Little Bear MC5 Mini Portable Stereo 4 Channel Audio Mixer Passive Live Studio Console Recording Low Noise (No Power Needed)

Overall, it does what I needed it to. I have multiple sources sharing a single set of amplified speakers at my (home) workstation. I am able to effectively, and selectively control volume from the different sources, especially when conferencing or sharing from one or another. The line loss is significant, volume is considerably reduced through the device. If you need more volume, you'll probably need a pre-amp. The introduced noise level is very low, so I think amplifying the signal would be an acceptable solution. Overall I like the device. I am going to try higher quality (and shorter) cables to see if that helps. ------ (Edit: After using this for a little while, AND replacing a cable changed review from 4 to 5 stars. It does what I need very well. The controls are very quiet and very good quality. The output needs to be amplified, but that's not a problem with the speakers I'm using.

My use case is probably different from many others. I am into retro-computing and listening to mods on my Amiga while drawing. However, due to the full stereo separation of the Amiga's audio channels listening on headphones was very intense. Ms. MadLemon on YouTube made a device to be able to adjust the mix the L/R channels to soften the experience. I thought, there must be a way to do this without building something. (Not that I couldn't build it I just don't want to at this point.) My first approach was to use PulseEffects on my PC with the Amiga connected to the line in. I made a loopback device with 1ms delay so the Amiga would play through mixed with the PC audio and then adjusted settings in PulseEffects until I got the desired result. This works great except for when I plug in another device that has audio capabilities - then everything "auto-magically" switches to the new device on Linux Mint. After some searching I for a very basic audio mixer I hit on the Little Bear MC5... and I thought and thought about it for a couple of months due to the negative reviews. Finally, I pulled the trigger and got it the other day. I made a short 3.5mm L/R crossover cable to reverse the channels. I plugged the Amiga directly into input 1 and then split and reversed signals into input 2. With input 1 at 100% and input 2 at 75% I get just the right blending of the left and right audio. Better still, my PC goes into input 3 now and I have another one open for one more device on the desk if I am testing. PulseEffects and the loopback aren't needed anymore so I am pretty happy! Pros: Small - Doesn't eat up desk space. Modestly priced. Passive - no extra USB or power cables. Good weight and solid build. I don't detect any added noise through my powered speakers or headphones even when crank the volume on the speakers. (Bose Companion 2 series III speakers also drive the headphones.) Cons: None that I can see. Other thoughts: Now that I have it I would like a version that has a small integrated amp. (Or an add on amp with extended case screws in the same form factor as the MC5 that you can attach to the MC5 and keep it all one package.) I knew this was passive and would not boost the audio. That is NOT the issue. The issue is that I forgot that PulseEffects was boosting the gain from the Amiga's input and the PC's normal sound. This drives the blinking lights on my Sony SEQ-430. Without that amplification the spectrum analyzer can only move on the strongest sounds. Not a huge deal but now it has me thinking about a headphone amp to put inline.

Does it work? Yes, it does. If you are using headphones with no phantom power, all volumes have to be completely maxed out. This would be perfect for a younger person because it's certainly loud enough to hear but will not be loud enough to hurt a kids ears. All in all, it's good enough to use when messing around and the small form factor is nice and matched the fact the Volcas are small. I don't love it, don't hate it. It serves a purpose at times.

This is a great little passive mixer and perfect for my application, which was feeding audio from computers and keyboard instruments into my monitors. It cuts the volume by about 6dB (I didn't measure it.) So you can't use it unless you have enough headroom to boost the volume. For most line-level devices, that shouldn't be a problem. If you're always running your gear with all the knobs at 10, this will not do for you. I don't detect any added noise, but of course the S/N ratio will go down, by 3 to 6 dB. It's not in a shielded box (which is obvious from the pictures) so isn't advised for a very electrically noisy environment. Don't set it right next to an old CRT display or a motor. Modern gear when used correctly has a high enough S/N ratio that it shouldn't be noticeable even to golden ears. They should definitely fix the description that says it won't reduce the signal level. A passive mixer HAS to reduce the signal level. Without the resistors (or replacing them with 1-ohm resistors), you're just tying outputs together, which is bad for the outputs, and affects the quality of the audio. Replacing the resistors is a really bad idea. Don't take my word for it, ask any EE. Active mixers (ones that don't reduce the volume) are built by putting an op amp behind a passive mixer, to boost the signal just enough to restore the lost volume. If you can't turn your gear up louder than you need, you need a "line mixer" not a "passive mixer". It won't be so tiny and will require power.

