I’ve been using the Behringer Xenyx 302USB for a little while now and am incredibly impressed by the budget sound card.
For £35 the Xenyx 302USB provides a lot of bang for your buck. Not only does it include a rather handy USB interface for your computer but it can also provide phantom power for a microphone. So you can plug a mic in and record direct to your favourite application – if you don’t have one yet have a look at Audacity.
What it’s not
If you are a PC user keen on using this soundcard mixer for music with software like Ableton Live or Cubase then you’d be better off with a card that supports ASIO 2.0. These will reduce latency in the software and make it more of a joy to use. You can get software that uses your computer processing power to reduce the latency but compatible hardware is more appropriate if you are serious about making music on a PC.
What it is
Well it’s a neat little package that allows you to plug in a microphone and a line level source. So if you want to capture the output of your tablet whilst recording the video then this is just the ticket. Of if you are a podcaster / video blogger then again teamed with a half decent microphone you will get very good quality audio that you listeners and viewers will really appreciate.
What it sounds like
I’m happy to report that the Xenyx 302 doesn’t really sound like anything and is pretty transparent. I wouldn’t claim that it adds character and depth to stuff you throw at it like other high end equipment might but it is clean and capable sound. Perfect for digital content creators.
What it looks like
This is a pretty small box and doesn’t take a great deal of desk real estate. The build quality is good, as its made from strong plastics. There is no power supply required as the mixer is powered from the USB hub – which is good. It’s no beauty nor is it terribly ugly it just looks and feels functional which at this price point is good enough for me.
Final impressions
For the money this is a cracking little mixer come USB interface. For less than £40 (if you shop around) you can easily record audio from my iPad / microphone or other line level source to get the job done. There are other USB soundcards on the market but for my money this is a winner.
4 Responses
I have this interface Behringer Xenyx 302USB (the same interface of the photo) and connect my condenser microphones dont work and seems to have no phantom … what happens? I have to turn on the phantom? how can I do?
Hi, I don’t have a phantom powered condenser mic to try with, so suggest you get in touch with Behringer support to see if they can help you out. As far as I can tell phantom power is supported but not sure what you need to do to make sure there is enough juice to power the mic.
Just noticed your message. I myself have a condenser mic. It requires phantom power input to work. This supplies mine with the power to work. If this fails, you will need a phantom power pack (I bought mine on eBay for £20 and works perfectly) you will need (to plug into the mixer via phantom power pack XLR input) An XLR Male to Female lead (Plugs from mic to the input of phantom power pack) then a Male to Male XLR (To plug from the phantom power pack to the XLR input on the mixer) My mic came with an XLR Male to Headphone jack, which can be plugged in this way, but to use the built-in pre amp, you will to plug in using the XLR input on the mixer. Hope this helps. PS Noticed this was posted beginning of last year, and you’ve more than likely sorted it, but as I spent forever writing this message, I’m going to post it on principal. 😛
Thanks Connor, all helpful advice like this is most welcome.