Behringer Xenyx 502 Mixer Review

Sugoi!

OK. Behringer equipment has a reputation for poor quality and short lifespan, so you don’t have to tell me about that. But, I needed a really cheap and simple mixer and the Behringer Xenyx 502 has worked out great, and provided a nice surprise too – this thing make a great headphone practice amp.

It is really inexpensive, with a list price of $87.99 and a street price of $39.99. This price point worked well for me because I needed something cheap to use for small parties and situations where I did not want to bring my nice mixer and takes chances by leaving it unattended (spilled drinks and curious children, you know).

The Xenyx 502 can do quite a bit for $40. It has 5 inputs, including and XLR and four ¼-inch jacks. The manual does not say if it has phantom power and there is no switch, but it appears to have it as my condenser mikes work fine with it. There are also RCA inputs in case you want to hook up an iPod or CD player, and this input can be sent to headphone output or the main mix outputs. These outputs include two ¼-inch jacks, a ¼-inch headphone jack and RCA jacks (in case you are doing some recording).

This Behringer unit has a sturdy chassis, and I have managed to not break off any knobs in the year and a half that I have been using it. And that is really saying something, as it has hit the floor hard a few times. You see, the mixer’s small size is no match for the huge in-line power transformer that is on the power cord, which has dragged it off of a few tables.

As far its performance, I am satisfied with this purchase. It provides a quiet signal with no extra hum or buzz, and not much alteration of the source sound. I have not found myself wishing for more knobs or inputs in the situations I’ve used it in. Of course there is only one XLR input, but I knew that going in and I was looking for the cheapest alternative.

The surprise I got is that this mixer works great as a guitar practice amplifier. I can plug in my iPod and guitar, and use the headphone out to listen (in stereo, no less). It is quite a bit more versatile than a lot of the practice amplifiers I’ve tried, and a whole lot cheaper.

There are a few things I do not like. The world’s brightest LED, which makes it hard to see the controls. No power switch, so you have to unplug it to turn it off. And a power supply that is almost as big as the mixer.

Oh yeah, and I do not know what a Xenyx is.

Mahalo!