Yamaha MG12 XU

I purchased this as I was returning to the gigging scene after a 4 year break. My old gear was out of date with some not working. I decided to update. I chose this mixer for 2 main reasons.

a) Brand: Yamaha have always had a stellar reputation in the mixing desk department. A lot of pro engineers & gigging musicians swear by them.
b) Affordability vs Features: This desk has everything the 1 man or small group required in a desk to get a proper professional sound.

When the package arrived from Thomann, it was excellently packaged with no issues what so ever. As I live in Ireland, we use the Uk style 3 pin plug. Thomann had thrown a free 1.5m cable with UK plug in for free as they always do.

The desk itself was extremely well packaged. Included in the box were the desk, several manuals, each one in a different language. A complete waste of paper. Almost everyone can download the manuals online now. Also an EU 1.5m Power Cable. A free Download of Cubase AI. As I already have Cubase Elements I do not need. What was noticably missing was a USB cable. All other brands and mixers come with cable included. I though this is poor judgement from Yamaha. I only discovered this after I placed my order. Thankfully, Thomann as always were helpful and were able to get one included in the shipment just in time.

The first impression of the desk is it feels heavier than expected. The main chassis is metal, while the sides are plastic. The layout on the console is brilliant and very intuitive. The knobs are plastic but not in a cheap way. Everything is colour coded to enable you to know what is what at a glance. Upon plugging in I was able to set up and operate immediately with almost no effort. This desk is a breeze to operate. The compression knob is new to me and I will have to experiment more. From what I have seen in instructional videos and reviews it is a very welcome feature. The USB feature is a must now in all desks really. The computer picked it up straight away. I have not used it with Cubase yet but I have heard wonderful things. However the main use for this desk will be live performances & maybe some DJ work.

Based on previous experience, I chose to purchase a set of rack ears (way to expensive for what they are) and a case that allows the desk to be raised at an angle.

Overall, I am over the moon with this desk. I cannot wait for the first gig. I will push it to it's limits. Thank you yet again Thomann for outstanding service & support.

I have owned the Yamaha MG series mixers ever since the first model series, and I have always loved them for their no-nonsense, clear and intuitive designs, very good connectivity for a mixer it's size and overall great quality, and the new MG series is by far the best. Virtually every complaint I had about the previous models has been addressed in this one.
Handling is very good, easy to use, clear and simple outline. Not too heavy, not too light. Faders feel nice, knobs give good feedback. And they finally built the PSU inside the mixer! That was my biggest complaint to Yamaha for the previous ones, and also the weakest link as I have had to replace quite a few PSU-s over the years.
The features are plentiful: you get compression, effects, digital interface and a good sounding analogue EQ on a single 12-channel board. A few other mixers offer the one-knob compression, but I have not seen one that sounds so good. The effects are useable. Routing options are quite ample for aa mixer this size. The EQ sounds very nice, however it would be perfect if they would have added a sweepable mid band like on its bigger brothers. Setting up the digital interface with my iPad was effortless and only took a driver installation to work perfectly on a Win7 PC.
The new preamps sound definately better than the old ones. Also, the built-in DAC seems to be a quality one. Overall, the board sounds very good. Period.
As is customary for Yamaha, the build quality is immaculate. The chassis is metal again, although the sides are still plastic. Still, it looks sturdy and a good compromise between weight and durability. As with the previous models, I have no doubt that it will serve for a long time.
All in all, highly recommended and very versatile board.