DMXDesktop

Behringer XR18, X18 and Midas MR18: audio into DMXDesktop

The XR18 and its siblings carry an 18-in, 18-out USB interface, and the desktop editor (X AIR Edit, or M AIR Edit on the MR18) lets you choose what goes out of each USB channel. You can send a music-only mix on USB 1 and 2, which works on Windows with or without ASIO.

This article is part of Connecting a Sound Mixer to DMXDesktop, which covers the shared rules and the problems common to every console.

Models covered

  • Behringer XR18
  • Behringer X18
  • Midas MR18

What you need

  • A USB Type-B cable to the rear USB audio port.
  • On Windows, the X Air USB ASIO driver.
  • The desktop editor, to do the routing: X AIR Edit for the XR18 and X18, or M AIR Edit for the MR18, on Windows, macOS or Linux. The mobile apps lay things out differently.
  • On macOS, nothing extra.

Connect the console

Windows

  1. Install the X Air USB ASIO driver.
  2. Power the mixer on and connect the USB cable.
  3. Open X AIR Edit or M AIR Edit and confirm it connects.
  4. In DMXDesktop, open Settings → Audio and pick the X Air device.

macOS

  1. Connect the mixer by USB.
  2. Confirm it appears in Audio MIDI Setup.
  3. Select it in Settings → Audio.

Fastest setup: the main mix

In X AIR Edit or M AIR Edit:

  1. Open the routing page (In/Out in current versions) and find the USB Sends. Labels differ a little between app versions.
  2. Set USB output 1 to Main L.
  3. Set USB output 2 to Main R.
  4. If the page offers a tap point, choose post-fader so the lighting follows the main mix level.
  5. In DMXDesktop, select channels 1 and 2.

Recommended setup: a music-only bus

  1. Pick a free bus pair, for example Bus 5 and Bus 6, and stereo-link them.
  2. Unmute the pair and set its master to 0 dB.
  3. Send each music channel to the pair at 0 dB, and choose pre-fader or post-fader sends. Keep the sends fully down on speech microphones.
  4. Open the USB Sends.
  5. Set USB output 1 to Bus 5 and USB output 2 to Bus 6.
  6. In DMXDesktop, select channels 1 and 2.
Music channels
players, DJ, live band
Speech mics and talkback
not sent to DMXDesktop
Bus 5 / 6
stereo-linked
USB Sends 1 / 2
In/Out tab
DMXDesktop
channels 1 and 2

Troubleshooting

The editor connects over Wi-Fi but DMXDesktop hears nothing

Control and audio are separate. The USB cable has to be plugged into the machine running DMXDesktop.

The lights react to speech

You are on Main LR. Build the bus pair above.

Still not working

Work through the shared checks in Connecting a Sound Mixer to DMXDesktop, which covers the faults that are not specific to one console. If you need to contact support, have these five things ready, because they resolve most cases immediately:

  1. The exact mixer model.
  2. Your Windows or macOS version.
  3. How the mixer is connected, and which USB port you used.
  4. Which device you picked in Settings → Audio.
  5. Which left and right channel numbers you selected.

For a console with a multichannel USB interface, a screenshot of the mixer's USB output patch is worth more than any log file.