Behringer XENYX 1204USB Premium 12-Input 2/2-Bus Mixer with XENYX Mic Preamps and Compressors, British EQ and USB/Audio Interface, Compatible with PC and Mac

I needed to be able to transfer a gramophone record to a digital format for a friend who no longer has a record player. Unfortunately the record is long deleted from Decca's catalogue. I purchased this mixer and it worked like a charm. I paired it with Audacity which is a stunning piece of software. At first I could only record the sound from the laptop's built in microphone. Then I found the Recording Device option under the Audio Setup option on the top bar of the Audacity display. This gave me the record player but at low volume and then I noticed that the recording gain in Audacity is a slider superimposed on the recording level display and sliding this to about -6dB gave me a good clean sound. Audacity makes it easy to export FlAC or MP3 files etc. and even Microsoft WAV. Use the 2-track input on the Xenyx 302 and it bypasses the equaliser and other gain controls. It is powered off the USB port but comes with a power supply in a separate box which is where you will find the USB cord (standard USB not USB-c). All you will need then is and RCA stereo lead from your phono pre=amp. An excellent product which doesn't need any extra drivers.. My PC is running Windows 11 Pro.

I decided to upgrade my speakers to some entry level audio monitors as I do a lot of editing and film work. I also wanted some decent speakers for general listening too. As I have a number of inputs such as Desktop, Laptop, PS3 and occasionally others, I thought i'd get a Mixer as it would be handy for handling multiple inputs, adjusting the sound and it would look really cool on my desk!This works great for me and was great for under £100, I considered a number of cheaper and smaller ones but this has a whole lot more channels and features than the lower end ones for not much more money.I would have liked it to have had another stereo channel or two but that's no problem as I use 3 & 4 together for my Desktop and still have 2 channels to plug in Microphones for recording. You can also use the FX and Aux Returns as extra stereo channels if you don't need them for anything else.Great audio quality from this and the build quality is decent, the USB interface can be used to record your Main Mix or as a Sound input into the 2 Track. I use it all the time to record voiceovers and other bits and it works great with Adobe Audition and Audacity.Great features and quality for the price! Has worked brilliantly for my home edit suite setup.I would recommend to people who are looking for a basic mixer for home setups, small live events/functions. Musicians maybe wanting to record vocals and instruments with XLR mics. You aren't able to record channels separately over USB as it all goes through the main mix so you won't have individual control over your levels in post unless you record them separately but it's great if you want to record music, voiceovers etc...

Needing some more inputs, I bought this Behringer Xenyx mini-mixer as an expansion console in a studio setup that already had three mixers. I was a little concerned about noise in the mixer since the other consoles are very quiet (Studiomaster, TASCAM, and Allen & Heath), however I've found it to be almost transparent in the signal chain. That said, with a lot of sources to record I can select high-gain instruments to feed through the mixer and turn down the input gain to drop the noise floor anyway. As a consequence it fits very nicely into the existing setup.The lack of channel faders might concern some users since there's far less visual confirmation of levels using rotary controls, but then again it means that the mixer can provide 12 good channels in a very small footprint (in fact my Xenyx is propped atop my main console and isn't very obtrusive up there).The layout is reasonably ergonomic considering that everything is crammed into the smallest possible space. The channel control knobs are a good size, with the best channel control on the leftmost four channels that have XLR and jack inputs (balanced/unbalanced). The channel gain controls operate across different ranges according to whether a Mic or Line input is connected, and channels 1-4 have +48v phantom power for any condenser mics you use that are not self-powered. The first 4 channels also have the most comprehensive EQ.To the right of the first 4 channel strips are the channel controls for the remaining 8 channels, in 4 paired groups, 5/6, 7/8, 9/10, and 11/12. Somewhat confusingly the normally charcoal-grey pan controls seen elsewhere on the mixer are coloured blue (the colour of the EQ controls on channels 1-4) for channels 5/6 and 9/10. These paired channels lack any EQ, having just pan, volume and FX send controls, so are best used for sources for which you need no EQ (perhaps synths are best here).The effects are not bad, but also not especially remarkable (at least in light of the fact that I have access to dedicated effects units already). They could be used to add some audio interest to a mix but for me they have the significant drawback that the FX send is a mono bus, meaning that for the stereo channels the signal is summed to mono before it enters the FX section. This to me is a compromise too far. If I have a percussion hit on the left channel I really don't want a reverb effect that sits across the mix. I could compromise by recording such things separately, but then if I was going to do that I wouldn't need an expansion mixer! There are quite a few usable effects provided you are okay with the mono summing of their inputs.The unit comes with a good printed manual that seems to cater for the first-time mixer user, with detailed instructions about setting up and using the unit. The manual is also available in PDF form in their website, music-group.com. The PDF version is especially good for searching automatically for specific details that can otherwise be buried in a decent comprehensive manual such as the one for the 1202FXAs for the "British EQ" claims, well, with Studiomaster and Allen & Heath kit in the studio I already have plenty of lovely British EQ. The Xenyx operates on 12khz, 2.5khz, and 80hz, which feels very limiting when you are used to having parametric controls on at least the mids, and preferably also on the highs.The master fader is the only fader control on the whole mixer. It is decent and positive and gets the job done. The small LED ladders have too few stages to really get a fix on how the levels are behaving. I find them less pleasant to work with than the metering on my main mixers. The Allen & Heath uses old VU meters and the Studiomaster a long LED ladder with the same ballistics as a standard VU, something that makes these very intuitive to use. The Behringer 1202FX needs a lot more attention paid to levels due to its more primitive metering although in a situation where it may stay on the same settings with the same instruments on the same inputs it is probably less of a problem.To summarise, it's a good mixer at the low prices it commands. It is solid and should withstand moderate use on the road and last a good long time in a fixed installation such as for a small house PA, or for worship and other similar settings. It doesn't break the bank or your back, but neither does it mark a breakthrough in usability. That compact footprint hits the ergonomics unless you're using it as a "set and forget" mixer. In that role, though, it does very well. With the caveats above, I can still recommend it amongst its contemporaries.