Yamaha MG20XU 20-channel Mixer with USB and FX Reviews

This is an easy to use GREAT sounding board!!
right out of the box it was simple and ready to go!!

Our church sound board after 30+ years died I needed one in a hurry. This was easy to hookup and simple to run. Got this system within 5 days

We're a 3 pc acoustic/electric band playing out twice a month running 12" EV powered speakers for mains and Yamaha 10s for monitors. We've had zero failures with this mixer (or speakers). At first we were unfamiliar but now that we've studied the manual and watched the really good Youtube tutorial this thing rocks! Some of the comments on here indicate lack of familiarity. For instance, there are 4 aux sends each can receive input from any of the input channels and can/should be driving your stage monitors. This gives you one way to control what's in each stage monitor. But effects level (wet/dry) is controlled by aux send #4 so if you run that to your monitors there's going to be fx in your stage monitor as well. The out labeled "monitor" on the mixer is not for "stage monitors" rather is for sound engineer in a studio. Between the aux sends, group sends, four each and hi pass filter for vocals, EQs on each input channel, pre-fade/post-fade select and all of the adjustments and routing available this unit is highly adaptable and reliable. The more we learn the better this mixer gets.

Man this thing sounds great and compact too !!! Do yourself a favor and pick one up...

We were caught off guard when our old board stopped working. This board has been a God send. Inexpensive, easy to set up, and everyone keeps commenting on how much better everything sounds.

Having Gain on each channel is a plus, 20 input channels will handle most situations, the added 4th "sweeping" mid-EQ control works great. Eight channels with compression is a good feature. Added special effects work great (especially the radio talk effect). The unit is firmly built. If you know how to operate a mixing board you can make this Unpowered unit sing. I use it with my powered Bose L1 model II, two column, system. The Bose unit supplies the power, the mixer handles the inputs and adjustments. I don't know if I'll ever use the USB connection, but it's nice feature. The sliders are manually controlled, so let your ears be your guide with regards to levels and the overall mix. I would certainly recommend this unit to anyone. Sweetwater shipping was fast and their customer service follow-up was top notch.

I've used this mixer on a gig now, and in our rehearsal space. The pre amps are hotter than a two dollar pistol, and the frequency response is excellent. We ran three monitor mixes easily, and the effects bus provided just a nice reverb to liven up the mix. The rca inputs were great for break music from my mp3 player. I have other mixers that don't give you any volume control over the rca inputs. There were just enough compression channels to use for the entire band. It is a 4 piece country band. I really love this mixer and recommend it to anyone.

After a bunch of live gigs, I feel semi qualified ( as I do in so many other things) to leave a viable review. I got this board on the recommendation of my sales scientist, Christian Baer, and ( on account of covid) I used it mainly for recording at first. It functioned very well in that capacity. The digital output worked perfectly, allowing me to record to my computer. Fast forward a little, to the return of live gigging, and I've got enough live shows under my belt with this thing to say that I like it. It's a perfectly capable board with a lot of cool features. I've had no problems with it. I recommend it heartily.

Great board. Effects can be a bit touchy but for the most part they do an excellent job.

I use it 2 or 3 times a month in a church choir. I use 12 microphones, 3 live instruments + keyboard. it sounds amazing and perfectly fine. The only reason I didn't give it 5/5 is the software. when I upgraded my pc, I couldn't get the software (cubase) again. I lost the cd and I couldn't find it online. I believe they should have an easier way to keep the license somehow.

Overall a good usb mixer. I use it for live mixing with a 4-5 piece band. The biggest issue I have is that the effects cannot be folded back into a monitor mix, only the main outs have effects. Would like to run effects to the monitors. Cannot find a work around. Also, not a huge issue but the 16 sliders do not align visually with the corresponding EQ and channel settings above them, one must be careful in the middle channels. We find ourselves tweaking the wrong knobs above the middle sliders. Another annoyance is the veiling glare from the bright yellow channel- select lights. On a dark stage you cannot see settings near these lights. I find i must mask these lights with my hand to see the effects levels above them. These are relatively minor issues for most users.

I"ve had mine for about a year and this is the second time I"ve had to send it back for repair. This time, Sweetwater is sending me a new one because they are having issues getting parts in from Yamaha for repair (Sweetwater tries their best to make happy customers and they do a good job so I order all my expensive stuff from them for sure!!!). The first repair was because the FX unit went out. The second repair was because the PFL kept turning on intermittently which was cutting out the mains. I"ve seen a lot of other people on the internet with the PFL issue as well. It only happens after the mixer is on for 30 or so minutes for me.

The EQ control is good and compressors work well, but I wish it had some EQ control on the main bus I wish the Aux 3 bus could be pre or post fader.

If you're cool with ALL your channels bleeding thru EVERY aux and group out then go for it. I spent a couple hours tinkering thinking this must be some kind of mistake; that I was missing something. Nope. I was super excited about this mixer. Super disappointed instead. What the [expletive deleted] Yamaha?

I've had this board for a year and half. We do couple shows a month. It keeps getting worse. Same settings a hour into the set everything creeps up into the red on the display and distorted without touching anything. Going to go into the rummage sale and buy a Pre Sonus. Just can't risk ruining another show.

For the price you can get way better gear with more capabilities there are no returns for your auxiliary Sends you have to usE your channel inputs to return your auxiliary signals if you wanted to use analog racks which I enjoy using. also I had to turn my computer down to 7% out of 100 just to keep it from clipping Don't buy this unit yamaha makes other great gear but these units Are just not on point. Too many issues