Hercules - Stream 100, Audio Mixer for Content Creators, Streaming and Gaming - Black

The Hercules Stream Audio Mixer reminds me of when I used to DJ, but now much easier and less cable clutter. This little device is very well made to begin with and it looks extremely good. The 4 inch non-touch color screen is very bright and it displays the colors beautifully. Setting it up does not require much, just plug it into your PC using the included USBA to USBC cable and download the Hercules Stream Control software. This Hercules hardware can control audio peripherals, gaming, streaming or audio software that are installed in your PC. A total of 4 channels can be controlled with this mixer and they can be mixed. In the back there’s a power button that also acts as dimmer for the screen. The device itself and the software are very simple to use. Once the control software is installed you can then add whatever audio peripherals, gaming or streaming software into any of the 4 channels by simply drag and drop. There are four volume knobs with double functions, volume and mute when pressed. In addition to the volume knobs there are also 4 numbered buttons that can be customized as well. The Stream Control software will let you customize the display VU meter, icons, background and custom labels. You can also upload your own background and icons as well. Some of the audio software like Steam and Discord will display their respective icons which is pretty cool. If you want to have a little fun you can even change your voice with the VoiceMod option. If you are into gaming, streaming or not even, but you’re trying to make things easier when dealing with multiple audio devices and not interacting within the computer settings, this audio mixer will do the trick. I was able to take full advantage of this without reading the instructions. Overall the simplicity of use, customization and what this mixer is capable of, is a keeper. Its small form factor will not take a lot of space in your computer desk. With its bright and vivid color screen it will make a great addition to display your favorite background in your work space. In the box you get the audio mixer, USB cable, quick guide and a sticker.

This stream deck and audio mixer is honestly one of the better accessories I have added to my streaming gear arsenal. It is highly versatile, customizable for my purposes, and comes in at an excellent price that is perfect for an aspiring streamer who doesn’t want to spend too much money out the gate on something they aren’t sure they need. It is due for some optimization in the firmware, but I am confident that will come with time. This Hercules Stream 100 is perfect for non-XLR, USB mic users like me who need a simple, physical interface for controlling the mix of audio in their computer and the ability to have some handy quick launch buttons for things like specific websites or actions like “push to mute” for their microphone. This audio mixer is really simple to set up with just one single USB-C to USB-A cable included to plug into your computer. From there, you download the software from the Hercules website. I will fully admit that I am not a fully optimized streamer with my audio. I use a simple Wireless Headset/Mic combo, and I usually only have a few things running in my streams like my game, Spotify, and Discord for communication. Thus, when I saw how intuitive the Hercules Stream Control software was to drag and drop my different programs into custom control slots, I was absolutely thrilled! Being able to have control over my most important audio sources in a stream without having to individually control them via their separate software interfaces or other digital means is amazing. I can turn them up and down with ease on this mixer. Furthermore, I have my three most commonly used websites set for quick launch: My Twitch page, Twitch Stream Manager, and Nightbot. Each can now launch with just the press of a button on my second page of controls on this mixer. There is a small area for improvement. I believe it is related to the current firmware iteration 1.40 at the time of this review. I am having issues with the device going to sleep with my Windows 11 equipped computer but not waking up and being able to be interacted with from time to time. I have to physically unplug the back of the device and then plug it back in for it to work. It's not a huge deal to me, but it’s definitely rather irritating. Overall, I will give this mixer a 5 out of 5 stars. Any trouble I am having is purely software/firmware related and has nothing to do that I can tell with this excellently built and eminently handy audio mixer/streaming device. Thanks for reading and I hope this review has helped you out!

