Summary: <br> <br> <br> Yamaha’s AG03 and AG06 USB mixers are compact, versatile for podcasters, and even customizable. Here’s my review.<br> AG03 and AG06 features<br> Thanks to Yamaha for loaning these mixers to me for review. If you like what you see and want to purchase either of these, please use the link below this video.<br> Both the and offer the same basic features. They each have decent microphone preamps that are powerful and clean enough for most dynamic microphones. You can also connect a condenser microphone to only channel 1 and turn on +48V phantom power. Additionally, both mixers have stereo 1/4” inputs for line-level audio.<br> What seems unique about these mixers is their support for 3.5 mm audio devices. Both mixers accept an auxiliary stereo 3.5 mm input, which you can use to play music or sound effects from a mobile device. Even more interesting is two 3.5 mm jacks for an analog headset for separate input and output. This makes it easy to monitor through any pair of headphones, without needing a 3.5 mm to 1/4” adapter. But this also means you can connect any 3.5 mm lavaliere microphone to the headset input on the mixer. These kinds of lav mics usually require plug-in power, which most mixers don’t natively provide, but these mixers from Yamaha provide that necessary power. Plugging into the headset input will cut off and take the place of incoming audio from channel 1, and plugging into the headset output similarly cuts off and replaces the outgoing audio to the standard headphones jack.<br> Both mixers offer two buttons for easy audio processing on channel 1. One button for compression and equalization (EQ), and the other for SPX reverb effects.<br> Mixers with USB input and output aren’t new, but Yamaha makes the AG03 and AG06 stand out with a couple extra options in the USB interface. On either model, connecting to a Windows or OS X PC via the USB cable allows you to play audio from your PC into the mixer, even with its own input level knob. But Yamaha didn’t stop there! Both models have a three-stage switch. In the first position, you can send a dry and split output of channels 1 and 2 back to your PC. Thus, channel 1 would be on the left and channel 2 on the right. (However, monitoring through headphones or speakers would sound normal with both channels centered.) In the switch’s second position, a stereo mix of all inputs, except for the PC’s USB audio, is sent back to the PC. The third position is a loopback that sends all inputs, including the audio from the PC’s USB connection, back to the PC through the USB. And all without ground-loop interference! This makes it really easy for podcasters to live-mix audio from their PC in the loopback setting for recording or live-streaming from the same PC; but it’s not ideal for live-mixing when you have guest or cohost audio also coming from the PC’s same USB output, as that would send their voice right back to them.<br> Both models are powered via USB when connected to a computer. They can also be connected to iOS device via USB connection kit and then be powered by any micro-USB power source (such as a pocket battery or AC power adapter).<br> If you want to use the mixer as your PC’s audio output device, there’s a handy mute button that will silence the input audio from channels 1 and 2, while continuing to let your PC sound through.<br> In addition to the USB output, both the AG03 and AG06 offer a stereo 1/4” headphone output, plus left and right 1/4” monitor outputs. There are also main left and right RCA outputs on the AG03, or main 1/4” outputs on the AG06.<br> Differences between AG03 and AG06<br> Speaking of differences, the AG03 is a 3-channel mixer (excluding the stereo auxiliary input). But the AG06 is a 6-channel mixer (again, excluding the stereo auxiliary input). The AG06 has an additional 1/4”-XLR-combo input for a microphone or guitar, and a stereo RCA input. That additional combo input has a built-in guitar amp simul...
