Behringer X Air XR16 Reviews

10/10, love mixer

I got from analog to digital mixer. With XR16 now everything is easier.

Good value

Not the best mixer, but good values for the money.

NO APP = USELESS

The app hasn't been updated so anytime you try to use the app, it crashes on a tablet. Makes it basically unusable. Otherwise, it would be great! Wish i'd had time to figure this out before I was no longer able to return it!!

Behringer is the quality!

We got this a replacement for XR18 and this unit is works as amazing as 18. More compact but nevertheless well built, sounds amazing and easy to use.

Great value

Great machine for small music events. easy to use. lightweight but solid made. Maybe antenna could be more solid, but overall great value

Does what it says and more

This mixer is absolutely excellent, reliable and handles live shows very well!

Makes live easier for touring.

Got the product with a dimple on its side. box was damaged.

Got the xr18 and so i am familiar with the features more or less. Handling was bad for this unit.

Best for its category and price

I was pleasantly surprised to hear the good recording quality. If you don't mind spending a little more, I would recommend to buy the XR 18 just because of the extra features.

Yes! It's worth every penny!

This can be a review/feedback of both the XR18 & XR16. I'm a keyboardist and I already have the XR18 which was supposed to be for my band's live shows but during lockdown i started using it to connect all my keyboards in my home studio. The XR18 works perfectly as a stand alone mixer directly connected to my studio monitors and as an audio interface with 18 in/ 18 out. For that price this is too good to be true and it is! you really can't ask for more!

I love the XR series so much that i decided i'm not gonna move it from my home studio again so I bought the XR16 for my band instead, 16 channels with 8 of them being combo jacks is really more than you need for a 5 piece band anyways, even the XR18 was a bit of an overkill. The point is.. These mixers are AMAZING, every feature works perfectly and flawlessly, just make sure you use an external router (any cheap one will do) when you are using it outdoors live. I assume you know the differences between them so i'm not gonna waste time mentioning them here. I believe that pros and cons are subjective to the individual experience and all the details of these mixers are available everywhere. Jut take it from someone who uses these mixers in real life both in studio and on live shows. They are good, reliable, solid, and packed with more features than you will ever need for a standard band performance.

Great Digital Mixer!

Like the XR 18, these behringer digital mixer are very intuitive and esay to use. Definitely a happy costumer!

Replacement for an old analog Behringer mixer

We use it for a small church. It really does everything we need. No issues with it. Love this little guy.

It's just a a bummer that they left out multitrack recording on it. That's only on the XR18.

Excellent product

Well recommended. Running with the mix pro app which compliments perfectly. Easy no hassle use!!

Great product but no multichannel soundcard

Sound qality is acceptable and the best thing is that this device easily fits in my bag. Great features - I can't live without parametric eq, compressor, busses, multiple monitors. If you have it install Mixing Station App (I used it with Android)

I used XR18 previously on a live gig - it is quite similar product to XR16, but it can record multiple tracks (I really need this, somehow missed when buying - thought that the difference is just a number of channels :D).

Preamps are ok, but for better DAC and preamps go for X32. I need this for recording, so I will upgrade XR16 to X32 or similar smaller device.

most practical compact digital mixer

best digital mixer for the price you pay.

As many have noted these X Air mixers are nothing short of AMAZING ! You get an entire rack of gear in a small rack-mount or desk-top system that would cost a small fortune to duplicate with individual parts. That said it is a sophisticated piece of technology that has a Learning Curve unless you are already the Ultimate Sound Guy. WATCH the videos on YouTube (All Of Them) and most of your questions will be answered. Learn how to route and equalize 1 channel and the rest is pretty easy. Use a dedicated laptop to setup your network and soundboard... many adjustment can be made with a tablet or phone but initial setup is much easier with a laptop and mouse. X Air Edit is a FREE download that works with PC, OS and Linux and it is small (10meg) and uses very little in the way of system resources. Put a password on your network so others don't have the opportunity to "Help" you. With your own network in place you should have no problems with tablets and other devices dropping out and effecting your mix. Connect your laptop to the system with a cat5 cable for a connection that can't be interfered with in high RF rooms. Use your tablet or phone to adjust room mix from out in the room as needed If you choose to record use a hard drive not a jump drive as jump drives have no buffering system and files are saved in WAV format (large files). SAVE your work when you get a nice setup for a specific room and next time you just load the scene. I will be buying another soon. Excellent Product at a Great Price !! So far no problems with mine which I have had for over a year.

