How to record a Yamaha MG XU

Last checked 2026-11-07

Short answer. You can't multitrack an MG XU. Multitrack means every channel on its own track, so you can mix the show again later.

The MG10XU, MG12XU, MG16XU and MG20XU send only their stereo mix over USB: 2 channels, left and right. That gives you one finished recording of what the room heard. You can't remix it later: a vocal that was too quiet stays too quiet. To record every channel, you need a mixer that sends each one, such as Yamaha's newer MGX: see the MGX guide.

Quick start

1. Plug the MG XU's USB port into a computer, or an iPad with Apple's camera adapter. (Ways to record)
2. Set the sample rate in your recording app and record 2 channels. (Recording settings)
3. Listening to the computer while you record? On the MG10XU, set the channel 9/10 switch to TO MON. (Recording settings)
4. Set your mix before the show. You record the mix you hear. (USB routing)
5. Record a 30-second test and play it back before the show (our advice).

Every other mixer is in the mixer recording guides. Words you may not know are in the glossary. Facts come from Yamaha's MG10XU manual and spec sheets unless a line says otherwise. The sources are at the end.

Ways to record an MG XU

To a computer over USB: the stereo mix only

Plug a USB cable from the mixer's USB 2.0 port into the computer. The port is USB type B, the square-ish kind.

• Channels: 2 channels to the computer and 2 back, on all four models.
• What you get: the stereo mix, never the separate channels.
• Driver: Yamaha says it is a standard USB audio device, so a Mac should need no extra software, called a driver (our reading).
• Quality: up to 192 kHz and 24-bit on all four models. It is 16 or 24-bit with no driver on the MG10XU (Yamaha's MG10XU spec).

With no computer

The MG XU records nothing by itself. Yamaha lists no recorder or card slot.

To an iPhone, iPad or Mac with an app

• iPad: Yamaha names the iPad 2 or later, with Apple's camera adapter. It records the stereo mix only.
• iPhone: Yamaha doesn't name any iPhone, and no USB-C iPad: not tested yet.
• Mac: works like any computer above.

The details are in Mac, iPad and iPhone below.

MG XU recording settings

Set the sample rate in your recording app. The mixer has no sample rate setting of its own (our reading). The manual describes none.

• Listening to the computer while you record (MG10XU): set the channel 9/10 LINE / USB switch to USB. Then set its TO MON / TO STO switch to TO MON.
• Why TO MON: Yamaha warns that TO STO can make a loop, with feedback (a loud howl). With TO MON, you hear the computer only in the headphones and MONITOR OUT, not the main speakers, and it isn't recorded.
• TO STO is for playing music from a computer into the mix, for example background music or a stream.
• Computer too loud in the mixer (MG10XU): press the PROGRAM knob five times. Turn it to set -24 dB to 0 dB, then press it again.
• MG12XU, MG16XU and MG20XU: we have only read the MG10XU's manual. Check your model's owner's manual for where the computer's sound comes back into the mixer and how to listen to it.

Only 2 channels? That is all an MG XU sends

• The MG XU sends one stereo mix, never separate channels.
• To mix the show later, with each instrument on its own track, you need a mixer that sends each channel, such as the Yamaha MGX.

MG XU USB routing

There is nothing to route. USB carries the stereo mix, and the STEREO LEVEL knob doesn't change it.

• The stereo mix is the main left and right mix you hear.
• No channel can go to USB on its own.

MG XU playback for virtual soundcheck

A virtual soundcheck plays each recorded channel back through its own fader. The MG XU can't, because it never records separate channels.

• What it can do: play stereo from the computer back into the mixer (channels 9/10 on the MG10XU). You hear the whole mix at once.

MG XU tap points

A tap point is where in the channel the recording is taken: before or after the EQ or the fader. The full story is in Pre or post fader.

• On the MG XU there is nothing to pick: there are no channel recordings to tap.
• The stereo mix: USB carries it, and the STEREO LEVEL knob doesn't change it.

MG XU on Mac, iPad and iPhone

• iPad: Yamaha's brochure names the iPad 2 or later, with Apple's iPad Camera Connection Kit or Lightning to USB Camera Adapter. Stereo only.
• iPhone, or a USB-C iPad: Yamaha doesn't name them: not tested yet.
• Mac: no driver should be needed (our reading). The manual says you may need Yamaha's driver, without naming a system.

ShowRecorder (our app) records every USB Channel from a mixer that needs no extra driver. On an MG XU, that is the 2-channel stereo mix. We haven't tested it with an MG XU yet. For each channel on its own track, see the MGX guide.

Runs on a USB-C iPhone (iPhone 15 or later) on iOS 26, or a USB-C iPad on iPadOS 26. Mac: join the TestFlight beta.

Your mixer not listed, or not tested? Ask us

Sources

Yamaha:

• MG XU series specs page (checked 2026-11-06): "2 IN / 2 OUT", "USB Audio Class 2.0 compliant", "Max 192 kHz, Bit Depth: 24-bit" for all four models.
• MG10XU Owner's Manual (edition B0, published 03/2024), p. 2:
  • "The sound of the stereo bus is output to the computer. (The [STEREO LEVEL] knob does not affect the sound.)"
  • "you may need a dedicated USB driver";
  • the TO MON/TO STO chart and note 2: "a loop may be produced, possibly resulting in feedback";
  • the attenuator.
• MG10XU Technical Specifications (edition B0, published 03/2024), p. 1: 44.1 to 192 kHz; footnote 1, "USB Audio Class2.0: 16 / 24-bit, Yamaha Steinberg USB Driver: 24-bit".
• MG series brochure: "Works with the iPad (2 or later) through the Apple iPad Camera Connection Kit / Lightning to USB Camera Adapter".