I bought a behringer xenyx 502 from another place first and it had problems with compression distortion, which led me to try a more expensive mixer from Yamaha. It works beautifully! The sound quality is clear and natural. So far I don't hear static or distortion of any kind. Originally there was hissing sound from the computer feed via the white cable (that came with the mixer), but then I realized in my haste to try the mixer out I had forgotten to install the USB driver that's required. Once I installed that, the problem went away. The mixer is a bit pricey for what I need it for but its sound quality and reliability assures me of my choice! I am happy with my purchase!

Exactly what I needed for voice class

Was using my mixer, but took up too much desk space; so I bought this. I play the backing track from computer to AG03, mic connected to AG03, AG03 set to loopback; and I send the result to Zoom meeting.

Great Interface...!!!

All of the inputs, outputs, and controls are all on the face of the unit, making it very easy to arrange and control everything. Cubase AI (the DAW that comes with it) is excellent and has a new set of how to videos on Youtube that are great. The mic stand mounting bracket (BMS 10A) is worth the extra $20 to keep it neatly off your desk/amp/whatever and easily accessible near by. This is a great beginner/novice unit and DAW that will take quite a while to outgrow, I hope...

Great Little Jack of Two Trades

I am a technical person but not a musician. Started singing karaoke at home a couple of years ago but quite seriously. I needed a unit to do a couple of things. First to hook up to a PA and allow me to mix karaoke tracks from a PC or smartphone with vocals from a dynamic mic and have decent vocal effects. The compression/eq and reverb that come on Line 1 really transform the vocals and make you sound like a "real" singer.Second, I need to be able to mix a track coming out of one application, in my case the Karafun windows app, with my vocals and record it to a second application, Audacity for example. The Loopback function on this device solves my problem and allows me to use the real time effects. I was struggling with getting a software mixer working on my ... MoreI am a technical person but not a musician. Started singing karaoke at home a couple of years ago but quite seriously. I needed a unit to do a couple of things. First to hook up to a PA and allow me to mix karaoke tracks from a PC or smartphone with vocals from a dynamic mic and have decent vocal effects. The compression/eq and reverb that come on Line 1 really transform the vocals and make you sound like a "real" singer.Second, I need to be able to mix a track coming out of one application, in my case the Karafun windows app, with my vocals and record it to a second application, Audacity for example. The Loopback function on this device solves my problem and allows me to use the real time effects. I was struggling with getting a software mixer working on my laptop and this is much easier.I am not really into track by track recording but this unit doubles as a conventional USB audio interface with "dry" recording of the main inputs.Apart from these main functions, the unit is also very nicely designed across the board with every input that I could conceive needing plus PA, monitor and headphone outputs. Really well conceived little box that works brilliantly.

Great Mixer For Traveling Studio & Work!

Yamaha AG03 review for Adorama:I use the AG03 to podcast on the go connecting it to my iPad and even to capture my audio for my Sony A7iii recordings while feeding the audio directly into my camera and it works great!You?ll get nice clean sound with the ability to use effects and other useful options. I would highly recommend grabbing one while they?re in stock. This device was sold out everywhere after the pandemic first hit for months and prices were double what they retail on sites where you can buy from private sellers which was one of the only places to find one, though they were coming all the way from Japan.Hope this helps you!

Great for sports announcing!

I purchased the AG03 as a compact, court-side mixer for sports announcing. So far it is everything I hoped for. PC plugs in to the usb port to supply power and for audio playback of the fight song and intro music. An SM58s mic into the XLR on channel 1. Quiet mute switch for mic on/off between announcements. Solid construction that has good weight and a small footprint. The DSP software is an excellent idea! No need for a long string of knobs and buttons to adjust your EQ/FX/Comp. which take up a ton of room on the board. Instead you can work that out digitally and save it to the mixer for repetitive use. The driver & software were easy to download and then it's just plug n play. For a small package this thing does an awful lot. For a compact, road-worthy, announcer ... MoreI purchased the AG03 as a compact, court-side mixer for sports announcing. So far it is everything I hoped for. PC plugs in to the usb port to supply power and for audio playback of the fight song and intro music. An SM58s mic into the XLR on channel 1. Quiet mute switch for mic on/off between announcements. Solid construction that has good weight and a small footprint. The DSP software is an excellent idea! No need for a long string of knobs and buttons to adjust your EQ/FX/Comp. which take up a ton of room on the board. Instead you can work that out digitally and save it to the mixer for repetitive use. The driver & software were easy to download and then it's just plug n play. For a small package this thing does an awful lot. For a compact, road-worthy, announcer mixer I think I found a winner.

Great product, but needs a mic preamp.

