Have to accommodate a vocal duo in a hurry? Got a small choir in need of a little projection? The BEHRINGER 802 mixer has everything you have to give a small multi vocal performance a robust sound, offering lots of versatility at a price you may be able to pay for. Everything you have to give a small multi vocal performance a robust sound. Click to expand. Two state of the art XENYX Mic Preamps. “British” 3 band EQs for warm and musical sound. Some Input
The 8 input, 2 bus XENYX 802 has two XENYX mic preamps with +48 V phantom power, making it possible to use two dynamic or condenser microphones. You may be able to use the 802′s effects send and return jacks to hook up to an external effects processor. Play music between sets via the RCA CD/Tape inputs (assignable to major mix or control room/phones outputs) and record your performance to an outboard recording device via the RCA outputs. XENYX Preamps
The microphone channels feature high end XENYX preamps that compare well with costly outboard preamps by sound quality and dynamics, and boast the following features: 130 dB dynamic range for lots of headroom A bandwidth ranging from below ten Hz to over 200 kHz for nuanced reproduction Low noise, distortion free circuitry for a transparent signal Perfect for most any mic, with up to 60 dB of get and a +48 volt phantom power supply “British EQ”
The equalizers used for the XENYX series are depending on the legendary circuitry of top notch consoles made in Britain, which are renowned during the world for their warm and musical sound character. With extreme get settings, these equalizers supply remaining audio. Small Wonder
Weighing in at just 2.2 pounds, the XENYX 802 is the movable, practical way to turn a small performance with many vocalists into a sonic gem. Choirs, folk duos, coffee shops and karaoke lounges agree the XENYX 802 packs superior sound into small places. What is in the Box
Behringer 802 8 Input Mixer, Power Supply, User’s Manual

87 of 91 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of five stars The best things in life are simple and good to boot, December 18, 2007
By Squonk (The black forests of Pennsylvania, where hunters follow by moonlight my silvery trail of tears) See all my reviews This review is from: Behringer Xenyx 802 Premium 8 Input 2 Bus Mixer with Xenyx Mic Preamps and British EQs (Electronics) There are merchandise that are intended to wow us with their apparently infinite scope of features and permutations; at the reverse extreme there are merchandise that sacrifice functionality to be aesthetically pleasing. The Behringer Xenyx 802 falls into neither of these groups. It is not cool, but it has a particular use and it just does it well.

There are some number of different routing alternatives, as well as separate outputs for headset monitoring, control room output, and line out. Also, this little mixer gives phantom power to up to two microphones. The sound quality is transparent, and you must really jack up the get to hear any background sound. In general, this device creates the clean, frequency answer of hard state electronics but without the cold, brittle digitalian cast that plagues direct digital recording. I use this for recording on my computer via my Creative Sound Blaster X Fi XtremeGamer Sound Card ( 70SB073A00000 ); I have a somewhat rare cable which changes stereo 1/4″ to stereo RCA, from which point I use a Y cable to change to a miniplug (yes, I can hear you audiophiles groaning). Using this setup, with many simple level modification on the 802, I can record both my keyboard and my voice (via the AKG view 200 Condenser Microphone) with high fidelity. I use this setup for producing demo recordings, but other possible can be used for podcasting and pulling mixer responsibility for a live performance in a small venue.

The on board controls are nothing special, really. The EQ could most likely be useful in a pinch, but I usually gravitate toward software based EQ and effects in lieu of hardware equivalents, if only because I have more control when using software. I imagine dedicated hardware could most likely sound much better, though. Honestly, the 802 does not require a degree in rocket operation to use; an instinctive knowledge of I/O and a basic understanding of audio equipment are the (loose) prerequisites. And, if you have trouble, the manual is informative. What is more, it takes high honors as the complete best English translation of a manual that I have ever find.

As far as build quality, when testing out the controls I found that the knobs felt hard without being sticky. Unfortunately, my unit doesn’t sit flush on the table; I’m not sure if this happens frequently with this model or brand. Other than this, the 802 looks well made and I get the impression that it may get kicked around my home studio many and still keep on working. Reviews at different online music equipment merchants confirm the above.

My lone complaint about the 802 is that it has a somewhat unconventional metering display: While most audio meters will use a row of yellow LEDs to point to when a signal is coming close to 0.0 dB (without clipping), on the 802 the yellow LEDs light up when a signal has really exceeded 0.0 dB and is already mildly distorted. This is good on a tube amp, I suppose, but for a hard state device one could most likely not want any distortion, and the color coding of the meter is a little weird given that standpoint. I’m more worried when glancing over at the mixer if I’m coming close to zero dB, and a row of yellow LEDs in the 7 dB through zero dB range could have been many more useful to me.

