interested in getting someone to help me get it right and just wanted to find out if there was someplace online I might find someone besides using Craigslist, that's it!

Or, if it is true that my interface is indeed older, what kind should I look for so that I can have one that is known to work really well with reaper.

I would be grateful for any assistance and suggestions on a new interface should I ultimately decide to buy one.

[poetnprophet]

I saw your other thread, and it may not be the audio interface giving you issues.

For what you're doing, it sounds like you could even use something small like a Focusrite Solo or 2/2, which has one preamp (or two for the 2/2)...but depends on your monitoring/speakers. Are you using headphones, or do you have active monitors?

[sjs94704]

I have PreSonus 4.5" Active Monitor speakers...
They plug directly into the PC

The headphones are plugged directly into the MIC interface

[poetnprophet]

Sounds like you have your windows sounds coming from the PC integrated audio, and only Reaper is setup with the Uphoria. So, reaper music is only coming out of the headphones, correct?

I would set the windows playback and recording to the Uphoria. then you'll need to also put your speakers into the uphoria.

And, in preferences you'll want to make sure that reaper doesn't close the audio device when not in use. I forget exactly where that setting is.