I've been looking for a portable mixer, where I can connect all the band members + have separate outputs for playback and click (for the drummer). I've checked this one online and the device fulfills these requirements.
After unboxing, I found out a sturdy metal unit. It is made and assembled in China. Like on the composite inputs (XLR/Jack) you can see it says Chengsheng.
I hook it up to the PC to try out difference in sound between my main console Presonus StudioLive 24.4.2 and can immediately hear the difference. Even though the AD/DA has the same specification (24 bits/48kHz), the USB playback via Behringer XR18 sounds muddier and in general less clear than through Presonus StudioLive.
The next test was with the band (that's why we got the unit in the end). We compared direct playback via LD Systems MAUI 28 G2 (it has integrated mixer) vs playback via Behringer XR18 plugged in into one stereo channel in the MAUI 28 G2. Again the same problem, the sound of the instruments and voice becomes muddy and less readable. Boosting the instrument/voice input to +20 to +30 db gain makes it somewhat more clear, but it does not compare to direct input to MAUI 28 G2. To give you an idea, it usually takes me 2 mins to set the levels between bass/guitar/voice on MAUI 28 G2 internal mixer. After this, the band members can hear each other and we play the set without any issues. With the Behringer XR18 we played around for about an hour with no satisfying result.
I would not recommend this unit for music, where you have to care about sound quality and clarity. I sent it back. Soundwise, it kind of reminded me the Zoom 404 units we had back in the 2000s. Not that bad (20 years passed after all), but somewhat comparable.
Funny enough, I ordered Zoom LiveTrak L-12, which seems to be better choice for me (although 100 Euros more expensive) than XR 18.
