5.5

Hercules Stream 200 XLR Review

Hardware with potential let down by underwhelming software.

As you look to take streaming more seriously there are likely a couple of key milestones you’ll reach. The first is stepping away from an uncontrolled wall of noise and refining that output for your viewers and the second is jumping from a USB microphone to an XLR one.

To achieve both you’ll need some external hardware, an audio controller like the Razer Audio Mixer to wrangle your sources and an audio interface like the RODE AI-1 to connect your XLR microphone. Or, thanks to Thrustmaster’s sister company Hercules, you can have both in one with the Hercules Stream 200 XLR.

An audio controller with a range of external input options, the Hercules Stream 200 XLR looks to simplify your setup and keep every notification, Discord call and background song in balance. Released alongside the simpler Hercules Stream 100, the pair represent the first step into streaming from a brand with a background in DJ equipment. So while Hercules might know sound, does it know what streamers need to improve their setup and is it worth splashing out £249.99 on?

simply put

In a busy market the Hercules Stream 200 XLR audio controller fails to stand out. The hardware is promising but a poor app and odd limitations see it fall short of the competition.

the good bits

Clean XLR microphone output
Bright, clear LCD screen
Creator and Audience submixes

the not so good bits

Relies on stock Windows channels
Limited button functionality
Submix outputs aren’t digitally available
Average build quality in places

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Hercules Stream 200 XLR Audio Controller

design

There’s a lot of DNA shared between Hercules’ two new audio controllers. Take a Stream 100, stretch out the face and add a few more buttons and you’re halfway to a Stream 200 XLR. While the footprint has increased significantly compared to the Stream 100, the Stream 200 XLR looks better balanced to me and a more professional unit as a result. It’s also noticeably more solid and filled out, the hollow feeling of its smaller counterpart is gone and it’s all the better for gaining a bit of weight.

Unfortunately as the majority of the Hercules Stream 200 XLR has carried over from the Stream 100 it brings with it the same shortcomings in terms of build quality. The four small dials are empty moulded plastic with no rubberisation or grippy detailing and they feel lightweight and without control to use. The rubber buttons below feel much better with a satisfying almost mechanical click and backlit numbers. The same 4.3” LCD is also onboard and while Hercules doesn’t specify the resolution there’s enough detail here to not be a problem. Colours are rich and saturated and there’s plenty of punch in the backlight though I’d really have liked to have seen a touch screen at this price point.

The new buttons added to the Stream 200 XLR should all prove helpful upgrades over the Stream 100. A panic button for muting all sources sits up top with smaller buttons for linking the two submixes and toggling between the two pages of channels below. The largest button on the Stream 200 XLR is allocated to switching between the creator and audience submixes and while it offers a load of pokeable real estate, only the very middle will actually register a response. It makes for an irritating user experience as far too much of the button ends up doing nothing and I can’t help but feel this would have been better suited as two separate buttons.

There’s an extra little quirk born out of these newly added buttons. Whereas the original four buttons sit low on the device and well within its centre of gravity, the new ones fall above that. In testing this meant all but the gentlest of touches on any of the four new buttons would tilt the Hercules Stream 200 XLR backwards and lift up the front feet. On multiple occasions this meant missed clicks unless I perfectly lined up my push. Admittedly there are bigger problems in the world, but while trying to stream I don’t need an extra minigame of hoping I press the right spot on the button.

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The new beefy dial for controlling headphone levels delivers what its smaller family members doesn’t, texture and feels far better as a result. There’s quality issues here though as on my unit I’m able to wiggle the dial 3 or 4mm back and forth without this registering as a change. Turning the dial with more purpose just doesn’t feel premium either, more like it’s rubbing against itself rather than smoothly gliding. This is a fixed rotation dial and as you turn it the surrounding LED ring will fill with colour, which while a nice artsy touch isn’t as precise as I’d like. The Hercules Stream 200 XLR waits until you’ve turned past a segment before lighting it up, meaning there’s a real lack of granular control. I’d have liked to have seen a little physical indicator on the dial too, a line or notch is all I ask.

Spinning the Stream 200 XLR around you’ll find a strong array of inputs and outputs lining the back of the device. An XLR input (though you’ll need to use the included external preamp with some microphones), optical and line in as well as line, headphone and USB-C outputs. It’s a decent lineup that ticks most boxes for streamers, no complaints there. The layout is neat though given how much blank space is leftover on the flat back panel I can’t help but feel these could have been spaced out a little more. They aren’t exactly cramped but if you had a full house of cables you’d be tripping over yourself to make adjustments.

performance

I tested the Hercules Stream 100 before the Stream 200 XLR thinking I’d start small and work my way up. Ultimately I was underwhelmed by the smaller unit and felt it lacked a few of the basic audio management tools that this kind of device is supposed to bring. Moving to the Stream 200 XLR I was hoping to see a notable step up in feature set, which l did find in some areas and curiously didn’t in others.