Original Review: I've acquired two of these. The good news is, they work wonderfully for a simple line mixer. I've two computers, a keyboard, and phone that I can all use with my monitors. I LOVE that I don't need to switch or toggle anything to do so. The bad news is, I lose so much volume. If any single channel is above 75% it greatly diminishes the volume of all the other channels. I wish the volume of one channel didn't crush the others. 2025 Edit: I'm bumping this from a 3 star down to a 1 star. I've spent two years on and off trying to rack down and remove intermittent signal noise I've had. Different cables, shielded vs non-shielded. Proximity of this mixer to various power and signal sources. It does not matter. I finally tracked my issue down to this device. I'm not sure if its picking up EMI or the components just add noise. I wish there was a way to simply "fix" this device.

I bought this to mix Discord via cellphone and PS5 on my headphones (Philips cans) The mixer works great in terms of audio quality and it's mixing capabilities. However, I was disappointed at the overall volume decrease after passing thru the mixer. I maxed iPhone and PS5 volume and even then needed more volume. I guess this happens in every passive mixer, but I didn't read enough before buying. As I only needed 2 input channels I managed to salvage the purchase by doing the following: A) Ask my buddies to up their microphone input setting on their PCs so I could hear them better on Discord B) Connect a Y-splitter on my PS5 dualsense so I could input the PS5 audio twice into the mixer (now using 3 channels) By doing this I am overall very happy and satisfied with my purchase. The splitter adds a little more bulk than my liking but I can now hear every single enemy step and my buddies perfectly.

This is an excellent little mixer, I'm very happy with it. There is the big caveat mentioned in other reviews - the audio level output (a.k.a. volume) is quite low. This is a passive mixer, it does not and cannot boost the signal of your sound sources. If you are plugging this into speakers with their own power source (such as a battery powered speaker), you should be able to boost the signal enough for it to be usable. Likewise for plugging into an audio interface to record into a DAW. However, if you are plugging into passive speakers (such as the studio headphones in my photo), the volume will be very low. Everything is still audible, and at what I might consider to be a 'practice' volume, but you will be disappointed if you are trying to rock the house. There are two solutions to this - either the resistor mod explained in other comments, or you can add an amp to the output to boost the signal (typically this is called a 'headphone amp' and they can be expensive). With that out of the way, I love everything else about this mixer! The knobs feel good, with firm and smooth action, they aren't scratchy at all, and I've had no issue with using them to live mix my instruments. Audio quality sounds great to me. The mixer sits solidly enough on a table, and the included rubber feet help. Plenty of space between the 3.5mm ports to accommodate fatter plugs. The usable range of the knobs isn't huge, generally 12'o'clock to 5'o'clock (50% - 100%), at least for my various battery powered synths. That's plenty for my needs. If you plan to carry this around in a backpack or gig bag, I would recommend that you either build a small enclosure for it or at least wrap some tape around the sides to keep dust out. Or carry it in the small cardboard box it comes in. Dust and other stuff could mess with the circuitry and degrade the audio quality over time. In my project this will live inside a larger metal box, so I'm not worried about it. I also like that the bottom panel can be easily removed, so you could mount this onto a pedal board, synth face plate, or something else. I plan to use Velcro at first, then maybe something more permanent later. If you are searching for a mini-mixer that won't break the bank, this is it. Don't expect this little passive mixer to move mountains, you'll love it.

