BEACN Studio Review

A few years back, BEACN entered the content creator space with the BEACN Mic and BEACN Mix/Mix Create. Members of the BEACN team used lessons learned while working on the popular GO XLR to create a set of devices that simplified audio customization while also offering an experience that favored a USB mic over an XLR one. Once again, BEACN is looking to fill a perceived void in the content creator space, only this time with XLR included. With the BEACN Studio, BEACN has introduced a pretty nifty piece of tech that fits right into the existing BEACN ecosystem, while also bringing a larger audience into the fold.

The BEACN Studio is a fairly unassuming device. It’s a black or white module with a knob on the left that doubles as a button and has a bit of RGB glow underneath. At a glance, it looks like nothing more than a volume control knob, but it’s so much more than that. On the back, the device has an XLR port and two USB-C ports, which, combined with a little bit of software, is where the magic happens.

BEACN Studio is a Great New Interface for XLR Mics

Like the BEACN Mic, the BEACN Studio does the onboard processing for any connected XLR mic and also acts as a preamp offering up to 69 dB of ultra-low-noise gain for mics that might need it, or it can also deliver 48 volts of phantom power. It’s clear that BEACN knows the Shure SM7b is a popular choice among content creators, and so its designers have kept the mic in mind. There are other XLR mics that require a preamp, but there’s no denying the popularity of the Shure SM7b, even as Shure has introduced a new SM7dB model that comes with a built-in preamp.

You don’t have to use an XLR mic with the BEACN Studio. Any USB mic connected to your main PC will be recognized by the BEACN App.

But chances are, if you have an SM7b then you already have a preamp, and even if that’s the case, that’s not all BEACN Studio can offer. It also has two USB-C Bidirectional ports, one for your streaming PC and one for any connected device like a PS5, Xbox Series X, Switch, or a second PC. You could even connect to a USB-C port on a phone.

This is a huge plus for content creators (or PC gamers) who use a dual-PC setup. With the BEACN Studio and the BEACN app, you can simultaneously route your mic audio to one PC for OBS and another PC for in-game chat, or route console audio to its own discrete channel. You can send all of the audio outputs on your streaming PC to your input on your Xbox Series X, so your party chat members can hear your voice, your music, and anything else. There is a ton of possibility in those two USB-C ports, and for a lot of content creators, there’s now a simpler way of managing their audio sources. You will still need a video capture solution like an elgato 4K X or an AVerMedia Live Gamer Ultra 2.1, but for audio, the BEACN Studio has that covered.

Dual PC Setups Will Get a Lot Out of BEACN Studio

I’ve used a two PC setup for creating videos and streaming, and while I have tried to simplify that process as much as possible, it still gets pretty complicated. Cables, splitters, and mixer software get the job done, but BEACN Studio has made everything more streamlined. The BEACN Studio app also gives you full control over the routing of those various audio sources and controlling their volume.

Impressively, you can use the BEACN App on your first PC to assign individual apps from the second PC to unique channels. So, you can have Discord audio, game audio, and even music set to discrete channels (up to 4) and control their volume to your own headphones independent of the volume that goes out to your stream/video. I can only imagine how creative people are going to get with this device.

For your XLR mic, the BEACN Studio app has the same options as the BEACN Mix software, which I was also a big fan of. It includes EQ, a Limiter, Compressor, and Noise Suppression, typically with easy-to-understand controls for the average user as well as more granular toggles, dials, and graphs for those who like to really fine-tune their settings.

Other smart touches on the BEACN Studio include a headphone jack for realtime monitoring of all the audio sources you are mixing, and the knob also doubles as a button. You can quickly press it to mute your mic, or press and hold to switch output devices for your personal mix. So if you want to listen to your mix with headphones while streaming but then use speakers for personal gaming, all it takes is a press and hold.

BEACN Studio Overall Impressions

Content creation and audio capture can be as complex or as simple as you want to make it. In most cases, the more complex setups offer better presentation and customization to the creator, but at the higher risk of tech snafus and confusion. BEACN Studio allows you to simplify your setup while keeping the audio presentation quality high, as if it was still complex. And that simplification isn’t done by replacing a single piece of tech but multiple devices. Setups that once needed a preamp, a mixer, a splitter, and more, can now deliver that same high-quality experience with only BEACN Studio.

BEACN Studio is available now for $249.99. Game Rant was provided a unit for this review.