The obvious win with the Hercules Stream 200 XLR is the addition of those three inputs around the back. The XLR port alone makes a huge difference and immediately doubles up the usefulness of the device as a whole. Paired with a RODE PodMic I was happy with the clean sound I was ultimately able to generate though it needed that shotgun cartridge external preamp to come through with a usable gain. A note of warning based on 15 minutes of head scratching; the physical phantom power switch is overridden by the Stream Control app and the pair do not communicate their position to each other. It feels backwards not being able to trust the physical position of a switch or having an app be able to relay that information but that’s where we are.

The curiosities continue into some of the app design choices. Again I was critical of the Hercules Stream 100 because it only allowed me to bind and control individual audio sources. Here I’m going to be critical of the Hercules Stream 200 XLR for the opposite. You’re only able to control the five audio channels created by the app; game, chat, music, system and aux. Why can’t I do both, Hercules? Let me choose whether I want to bundle apps together under a heading or tweak an individual source. If 200 is double of 100 then why can’t I have double the choice when it comes to controlling my audio?

There’s also no way to use the Hercules Stream Control app to direct individual sources into those five groups; you’ll need to use the stock Windows audio mixer settings to do that. It’s a chore and feels like a cop out when the likes of SteelSeries and BEACN offer pleasant drag and drop interfaces to achieve the same job. The clouds part here though because once you’ve tagged everything up the Hercules Stream 200 XLR works nicely to tweak and balance levels. The LCD screen does a good job of clearly relaying information and making quick adjustments to either submix on the fly was easily achieved. 

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While the addition of two unique submixes for both creator and audience is great, sadly the Hercules Stream 200 XLR’s implementation of it is flawed from the start. The Stream 200 XLR does make it easy to adjust levels either independently or together at once via the link button, the problem is trying to hear the creator mix you’ve just crafted. The Stream 200 doesn’t produce digital outputs of the two submixes, instead Windows sees two new digital inputs. This isn’t an issue in terms of bringing your audience mix into OBS, that’s a simple task that worked well but there’s no way to listen to your creator mix without hardwiring something to one of the Stream 200 XLR’s rear outputs. For my setup with the USB connected SteelSeries Alias 7 speakers, that meant no sound unless I bypassed my PC and went headphone out to line in. Yes, in theory this worked fine and I was able to control volume levels but in reality that means needing to assign every audio source to one of Hercules five channels or it simply won’t be heard.

The Hercules Stream 200 XLR also pitches itself as a makeshift Stream Deck, though if you’re looking at this as a primary use with some bonus audio you’ll be left disappointed. Like the Stream 100 you’re limited to just two pages of actions which is a puzzling limitation given it should be all software based. At least here the dedicated page swap button means you’ll keep all 4 buttons assignable, unlike the Stream 100. You’ll find basic Windows and media playback options mappable via the Hercules Stream Control app, along with integrations for OBS and Streamlabs. Again there’s no custom actions or basic hotkey support here so unless Hercules launches a marketplace the day to day use of these buttons will remain extremely limited. 

The list of included functions feels like a good reflection of the Hercules Stream 200 XLR experience as a whole. In its current form it over promises and under delivers. You can map a button to launch a URL but can’t launch an app in the same way. You can’t even fire off a sound effect or media file unless you run it through OBS. The experience feels unfinished and like a beta test, not the live accompanying app of a £250 streaming controller. Not all is lost for Hercules though and I do hold out hope for the brand in the streaming space. Build quality flaws aside, most of my concerns are the result of failings within the app and those are the kinds of things that can be improved on. The hardware is near enough there, it just needs a better software experience to unlock any potential.

summed up

As it stands, Hercules’ debut in the streaming space is an undercooked one and it’s disappointing to see because I’d love to see a few new players into the streaming hardware game; it helps drive innovation and competition is always consumer friendly. The problem here is neither the Stream 200 XLR or its smaller sibling the Stream 100 bring anything new to the table and they don’t currently meet the level set by those existing brands.

The Hercules Stream 200 XLR does show promise as a piece of hardware but a lacklustre supporting app meant in my testing it actually ended up causing more problems than it solved. If you’re looking primarily for an audio interface, consider the RODE AI-1 or Elgato Wave XLR. If you’re looking for an audio controller the BEACN Mix Create, Razer Stream Controller X or Elgato Stream Deck Plus will serve you better.

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