Behringer MX802A (early 2000s)
A $179 eight-input compact mixer that Behringer aimed straight at Mackie's VLZ line. One reviewer found it surprisingly hard to fault.
Overview
The MX802A is the small one in Behringer's Eurorack mixer line. It's an eight-input compact console, documented in a seventeen-page company manual dated Version 1.1, January 2001. The channel count is a bit of a marketing convenience. The MX802A has four mono mic/line channels with what Behringer called "Invisible Mic Preamps," plus two stereo channels. The mono inputs take balanced mic signal on XLR and line-level on ¼" phone jacks, and standard +48V phantom power is on board for condenser mics. The mixer listed at $179 with a one-year parts-and-labor warranty. That's a serious feature set for the money, and it's why the MX802A turns up in the period press at all.
The review that matters is Gary Galo's, published in Audio-Express (July 2001, p.64), where he covered the MX802A alongside the larger MX2004A. His take on the little mixer was warmer than the price tag would suggest. He described the MX802A as packing a great deal into a small space, well suited to simple sound-reinforcement jobs with only a couple of mic and line sources. He noted its value as a sub-mixer for augmenting a main board when inputs run short. He also flagged it as a candidate for location recording where portability matters. In the manufacturer's phrasing, it's small enough to carry in a backpack.
The money went into the mic preamps. Behringer built them with discrete input stages using matched, high-current transistors, and the company made much of their low noise. Galo measured the bigger MX2004A, a different model whose numbers should not be transferred to the MX802A. He found its mic-input noise spec identical to the Mackie 1402VLZ-Pro at −129.5dBu (Audio-Express, October 2001, p.74), which is a strong showing for a budget console. The MX802A shares the preamp design lineage, and the manufacturer's specifications list its Mike E.I.N. (22Hz - 22kHz) as - 129.5dBu with a 150Ω source.
Key Features
Four Mono Mic/Line Channels with "Invisible Mic Preamps"
Channels 1 through 4 take balanced microphone input on XLR and line-level signal on ¼" phone jacks, with +48V phantom power available for condenser mics. Behringer marketed the preamps under the "Invisible Mic Preamps" name. The underlying design uses discrete input stages built around matched, high-current transistors, the same approach the company touted across its mixer range. In this price bracket, discrete preamps rather than op-amp-only front ends were a genuine talking point.
Two Stereo Channels and 2-Track I/O
Besides the four mono channels, the MX802A has two stereo channels. Each accepts two ¼" mono phone plugs, balanced or unbalanced, which brings the marketed total to eight inputs. A 2-track input/output pair handles recording and playback, so the mixer can feed a tape deck or DAW interface and take a return without eating a channel.
Built-In Stereo Effects Send and Return
The MX802A includes a stereo effects send and return, so external processors can be patched into the signal path without giving up a channel. Reverb, delay, or a compressor can sit on the send while the dry signal stays clean in the main mix.
Separate Headphone Output with Shared Level Control
The headphone output is separate from the main outputs and follows the control-room signal. A single volume control feeds both the headphones and the main monitors. That's convenient in a small setup, but it means you can't trim one without the other.
Rack-Mountable, Backpack-Sized Chassis
The MX802A is rack-mountable and, per the manufacturer's marketing, small enough to carry in a backpack. It ships with an external power supply, which keeps the transformer out of the chassis and away from the audio circuitry. Whether that matches Mackie's approach to transformer stray-flux design is another matter. Galo, after reading the MX802A manual, could find no counterpart to Mackie's method (Audio-Express, October 2001, p.73).
Historical Context
The MX802A sat at the budget end of Behringer's Eurorack line, which the company aimed squarely at Mackie's VLZ-series consoles. In the same UK dealer advertisement that priced the MX802A at £64 (Sound on Sound, January 2003, p.272), the smaller six-input MX602A appeared at £53. The larger MX2004A listed at $379 in the US at the time of Galo's review. The manual carries a January 2001 version date, and the mixer appears in the period press from 2001 through 2003. Confirmed production start and end years aren't documented, and the archive treats the "early 2000s" framing as approximate.
Behringer's positioning was value-driven. The MX802A's $179 list undercut the competition substantially, and the company's preamp design was shared across its range. The trade-off showed up in service logistics rather than sound. Galo noted that warranty service required returning the mixer to Germany, which he called a genuine drawback for American buyers.
Collectibility & Value
The MX802A is a working tool, not a collector's piece, and the market reflects that. Secondhand listings turn up on eBay in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia, on Reverb, and on smaller classifieds like Avito and audiotrader.co.uk. That points to steady demand from home studios and small venues rather than speculation. Prices cluster low. One source lists a range of roughly $60 to $84, and a Russian classified priced a unit at 2,800 rubles. A Reverb sold listing described a "silver" MX802A. An audiotrader.co.uk example sold in excellent condition with no significant wear, complete with original box, power supply, and manuals.
No common failure modes are documented in the sources on hand, and no repair procedures are recorded. The practical caveat for buyers is the one Galo flagged two decades ago: service support for these mixers was historically routed through Germany. Anyone buying a used unit should verify it powers up and passes signal on every channel before money changes hands.
eBay Listings
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