Help! Question for Behringer Xenyx 802 owners

TheBigDipper

My neighbour needs a small, cheap mixer for a little project we've got going. So we selected the Behringer Xenyx 802 as being good enough without paying more than we needed to. 

Sadly, I've had two faulty units already. The shop agreed to test the third before sending it to me. It has the same fault - but their techie "expert" is trying to suggest that Behringer has changed the spec of the unit and I smell BS. He wasn't saying that he knew this for a fact, he said he didn't know for sure, but that it was his supposition. 

The fault is with the phantom power button. You press it, the light comes on and phantom power is supplied to the mic inputs. You press it again to turn it off, but it doesn't. It stays on forever, unless you power down the unit and turn it on again. Repeat...  

That's not how my Xenyx 1202FX works. The switch turns it on and pressing it again turns it off. 

So, anyone here own a Behringer Xenyx 802 and can tell me how the phantom power switch works on their unit? 

Ta! 

mike257

You're right, shop is wrong. Phantom power should be on/off switchable. 

TheBigDipper

mike257 said:

You're right, shop is wrong. Phantom power should be on/off switchable. 

Thanks Mike. Anyone else able to chip in?

paulmapp8306

Ditto.  Its a switch...... on/off means on/off.

urban_winter

I have a Xenyx 802. The phantom power switch works as you would expect - it switches on and off. (not that I can see that having phantom power that only switches on would be a practical problem)

TheMadMick

The phantom power light takes ages to go out. Switch it off and wait - abut 5 - 10 minutes from memory. At least, that's what mine does and it works just fine provided you keep the mains lead to the PSU and the lead to the desk well away from each other.

steamabacus

I have an older Behringer UB802 (pre-'Xenyx') and it displays exactly this behaviour (not that I'd noticed before testing it just now). Even after removing the power plug it takes a good 10-15 seconds to discharge the capacitor and for the LED to go out (it's normal for phantom power to 'ramp down' on switch off to protect circuits). This was with nothing plugged into the desk - maybe it would be quicker with a mic plugged in and drawing power?

My (even older) MX series Behringer desk - permanently installed in my home studio - dims the LED immediately on switching off the phantom power.

Whistler

urban_winter said:

(not that I can see that having phantom power that only switches on would be a practical problem)

Some pieces of equipment won't like having 48v (or 15v from Behringer) shoved up their outputs. For example, the manual for the Line6 Helix LT warns to not connect the XLR outs to phantom powered inputs on a desk. Be careful.

TheBigDipper

Thanks for your replies, chaps. When I turn off the phantom power on my Xenyx 1202FX, the red LED dims and vanishes in 5-6 seconds with or without a mic connected to anything (you can't select which XLR socket is powered, it's all of them or none). With these new 802s the LED stays bright for several minutes after trying to turn it off. At that point, it doesn't matter if there's still power going to the XLR sockets or not in my eyes - the point of the indicator is to tell you the status of the function. 

urban_winter said:

I have a Xenyx 802. The phantom power switch works as you would expect - it switches on and off. (not that I can see that having phantom power that only switches on would be a practical problem)

I agree with you, @urban_winter .  I'd probably just keep it anyway and start using it. The retailer is selling them new at approx £10 more than the average used price. At these prices they're almost disposable. My neighbour has decided he wants one that works like my 1202FX does, so we're going to pay a bit more elsewhere for a new one. I'd buy a used 802, but it's not my money and he's decided he wants new. 

maltingsaudio

Just a thought but has anyone metered the preamp? It is possible that the phantom is immediately cut from the preamp and it just takes a bit of time for the phantom circuit to drain. This would mean it’s safe to plug into the pre with phantom off but the light glowing, not ideal but might put your mind at rest.

TheBigDipper

maltingsaudio said:

Just a thought but has anyone metered the preamp? It is possible that the phantom is immediately cut from the preamp and it just takes a bit of time for the phantom circuit to drain. This would mean it’s safe to plug into the pre with phantom off but the light glowing, not ideal but might put your mind at rest.

Not metered it, but did leave a mic plugged in that doesn't register any signal if there's no power and it was still working after 5 minutes and the LED still at full brightness. My 1202FX only takes 5-6 seconds to stop powering a mic and for the LED to go off completely. 

Interestingly, the switches between my 1202FX and these 802s are different. The one on my 1202FX seems to be a momentary switch - it returns to the same height after pressing every time and has little resistance or click. The one on the 802 seems to be a latching switch - the off position is normal height, the on position is lower and there's more resistance when using it. On both 802 factory-fresh unboxed units from the same retailer.

It's gone back, now. Onwards and upwards... :-)