What's the difference between Behringer XENYX 1202FX and the Behringer Eurorack UB1202FX?

Question

Behringer makes two mixers with preamps that look the same. One of them is Eurorack lineup.

• XENYX 1202FX (sometimes marketed as premium)
• EURORACK UB1202FX

Here are the pictures:

Could someone help me discern the difference between the two lineups. Feel free to remove the association with 1202 in the Question if the answer applies to the Eurorack and Xenyx lineups in general.

Even the discreptions are vague:

Ultra-low noise design, highest possible headroom, ultra-transparent audio

vs:

Premium ultra-low noise, high headroom analog mixer

Other oddities make it really hard to compare. With the 1202FX +48V phantom power is listed as a bullet. With the UB1202FX, it's only listed in the description.

Answer 1

The telling part is in the name. If you are not aware, Behringer has had a longstanding feud with Mackie (among other manufacturers as well) about copyright and trademark violations. Behringer has lost at least one of these lawsuits and were forced to change their cosmetic design on many of their mixers.

Their Xenyx series is a not so subtle copy of Mackie's Onyx series preamps. The Onyx series were a noticeable step up from the vLz and vLz Pro preamps. Behringer decided to create their own premium line and call them Xenix. The problem is, I have yet to read a review that states a discernible difference between the UB and Xenyx lines. My presumption is that at this basement price point, it hardly matters.

If you could audition both (many online retailers have a return policy), I wouldn't bother trying to find qualitative differences...I'd just listen for noise floor differences.

Answer 2

I researched both, and though the specs have the same features and the same sound quality, XENYX beats EURORACK because of the preamps. XENYX mic pre is a bit better than the EURORACK. You should purchase good quality microphone cables in either case to avoid excess noise.

In the end both are good desks. XENYX only wins because of preamps. Otherwise, the two have almost the same quality.

I have helped good luck hug! :)

Answer 3

I know this is old, but just in case anyone else comes along looking for differences like I did, there's a big one that no one touched upon - the Xenyx has a direct USB connection. This makes a difference to me as I'd like to do some recording. Hope this helps!

Answer 4

You can see from the photos that the XENYX 1202FX has an LED screen towards the top right side—absent on the XENYX 1202. That screen displays the various onboard FX processor settings that've been added to the FX version—hence, the name. A nice added feature, considering for a mere $20 more ($99 street price) you get 100 user selectable "real-world" presets that include, reverb, chorus and delay effects!

Answer 5

To make matters more confusing, I've just taken apart my Xenyx1202fx for routine cleaning and we can see printed on the circuit board are the words "Behringer Eurorack UB1202FX."

This doesn't necessarily imply they're exactly the same product, however, as it could be that only the PCB is of the same design between these mixers, and for the XENYX, new components could have been used. For example the better preamps, as discussed.