So I purchased this to have more control over my electronic devices volume.. my metronome has a beep that is almost uncontrollable in volume so I plug my guitar amp and metronome into this and problem fixed. I then realized I can listen to pod casts and use this to make micro adjustments to my digital devices volume that is only possible with analog pots. I was having a slight issue with ground when hooking up to my monitor and guitar amp at the same time, (Practicing while watching Rick and Morty) so I was getting a bad 60hz hum. I also noticed that there was distortion when turned up all the way on the pots.. I thought why not add a ground being there is no power ran to the board. I took a piece of wire and loosened a screw on the bottom and installed. I used hot glue to secure the wire to the screw and a piece of tape to make sure the wire didn’t go anywhere. The hum went away I haven’t heard any distortion since and the device is 100% what I wanted. The only strangeness some ppl might not understand is because of the circuit design when two or more pots are turned up past 75% they begin to compress the sound and almost cancel out each other.. I don’t mind and keep it at 73-78% depending on which channel I want loudest. I can also listen to meditation music to go to sleep at lower volumes than my phone allows because it’s analog! No replacement for old school tech sometimes. Very happy with this purchase!

Necesitaba mezclar un instrumento midi con el sonido de la compu. Y esto cumple el objetivo. Es pequeño y a buen precio

必要となる場合はそんなにないのですが 一つあれば便利かと思います 説明にも何度も登場しますがアクティブとパッシブの違いについては 理解してからの購入をお勧めします

I’ve been on the fence about buying the XBOX Wireless Headset for weeks now, due to the convenience of a hassle free way to hear game audio while also chatting to my friends on Discord (who don’t want to use party chat). But, I already own really good headphones, so dropping the money on more headphones that don’t have as good audio quality held me back (have you seen the bass bump on those things?!) After LOADS of research I stumbled across this Little Bear product, which you can get from AliExpress/Amazon for ~$40 or less. It’s a 4 way passive (no power needed) AUX mixer that routes everything to your headphones. You simply plug in your controller AUX output into Input 1, your device running Discord to Input 2, and your headphones to the Output. Some reviews online talk about the fact these units came with a 10K resistor that took way too much of the volume away, and that when complaining, the manufacturer responded saying people should just solder 1K resistors on instead. I was prepared to do this, but to my GREAT surprise, it seems like these units have been silently revised and now come with a 1K - 4.7K resistor switch inbuilt (pictured), negating the need to solder anything. What this means: I can confirm that while the audio level still definitely drops in volume, I am running a pair of Sennheiser HD6XX (high ohms, hard to give enough juice) with the input/output knobs at 100% and am satisfied with the maximum volume it is outputting. I can then blend in my other device (Discord) to taste. This is quite the achievement for a cheap passive device. The main negative I would note is that the volume rotors don’t seem to be very linear, so most of your granular control comes from the final 10-20% of the rotation. No big deal. So - if you’ve got good headphones already, and happy to still deal with a few wires, I heavily recommend this product as an elegant solution for a problem Microsoft doesn’t seem to want to fix outside of selling their branded headset. Just make sure you confirm it’s the revision with the 1K-4.7K switch, or be prepared to do some light soldering with 1K resistors if not.

I have 4 computers in my home office. I feed all of them through this mixer, and then from the mixer to the sound system. It works great, except when I use my headset, which is not amplified. I honestly didn't think a little thing like this would do a good job, but this dinky little 4-stereo-channel mixer kicks serious ass. My only complaint, and it is not really the mixer's fault, is there is a noticeable drop in volume. This is a passive mixer - it has no amplifier, so I am not surprised. There is no background noise, no hissing, no popping. Because of the signal drop when I use my headset, I purchased this tiny amplifier for $20: "eSynic Portable Headphone Amplifier Rechargeable Headphone Amp 3.5mm Audio HiFi Headphone Amplifier with Two-Stage Gain Switch Compatible with MP3 MP4 iPhones iPod Digital Players Computers with 1.2m USB Cable" Search for it on amazon. I plugged the output of the mixer into the input of the amplifier, and now I have an amplified mixer that fits in the palm of my hand and sounds like professional equipment. Happy customer :)

Pros: - Cumple con su función - Permite bastantes entradas - Controles de audio individuales Cons: - Las resistencias que tiene el circuito bajan bastante el volumen, es NECESARIO tener un amplificador