Product arrived quickly and in excellent condition. However, it was not easy to set up and took 3-4 times through the instruction sheet to figure out all the AG03 offered and what might be applicable to my recording. After a day or so working with it, I discovered the mics I use are not sensitive enough to register a good VU signal and needs to have the fader and gain settings set to almost maximum. My mics are the Audio-Technica 2035 and Sterling Audio ST55, both purchased at GC. The signal to noise is excellent and registers in the -50 range even having the fade and gain turned up to near max. A mic pre amp for the AG03 is needed to get a great digital signal without the fade and gain maxed out. I would rate this a 5, but there is no preamp build in to increase ... MoreProduct arrived quickly and in excellent condition. However, it was not easy to set up and took 3-4 times through the instruction sheet to figure out all the AG03 offered and what might be applicable to my recording. After a day or so working with it, I discovered the mics I use are not sensitive enough to register a good VU signal and needs to have the fader and gain settings set to almost maximum. My mics are the Audio-Technica 2035 and Sterling Audio ST55, both purchased at GC. The signal to noise is excellent and registers in the -50 range even having the fade and gain turned up to near max. A mic pre amp for the AG03 is needed to get a great digital signal without the fade and gain maxed out. I would rate this a 5, but there is no preamp build in to increase the mic signal to the computer's sound card. If there was a preamp, this would be an outstanding product.

Solid

Well made with a metal casing, plenty of routing options for its small footprint, low noise, bus powered and so far pretty solid low latency ASIO drivers (made by Steinberg) tested in Ableton 9.6 on an Intel i7, Windows 7 laptop. Plenty of gain to power headphone and monitor outs. Desk can be used when laptop/computer is off if one of your USB ports has an 'always on' port. This is cool if you want to utilise the mixer for other jobs that don't require the computer. Decent all round - well done Yamaha, perfect for tiny mobile studio.

This is your best option, here's why...

I've been recording music for over 30 years, and know what it takes to achieve the best possible recording quality. All recording engineers go through a growing phase where, if they don't track with both compression & EQ going in, they will struggle while mixing. The ideal is to get everything as perfect as possible before the signal makes its way to the computer. This mixer allows you to do this, and does two additional things that none of the other USB mixers are providing: 1) 192Khz recording frequency, that's going to achieve higher quality recordings than ANY USB mixer recording at 44.1Khz. 2) Don't let the lack of knobs fool you, those little buttons labeled "compressor" and "EQ" have internal programmable parameters that include: 1) EQ - same multi band ... MoreI've been recording music for over 30 years, and know what it takes to achieve the best possible recording quality. All recording engineers go through a growing phase where, if they don't track with both compression & EQ going in, they will struggle while mixing. The ideal is to get everything as perfect as possible before the signal makes its way to the computer. This mixer allows you to do this, and does two additional things that none of the other USB mixers are providing: 1) 192Khz recording frequency, that's going to achieve higher quality recordings than ANY USB mixer recording at 44.1Khz. 2) Don't let the lack of knobs fool you, those little buttons labeled "compressor" and "EQ" have internal programmable parameters that include: 1) EQ - same multi band parametric EQ found in most DAW software based workstations; 2) Compressor - attack/release/threshold/gain - with a graph similar to the one that comes with Pro tools software. I am currently working with a vocalist to write, record, produce music. He lives about 30 miles from my location, and I want him to be able to track high quality vocals on his own (we can't always meet on a weekly basis). I have made this unit, along with the Shure beta 87a microphone, my recommended choice for him. Other USB recording devices have been considered, but none can come close to what this unit has to offer.

Well built and great sounding audio interface!

I use the Yamaha AG03 as a DAW audio interface with Logic Pro X on a MacBook running the latest version of Mac OS El Capitan and it works very well. I have it set at 24 bit, 88khz and the sound is clean with no hiss or other audible artifacts. It's plug and play on a Mac, using the built in core audio driver. I did download the amp simulator/compressor/eq/reverb app from Yamaha that goes with this unit that allows you to tweak the effects that get enabled when you turn on the effects button. I use the compressor and eq effect when recording bass into Logic and my bass has never sounded better. All of the knobs, fader and switches work well and feel solid as do the cable jacks. I really appreciate having two separate volume controls for headphones and for the ... MoreI use the Yamaha AG03 as a DAW audio interface with Logic Pro X on a MacBook running the latest version of Mac OS El Capitan and it works very well. I have it set at 24 bit, 88khz and the sound is clean with no hiss or other audible artifacts. It's plug and play on a Mac, using the built in core audio driver. I did download the amp simulator/compressor/eq/reverb app from Yamaha that goes with this unit that allows you to tweak the effects that get enabled when you turn on the effects button. I use the compressor and eq effect when recording bass into Logic and my bass has never sounded better. All of the knobs, fader and switches work well and feel solid as do the cable jacks. I really appreciate having two separate volume controls for headphones and for the speakers. I also had an Apogee Duet 2 audio interface (since sold) and honestly I think this Yamaha interface sounds as good as it, even though it costs substantially less. I actually prefer my bass recorded sound through the AG03 with the compressor/eq enabled over the sound I was getting recording bass with the Duet 2. Plus having separate physical knobs is much nicer to use, IMO than one multi-purpose knob. It' amazes me that audio gear has gotten this good at such at such little outlay of $$$. Definitely recommended!