VALUE FOR MONEY

I use this machine to my home studio

all you will need to a digital mixer you will find it in this machine

it is compact and dont need a lot of space

behringer = value for money

the constraction quality is very good

it is very easy to use the only thing you have to do is download the application and connect the cables!!

Behringer X Air XR16 worth every penny

Good digital mixer for begginers.

Good digital mixer for begginers.

Great for the price, built in router a bit weak.

Had a couple of these in hire stock for small corporate gigs (leave them on stage with the amps, setup in minutes, minimal cable runs etc etc)

Auto mix is great for a desk of this price, and it's got pretty much all you need for a small corporate gig.

Wifi router is not the best though, so ended up using it with an external router, which is a pity as it adds an extra bit to carry / setup. But, they are so cheap, what can you say?

8/10

Loads of functionality for peanuts

I suspect I'll be adding very little in this review to the praise this range of mixers is getting. How can you provide such a quality piece of kit with all of these function for this price? It's crazy.

I agonised for a few weeks on getting the XR16 vs XR18. It's clear the XR18 is very popular and having all MIDAS mic inputs is certainly a bonus. But I chose the XR16 because I needed the high input count and really wanted the 2-track USB record/playback which you don't get on the XR18 (because it has the 18 track DAW interface instead).

So if you haven't read the specs, this is the sort of stuff you're getting here for your pennies:

- 8 MIDAS mic/line combo preamps, 8 balanced line ins (2 with Hi-Z)

- gate, compressor, EQ, low-cut on every input, phantom 48V on the mics

- 4 FX slots and all of those juicy X32 FXs as standard (processors/EQs and effects)

- main out L/R and 4 "AUX" bus outputs (and within the mixer 2 other busses that can be used as subgroups)

- ethernet or wifi control

- headphone jack with volume pot

- a big bag of configurability and functions in something like 2kg, replacing a car boot-full of 30-40kg of equivalent kit. Crazy.

The X-Air PC app for this unit is fantastic - I run it on a 17yo WinXP laptop - it takes next to no resources and of course is "just" the control interface - the brains are in the XR16 so if the PC crashes then it's not such an issue. I'm less of a fan of the iPad app (weird colours, not clear if an insert FX is in or out because of the icon colouring) but it's still pretty good. I'm no young punk, so yes even you fellow oldies will pick this up in a snip and wonder what the heck you've been messing about at all these years.

I also have an X32 Compact, but this XR16 is so small, yet has most of the main X32 features/FX, I've been sticking it under the desk at home and playing with the setup and FX choices/settings and then porting these configs over to the X32 for my bigger shows where setup time is really tight.

What's left unsaid? This is a fantastic piece of kit, and peanuts at 250GBP - and not much more than the smaller (but very cute!) XR12, but giving you 8 mic pre's, 8 balanced line ins and 4 rather than 2 AUXs. Ch15 and ch16 are hiz - so I can plug my bass guitar direct into either of these and this works really well - no need for a DI box :-) You can't plug in any of the S or SD stage boxes (no AES50 port) but that's understandable at this pricepoint - you need to buy an X32 Rack or X32 Core for this.

There is no fan - convection cooled via grilles in the side (so you need to remove it from the Gator bag in use).

I've not used the MIDI interface, so can't comment, sorry.

I also bought the Gator bag to go with it, but it only arrived today (I've had the XR16 a couple of months now) as it's been out of stock for a while...

So what are you waiting for? If you're reading this, you know what it is and what it's for, so just get on and buy one, you won't look back. If you think you might move into mixing more, and end up around the X32 range then this is also a great learning tool with portable skills.

Great, but get the 18

This is brilliant, have no complaints, I did upgrade to the XR18, and giving the multi track and playback option is must better. And as there's not much price difference, I'd advise people would upgrade to the XR18 instead of this.

But if this is all you can afford, there will be no complaints and will do the trick!