Yamaha AG03 3-Channel Mixer / 1 Microphone

I bought this back in early 2016 and it's been my primary soundcard for my PC ever since. I originally bought it as a way to hear my computer, record player, and keyboard from the same speakers at the same time. It's turned into so much more over the years with its versatility. I have an AT2020 plugged in to channel 1 that I've been using for all this zooming we do in 2020. It's absolutely perfect for the job and works well for game chat as well. I plug in a second mic into channel 2 when I game with others. I love the loopback feature and have used it like other describe. Anything on your computer can make as a sound can be recorded or broadcast, and the quality is perfect. I also use the USB recording for my keyboard or vinyl. I usually have an Echo Dot plugged into the AUX jack which is convenient to hear her over the bigger speakers. Just remember to unplug her when recording, she will be recorded or broadcast, she's also probably my noisiest input.It's worth noting that mixer will work as long as it has USB power, and for me that has worked during reboots on the PC and even with the PC powered off as I chose a port that has power for charging all the time. This allows me to listen to music even with the computer off (or just doing updates on it), and it also doesn't have noises or pops when the PC is powered on or the mixer powers on.On top of all the features, the sound quality is amazing. Has no noise that I can hear, is not susceptible to USB noise from the PC, and doesn't pickup RF interference either. It's basically as flat as you could ever ask for in a mixer. It makes a great headphone amp, I use it with a set of Grado SR225e. I also have speakers attached, and it's nice to be able to do both simultaneously.I think the only weirdness I've noticed is you need to add the Steinburg drivers to get 24-bit and/or better than 48khz sample rates. As Win10 does the 6-month updates this has required periodic maintenance to keep working. But it's also a one-time thing and then you don't touch it until Microsoft breaks it on the next refresh. I have mine set to 24-bit/96khz. Basically overkill for most of what I do but hasn't shown to have any latency or other issues on my PC.TL;DR - it's versatile, has a great loopback feature, works awesome for Zoom, Discord, or whatever, and sounds really good.

I've used this interface for only one day but I am impressed so far. I was up and running in minutes on OS X. I didn't install any drivers. It works as a class compliant device on OS X. I bought this because it has a loopback feature that allows mixing computer audio with the mic channel. This is perfect for screencasting. I tested with Screenflow and it worked great. There is also a one-button compressor for the mic input. It is preset for basic voice over compression and also adds low cut EQ.There is a way to control the onboard effects, compressor and guitar amp simulator using a downloadable app. However, at the time I wrote this it was not available on Mac. The Yamaha website says Mac support is coming. A windows version of of the app is available now, but I didn't test it. Even without the extra control, I have had not problem using the basic functionality.The unit is USB bus powered so no wall adapter is needed. The controls are logically arranged. The unit is heavy enough not to slide around on the desktop but also very compact. I like the fader for the mic level. That is very rare on an interface of this kind. I also like that there is no need to load a virtual mixer app to balance the signals.Very few interfaces allow you to record a stereo mix of a vocal mic along with computer audio. The design is of the AG03 is simple and convenient. It also sounds nice and clean with no background hum or noise in my monitors or headphones.

Great product. So far I absolutely love this mixer. It has amazing sound, a great preamp and great control over all your inputs. I love how easy and simple it is to set up and get everything ready so that you can focus on what's most important and that's controlling your sound instantly.However, this product is definitely not without its flaws. For this price there are many other mixers that offer very similar feature but also greater sound control, with eqs, fx, and more, not to say you can't do that with the AG06 however you have to do it through a separate download on your computer. This is great to keep things simple, however the purpose of buying a mixer, I personally feel, is to allow for maximum control at your fingertips all on one device.Lastly, thhough this falls more on my own fault than that of yamaha, it was not super clear about how the Phantom power only powers channel one. The main reason I opted for the 06 over the 03 was for the extra xlr input so I could hook up a second mic for another guest speaker or the like. Its easily fixed with an external power supply. But again at this price point there are many other mixers with 3-4 channels of phantom power.In conclusion, great product for beginning musicians, Podcaster or twitch streamers who want a decent amount of control but a little simplified. However all at a price where competitors offer more features and options.