Still, the above is a minor issue, and in general this is a great little part of equipment. Does it come filled with ten million different potential and features? No, of course not. But it does not follow the annoying modern trend of hiding everything behind a blank outside with three or so tiny buttons shoved off to the side and out of sight, either (are you reading this Apple and all those like you?). For basic mixing work, small scale demo recording, podcasting, and intimate live performances, the Behringer Xenyx 802 could be a useful addition to anyone’s equipment arsenal. There is something encouraging about analog knobs, something musical in exactly the way that clicking through a series of computer generated dialogs or editing patch parameters with a menu substructure and a pair of up and down buttons just is not. The tactile feeling inspires a sort of creative mindset, if you’ll. Call me crazy if you like, but if analog did not sound better than digital (please do not get into that debate with me; if you disagree than so be it) I could most likely still surround myself with analog equipment.

My recommendation is if you need something unglamorous but able of accomplishing its meant use, then the Behringer Xenyx 802 is certainly something you may want to think about. It is comparatively cheap, it is high quality, and it is an in general good beginning investment.

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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of five stars Good for starting, small acts,, June 22, 2011
By LXPlot See all my reviews () This review is from: Behringer Xenyx 802 Premium 8 Input 2 Bus Mixer with Xenyx Mic Preamps and British EQs (Electronics) The Behringer Xenyx 802 is a nice control board for the price. It came quickly, and included a nice manual in some number of languages. I had enough background knowledge to use this product out of the box, but for somebody who did not, the manual could easily explain it to them quickly and have them mixing in no time. The only real thing I noticed quickly is that the light signifying that it’s on is obnoxiously bright, to the point where it’s diverting. This was an easy fix, I taped a little part of lighting gel over it and got it to a point where I liked it. I played with the mixing functions a bit using some number of methods and my results are recorded below:

The 1st test of this unit was simply trying it out with some different medium quality speakers and seeing how it sounded. I attached an Mp3 player for input and hooked up some number of bases for output. Most of the controls worked flawlessly, the board did not seem to be broken . Distortion was pretty high, I messed with the get a bit, and played with the different volumes and EQs till I got it how I liked. This could have been a bigger problem if I had been somebody whom had never operated a mixer before, it would’ve taken many longer to fix this using only the manual. The EQs worked nicely, the center functioned especially well, bass caused many distortion but nothing annoying; but, treble was not excellent, it made the high frequency audio sound a tad metallic and cut off many at the top.

My second test was with an Mp3 player as input, but this time I used some number of different kinds of headphones as output. Distortion was higher this time, and with many songs I couldn’t totally eliminate it. That said, the control room function worked nicely with a little less distortion, and I am not quite sure why I could want headphones on one of the mains. The EQs did little to eliminate this distortion, as did the get, but I could bound it using the different volumes.

My 3rd test involved using the mixer as if it mixed for an real band. I had a Shure Sm58 wired on input 1, a Crown “Floor Mic” on input 2, a bass guitar and (cheap) electric guitar on input 3/4 , and a keyboard on input 5/6. The whole 3/4 and 5/6 inputs bugged me, as it really should not have been considered six input. I ended up plugging the guitars and keyboards into the double amps because the doubles did not have XLR which the microphones needed. That said, phantom power worked like a charm and the floor mic worked nicely. Distortion was considerably lower with my voice as the input, and I was unable to hit any notes high enough to sound bad (well.Bad compared to my normal voice.) The Bass/guitar match up worked nicely, as the bass EQ barely influenced the guitar and the treble EQ influenced the bass. This allowed me many level of individuality, but not as much as I could liked. Distortion was higher in both of the real instruments compared to the microphones, but not compared to the mp3 players. This happy me a bit, but the lack of individual controls makes me wonder if setting up this board to run a band could be a smart idea.

My last test involved plugging it in to a full audio system in a real venue, and seeing how it sounded there. I tried out some number of different inputs and outputs, as well as but not restricted to floor mics, sm58s (wired and otherwise), sm57s, a computer, and an mp3 player. The problems were roughly the same; but, with high power amplifiers I did not have to use the amplification included in the board at all. Doing this, distortion was cut down considerably.

So should you purchase this board? That depends. Personally, if I could do it all over again, I could attempt and find something that has some more EQs and a higher level of individual control. I also could enjoy a slider rather than a handle for volume, but that is just nit picking. One interesting thing to take notice of is the fact that while the boards in this line directly above this one have more inputs, they only have EQs on the 1st 2, so this board is arguably better than the ones above it. This control board is certainly worth the price for educational reasons, and it may possibly be good for small bands that want their own boards, starting Deejays, low budget community theaters, etc. This thing could be especially good for places that usually do talking, like churches. But if you have to do any recording, or you are a group that does music but CAN pay for a higher quality board, than this may not be the board for you.


Note:
I didn’t attempt out the effects alternatives for this board. That really isn’t my area of specialty, but sometime at some point I do plan on updating this review with info on that. This could be when I can access a dedicated FX controller, or when I next attempt it using Virtual DJ with my computer.

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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of five stars Excellent, May 30, 2007
By Isaias Carrillo “Isaiascar” (Venezuela) See all my reviews
(REAL NAME) () This review is from: Behringer Xenyx 802 Premium 8 Input 2 Bus Mixer with Xenyx Mic Preamps and British EQs (Electronics) Excellent for my homemade recording studio. I connect it to my portatil PC and I record the sound of the musical instruments without problems. The sound is clean and good. I recommend it.

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