Xenyx Q802USB : An excellent small USB mixer which works under Linux

I bought this mixer based on my past experiences with Behringer who offer great quality at an affordable price.

I was after a small USB mixer which would allow me to record from a digital piano, electric guitar (via stereo effects unit) and a phantom powered XLR microphone. The Q802USB was an excellent choice with a few spare inputs.

When connected to my desktop PC it's connected to a microphone on channel 1, a guitar effects unit on channel 3 and 4 and a digital piano on channel 5/6 leaving a spare mono input on channel 2 and a stereo input on channel 7/8 (without mixing knobs).

When I want to record elsewhere it's compact enough to move around easily allowing me to record from a guitar effects unit in other rooms on my laptop.

The Q802USB works perfectly both under Windows, recording in Rosegarden, I have also tested it under Linux (Mint 17) on my laptop, connected via Jack2 and recording in Rosegarden and Ardour.

I like the headphones amp on the Q802USB as the headphones out on my guitar effects pedal is so quite that it's barely usable, when jamming in silence I can connect the effects pedal to the Q802USB and use the headphones socket on the mixer allowing me to adjust the volume to my liking.

My only issue with the Q802USB is that it has hard feet rather than rubberized feet (which I will be adding via sticky back rubber pads), when the mixer is placed on a hard surface such as a desk it is prone to sliding around should a cable be tugged or when you try to adjust the dials.

Overall I think this is a great small USB mixer which works well under Windows and Linux (and most likely Mac, although untested by myself), it offers a great range of inputs and outputs to suite most hobbyist home recording, phantom power to get the most out of a condenser microphone in a compact package.