Getting a mixer for content creation is one tough proposition. Prepare to walk through a veritable sea of contenders running the gamut with regards to price, quality, and features. When I was initially creating the GamingShogun studio setup, I went through a wide range of them. For a long time, the go-to for content creators was the GoXLR mixer from TC Helicon. Apparently, the creators of the GoXLR left to found their own company and product line, bringing their incredible experience with them. Enter BEACN. BEACN has created the ultimate mixer for content creators that won’t break your bank – the BEACN Mix and BEACN Mix Create. In this review, we’re mainly focusing on the BEACN Mix Create, but we will be expounding more on the BEACN Mix a bit later in the article.
BEACN Mix Create
The BEACN Mix Create is an attractive mixer. It features an array of control knobs and buttons and features an all black (or all white) plastic body. It is classy, yet minimalist in many ways. On the back of the BEACN Mix Create, you’ll find a single USB-C port. That’s it – no other ports are on the BEACN Mix Create. You might be scratching your head as to how that is possible. After all, the whole point of a mixer is to collect the various sound inputs and outputs of your computer and fine tune each channel to the creator’s liking. The BEACN Mix Create is more of a software based mixer that utilizes the BEACN Mix Create as a sort of control unit. The genius of the system is that, all the channels are virtual. This makes them exceptionally flexible. Using the BEACN Software (and hopefully the BEACN Mic as they pair SO nicely together – it’s really its own ecosystem), you can setup these virtual channels and then control their volume from the BEACN Mix Create control box.
BEACN Mix Create Routing Tables
In the software suite, as you open applications, they will appear in the software which you can then click and drag to the various channels of the device. Want to control your games on one knob, microphone on another, and a music player from yet another? No problem. The BEACN software also allows you to control your audience output and that can be different from what you’re actually hearing in the creator’s output. You can also switch between these two outputs on the fly thanks to a button on the BEACN Mix Create or in the software itself. This is a great way to check in on what your audience is hearing should be streaming and don’t want to guess as to their listening experience.
Of course, the drawback to the BEACN Mix Create is that it doesn’t have any additional ports on the device itself. If, say, you use an XLR microphone, you’ll need an additional input device which will then get imported into the BEACN software as one of your channels. However, I would highly recommend you use the BEACN Mix Create with the BEACN Mic. Each device has its own area in the BEACN software and it is so easy to switch between them.
BEACN Mix
Overall, the BEACN Mix Create is an outstanding virtual audio mixer and control unit – all for an exceptionally reasonable $199 Dollars. Now, BEACN also offers a device called the BEACN Mix. They market this as a straight audio controller and, with it, you lose some of the virtual mixing capabilities (sub mixes, channel paging, mute modes, and the routing table) that the BEACN Mix Create offers. It also only supports four channels. While it has the same four control knobs, it does not feature the other buttons that the BEACN Mix Create does. Both units do have the same beautiful, 5 inch full color screen. The BEACN Mix is sold for $149 Dollars and, while it will work great as a basic audio controller for your computer, if you are a content creator, I would spend the extra $50 Dollars for the Mix Create. You won’t be disappointed. If you are someone who isn’t creating a lot of content but has a variety of audio devices attached to your PC and mainly needs a clean way to manage them, the BEACN Mix is probably right up your alley.
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
