Description
The X Air XR16 from Behringer is a 16-input portable rack-mountable mixer for iPad and Android tablets. It can be used for both live and studio environments in applications such as live stage, theater, houses of worship, rehearsals, and more. It features four Midas-designed mic preamps and an integrated Wi-Fi module for wireless control, giving you the ability to move around and manipulate all parameters of your mix. Furthermore, it has USB connectivity for file storage and future system updates. The built-in USB stereo recorder can record your live tracks uncompressed directly to your iPad or PC. You can then dial in a monitoring mix with effects and zero latency, while sending your stereo mix and the keyboard player’s MIDI notes to your DAW for recording.
The X Air XR12 has additional features included as well, such as the MIDI in/out jack for controlling the mixer via MIDI equipment using Mackie control protocol via a live performance controller. This mixer also comes with several Behringer effects, such as a Leisure compressor and leveling amplifier, mid/sides Fair compressor, a 5-band Combinator compressor, modulation delay, Sub Octaver, and an Edison EX1 that allows you simple manipulation of the stereo field. Finally, the XR12 includes a Sound Maxer and a dimensional chorus effect, which can help you to restore natural brilliance and clarity to the original audio signal. Whether you’re recording in the studio, or you want to capture intimate live performances, it’s never been easier to record professional-sounding tracks with clarity.
4 Onboard X32 Effects Engines
The onboard virtual FX Rack provides access to four true-stereo (8 mono), multi-effects processors including delay, chorus, dynamics – plus the XR12 can run production-quality, true-stereo reverbs concurrently with 31-band EQ on the main and aux buses, all without the need for any additional hardware.
Auto-Mixing
X AIR gain Sharing technology can easily manage fully automated mixes with several live microphones. Dugan Auto-Mixing automatically manages microphone gain sharing (future firmware)
Real Time Analyzer
100-band Real Time Analyzer for all channels and bus EQs
Rack Mountable
Rack ears and protection bumpers included for flexible rack and onstage applications
Digital Signal Processing
40-bit floating-point DSP features “unlimited” dynamic range with no internal overload and near-zero overall latency
Compatible with Several Devices
Free iOS, Android and PC/MAC/Linux apps available for remote operation via Ethernet, LAN or Wi-Fi
Aziz Bashir –
I used the XR16 to mix audio for a small production Talk Show. The unit fit neatly into my desktop rack. The Access Point option was established easily from my Laptop computer and all the controls and monitor indicators are clearly visible and easy to adjust. With little to no experience with audio engineering, the user friendly interface allowed me to setup and mix in minutes. A really great product.
Solomon Ajayi –
Unbelievable Mixer at a great cost. Stopping looking for a mixer this is the one!
Onyeka Gabriel –
Great product! There is a learning curve but the results are worth the learning experience. Our group has performed better with the added control this gives.
Christian Udi –
The freedom to check sound and make adjustments accordingly from anywhere is worth the purchase price all by itself. But you get so much more than that from this unit. No mixer of dials and buttons can come remotely close to this units functionality and sophistication. The learning curve is pretty steep but once you watch of a few of their tutorial videos, it becomes manageable. I love this mixer!
Nathaniel Mcdean –
For WI-FI I use the mobile hot spot in my cell phone (instead of a separate router). This seems to be pretty reliable on my new Samsung Galaxy S10. I had some issues with the XR16 dropping connection with my old Note 5, but no issues so far with my Galaxy S10 Being able to sit in the audience and control the mixer using my Samsung tablet is wonderful. I could actually hear what the audience was hearing and could make minor adjustments as needed. Using the ASIO multi-channel driver and the free Tracktion recording software, we were able to record all 16 tracks with a USB connection using a cheap Intel I-5 laptop. (Our old Presonus required a Firewire connection that was finicky and often required a laptop reboot during a recording session!) Overall – very happy! Great price, great results, and 20 lbs less weight!
Luke Dele –
We have done a couple of concerts / recording sessions using this mixer. What I really like about this mixer is that you can customize the User Interface by giving each channel a real name, such as Mic 1. You can color code like channels, such as all mic channels have a yellow background. You customize pretty much everything for each channel, such as DB level, EQ, Effects, sub-channel levels for stage monitors, etc. The best part is that you can save your customization as a template that you can reload later. This is especially useful if you are providing sound for more than 1 band, or if your band routinely plays in different venues with different acoustics. If you are comfortable modifying config files using Notepad++, then the XR16 config file is pretty obvious with a couple of exceptions. Therefore, you could take a base config and customize it for another band or venue without having to use the user interface. Behringer has their free xAir User Interface downloads for IOS, Android, Windows, and Mac OS operating systems. The software is the same for all their mixers that support xAir. That means if you are familiar with xAir on their big 32 channel mixer, then it operates the same on the XR8 and XR16 mixers. You should theoretically be able to use the same config file limited to the number of channels a particular mixer supports. I do not have access to a 32 channel version of their mixer to prove this out, but this is my understanding.
Jonathan N. –
I used the XR16 to mix audio for a small production Talk Show. The unit fit neatly into my desktop rack. The Access Point option was established easily from my Laptop computer and all the controls and monitor indicators are clearly visible and easy to adjust. With little to no experience with audio engineering, the user friendly interface allowed me to setup and mix in minutes. A really great product.