Razer Audio Mixer
design
Straight out of the box the Audio Mixer looks right at home in the Razer line-up. It’s black, it’s shiny, it’s got RGB lighting. What more could you want? It’s a smart looking unit and build quality feels premium across the board.
Across the front face are four faders, each tied to a customisable audio channel. The sliders are smooth with a pleasant amount of resistance and even a couple of weeks in I still get an unnecessary amount of enjoyment from changing volume. There’s just something so joyful about physical volume controls, I don’t know why, but I love it.
They aren’t motorised though, so the faders won’t react to changes you make on the software side and won’t dive to the bottom when you hit the mute button. That’s a shame and feels like a bit of an oversight for a device with a premium price point, particularly when it’s a feature of the far cheaper GoXLR Mini. The result is second-guessing whether my levels were accurate half the time, or big jumps when the physical faders overrode the software. It’s a minor thing perhaps, but it does start to defeat the purpose of a physical mixer.
The rubber buttons underneath are tactile and silent with LED status lights built in. There is a bit of a wobble to the two larger beep and mute buttons though, which meant it was possible to feel like you’d pressed it without actually firing off an action.
Of course it wouldn’t be a Razer product without a good chunk of customisable RGB lighting and there’s a range of options on offer with the Audio Mixer. Synapse provides control of everything from the Razer logo to animating the fader level lights. It all works neatly within the ecosystem so those with a Razer heavy setup already will appreciate the harmony.
performance
As an XLR audio interface it performs well and does it without a fuss. Pairing it with the RØDE PodMic was simple and there was no noticeable difference in sound quality compared to RØDE’s own AI-1 mixer.
On top of managing your audio channels, Razer Synapse offers a handful of preset EQ and voice changing options. They’re a nice extra to have, though the voice changers are rather basic and you’ll likely find better options with a dedicated app.
Customising which audio channel each fader represents is intuitive and easy to manage, but if this is your first time dividing your output you’ll need to set aside a bit of time to get everything lined up. The Razer Audio Mixer uses Windows’ sound mixer to handle which program sends audio to which channel. It’s a functional if not slightly clunky system, but once you’ve set it up once it shouldn’t need much management moving forward.
You’re out of luck without an XLR microphone though. While you can theoretically use a USB microphone with 3.5mm auxiliary out, there’s just no value in it (let alone £249.99 RRP worth of value). If you’re ready to upgrade to an audio mixer, you’re ready to upgrade to an XLR microphone.
summed up
At a tick under £250 the Razer Audio Mixer is a pricey option, almost double the comparable and popular GoXLR Mini. In isolation it holds its own with no glaring flaws and a lot to like. It delivers everything it promises to and has a good software solution to back it up.
Sat in the wider market however it probably isn’t the best value for money option, particularly if you’re shopping for a new microphone at the same time. For those already aligned with the Razer world however, it’s a quality, professional addition to take your stream up a level.
