Behringer Xenyx 302 USB mixer

While looking for a way to capture the output of Pro Tools while adding a voice over for creating tutorials, I came across the Behringer Xenyx 302 USB. I simply needed one mic input and a couple of line inputs, and really didn't want to buy another Mbox-style interface for a couple hundred bucks... It turns out that at $40 new, the Xenyx 302 was at least half the price of the next option, and fit the bill perfectly.

The 302USB can power from the USB bus, which avoids the extra clutter of a wall-wart power supply (a wall socket adapter is included). This mini-mixer's footprint is so small (just covers my open hand) that posting this in "consoles" seems like a joke!

Ins and outs are limited, but that is the point of this unit - keeping it small and affordable. At $40, I'd have to say that this is a must have for home studios; it could double as an additional headphone cue amp, provide an additional mic input in a pinch, or provide a level controller for a second set of monitors.

The "british style" preamp and EQ talk is just marketing silliness, of course, but the mic input sounded just fine to me when doing voice overs to the screen capture video on a Neumann TLM103. There is plenty of gain in the mic pre, and the EQ sounded perfectly usable, if not particularly impressive. The noise specs are not quite what you'll get from the next step up in mixer size, but it was quiet enough IMHO for creating a youtube tutorial. I saw another youtube "review" of the Xeynx 302 wherein there was a constant, rather loud hiss, but this (I assume) was not the fault of the 302.

Connection via USB to the Mac Pro in my studio functioned perfectly. The unit showed up as "USB audio CODEC", and worked fine with both Logic and Pro Tools 9.

At this price point, and with plenty of flexibility for mini-mixer chores, this unit gets a 10 for "bang for the buck".