Customer Reviews

Behringer XENYX502 5-Channel Mixer

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I am rapidly becoming a huge fan of Behringer. Their products are very inexpensive yet are of top quality. This mixer is another example of that rule.

The mixer is solid and has a *superlative* sound - or should I say LACK of sound - it's completely noiseless. Tone controls work wonderfully and the unit is solid, easy to work, and a true bargain at around $40. (I *really* like having an XLR input for my microphone.) I only have three small points that keep this from being a perfect machine:

1. I'd like the output jacks to be on the BACK of the unit rather than on the top. When I have everything plugged in it my cables stick up all over the place. It ends up being rather unwieldy. I bought this unit because I thought it would be a space-saver; it would be except that all my cables sprout up from the top of it.

2. No rubber feet. I put this on a hard table and it slid around a bit. It physically rattled some too, since the table is not perfectly flat. Add the sprouting up cables and you get an unwieldy unit that slides around the table and can rattle. The feet are easy to fix, however - go to your local hardware store and buy some stick-on rubber feet.

3. The blue LED power indicator is way too bright. It's almost distracting and can actually make it hard to see/look at the board. A more subtle LED (red, yellow, green) would work just fine, thanks, no need to wow us with the latest Blue LED technology.

Other than that, if you're looking for an inexpensive mixer with an amazing sound and feature set, this is the unit for you. Highly recommended.

This is an awesome unit. I HIGHLY recommend it! Quality is supreme! I'd say the quality is on par with Mackie! The 1/4 inch jacks are rock solid, the metal frame is extremly sturdy and it is dead silent. This is one of the best purchases I've made for my home studio. I'm sure it has the quality to handle gigs as well with no problem. It's 'beefy' and solid in every way. I cannot believe this was only $45. I don't know how they do it for that price. I run my guitar in stereo, my keyboard in stereo and the stereo tape input lets me run my PC into it as well, and I STILL have the mic input if I need it! Just great! Highly recommended! Well done Behringer!!!

It's small, it's compact and it works! And what a bargain price..I actually when back and bought the 802 for the band rehearsals and use the 502 for the recording studio. For amateurs this is a good starting point of getting familiar with using mixers. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because the instruction are poorly written; it's like two pages..I just had to experiment. Yet, it's a bargain and I'm pleased.

Most of the 502 units being shipped out now include a Phantom Power Supply. Which for the record a Phantom power supply costs nearly as much as this unit it self. The main thing to remember is that the power is not on the 3/4 but only on the XLR. This unit was simple to use I just wish they would have marked that the XLR was the powered port I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what was going on. The sound is amazing I am outputing to my computer for some sound tests and it is flawless great bargain I only gave it 4 stars because of the lack of notifications of which port was powered.

Enjoy,

This thing really is useful. I started using one as a simple headphone/monitor control for a DAW here and it sits nicely by the computer keyboard. I've since bought a second one and modded the first with some opamp swaps and a less-bright orange power LED (as noted by another reviewer). I also had coincidentally added rubber feet to both of mine to handle that sliding around issue.

Another reviewer mentioned the mic pre going full blast at the very end of the trim knob range. Both mine have this to a degree, but one is way more pronounced. The pot itself is a good part of it (I swapped pots between the two), but it may be the circuit as well. I haven't tried to resolve that yet and it isn't that big of a deal here.

Wishes-- Phantom power as others have mentioned. A single clean pre which could also do condensers would be great. Also, there is no easy way to grab the mic signal without including the full mix. A pre-fader direct out for the mic channel, or an insert jack which could be used like that would make it a lot more useful for tracking vocals and stuff where you needed the rest of the mixer for DAW/monitor duty. BTW- I don't believe there's a newer 502 with phantom as mentioned in another review. He may be thinking of the 802. I bought one of those a few days ago too. Seems nice too, but there's nothing like the compact size of that smaller one.

Take Care

PS- Looks like my first one was bought used in 2007. The second was within a year of that and they're in use most of the day, so I guess they've had ample time to break if they were going to. ;)

**Edit** After some fishing around, it looks like there actually may be some new modded version of this thing with phantom power, but I can't find any hard proof of it on their site, and the downloadable docs and spec sheets look the same as always. Some users mention a sticker added to newer boxes stating "Now with phantom power!", but it sounds as if there is no way to disable it or know that it's on as with the larger models. Someone else mentioned that it only measured 30vDC, but that may not be a problem. If it really has any, good for B!

This mixer did NOT come with "the new addition of +48 V phantom power" as stated in the Product Description section so I had to return it.

I wanted a mixer to connect to my computer sound card, first to act as a microphone pre-amp and as an interface between a pro mic (balanced line) and the sound card; and 2- to allow for tape deck and an input from my sound system without having to pull my computer out of the cabinet to move plugs around. I have used several Behringer mixers in this series at my workplace and know the sound quality and dependability are definitely there. Its very small footprint allows it to sit on my computer desk within easy reach. It is rugged enough to make it suitable for light duty use on the road in a reasonably protected environment, such as a padded carrying case. The price on this unit made it even more attractive. The only very slight disappointment is the gain on the line level channels is not quite enough to input a turntable cartridge without a pre-amp. A "standard" [12V DC] input voltage would be on my wish list. This mixer suits my requirements exactly, and I would definitely buy this mixer again.

This little mixer is good for portable recordings(bands, live dj sets ect, the only bad thing about this mixer i see is htta there is no power switch you have to unplug the power adapter to turn off

I tried two different of these mixers (sent one back, and am keeping the other), and both give horrible amounts of extra noise on the Mic in plug, especially when using a Condenser mic that requires Phantom Power. I have a different Behringer mixer (Behringer Xenyx 802 Premium 8-Input 2-Bus Mixer with Xenyx Mic Preamps and British EQs) that introduces much less noise than this one (but still not perfect). Its a soothing white noise in the treble range for those who like it.

All other parts of the mixer works great, line inputs give no noise. Perfect for mixing together two other pieces of equipment (Guitar, Tape Deck, etc..) but not microphones.

You get what you pay for, so don't expect a silent Mic Pre on this one.

I've had this mixer for about a month now and it's been great. I've never had a mixer before, so it was a little bit of a learning curve. I'm starting a podcast and this little mixer has done the trick.