I've been using the Hercules Stream 100 for a few weeks and it's really improved my streaming setup. I’ve always struggled with audio balancing during my videos and streams, but this little device (about the size of a controller) has improved everything a lot. I’ve attached pictures of the different options that I selected that allow me to control the volume of my voice, a music streaming service, and the ability to fast-forward to the next song (this saves me from going into that software and selecting a different song). The setup gave me these options in a drag/drop interface which made it incredibly easy to set up, and it's even easier use. The LCD screen gives you a clear overview of the action/app and my audio levels. The knobs make it easy to adjust settings on the fly. I love the fact that I can easily mute my mic, adjust my game volume, or switch between audio sources in real-time. I would always cringe editing my videos after streaming because the sound was all over the place. I’m too loud, song drowns me out -- people would complain and then I would ask if it sounded better. Those days are now over. Plus, the ability to customize the background display is a fun touch. I don’t know how often I’ll use it, but it’s pretty cool. I'd highly recommend the Hercules Stream 100 to any streamer looking to improve their audio quality. It's made my streaming experience much more enjoyable.

– OVERVIEW – The Hercules Stream 100 is an audio controller that is rather easy to use in both real-time sound settings as well as set up using the Hercules App on Windows. It’s essentially a way to control various sound settings without having to mess around in the OS to change specific volume levels or mute a particular app. It allows for multiple settings with respect to how many peripherals and/or apps that are supported by the Stream 100. – LOOK/FEEL – The Stream 100 has a fairly large 4.3” LCD TFT display that is very bright, 4 encoders and 4 action buttons. On the rear, there is an on/off button to toggle the screen on and off when not in use. The encoders and action buttons are physical buttons, and the encoder rotation offers some resistance but does not give a clicky feel as you turn it. Construction is all plastic on the outside. The LCD screen is not a touchscreen. – SETUP – Firstly, the Hercules Steam 100 requires an available USB-A port; it comes with a USB-A to USB-C cable and the “C” side connects to the back of the controller. Setup is done using the Hercules Stream Control App, where you can set up all your peripherals as well as any specific shortcuts you’re interested in. Hercules uses the drag-and-drop approach to setup, where you’ll see a picture representation of your Stream 100; you simply drag over a specific area on the picture and it will highlight where you are making a change to the behavior of the audio controller. Pretty simple. If you have more than 4 things to control…where there is a solution called pages. This will allow you to page through different settings. Now here’s the kicker: you cannot page through your settings unless you dedicate an action button to page next or previous. So that means you’ll lose a button just for that reason. Now you don’t have to do this, but you’ll have to use the Stream Control App to manually switch pages. Who knows, maybe you have a setup for play…and a setup for work, mutually exclusive. Other things that you can do is change the look-and-feel of the audio controller display. This does not affect the performance, but only helps to make things more visible or to your liking. – PERFORMANCE – I found myself using the Stream 100 immediately after I completed my setup. I am a weekend warrior when it comes to gaming, and playing with friends is not complicated as I now have control over various volumes such as my mic, Steam and volume overall. But where I found this surprisingly useful is during work use. I do find myself in meetings quite a bit and getting volumes dialed in for work is amazing, and even more amazing is muting with the touch of a button. It’s so convenient to have and has found a permanent home on my PC setup. – GOTCHAS — In the Stream Control App, I did find that certain apps like the Edge browser (I know, who uses Edge nowadays?) was not a selectable item; but my point is, this is not the Stream 100’s fault as it is only keying off what is controllable within Windows. So don’t get upset with Hercules if you can’t get fine control on certain apps. It’s probably a Windows setup thing. – CONCLUSION – It’s my first audio controller for a PC and I'm surprised I've gone this long without one. I can see the appeal for streamers and the like, but don’t count out us weekend warriors as we can definitely use a device like this as part of our system. Pricewise, the Hercules Stream 100 doesn’t really break the bank, in my opinion for the convenience of a dedicated audio controller. It comes with a 2-Year warranty.

Even though I've been a video content creator for a few years now, I'm still figuring things out. For example, up until recently I've been focusing on the video aspect and completely ignoring the audio side of things. Turns out, having quality audio is just as important as having good video quality. So I went out and got a quality mic, but soon discovered there's more to it that I wasn't aware of. That's where this Hercules Audio Controller comes in. I'll be honest, when the opportunity came to get it, I hesitated because I didn't really know what it was about or if I even needed it. I'll tell you now that I did in fact need it. I'm constantly trying to improve on my content and expand on it at the same time. One of the ways I've been wanting to expand is by getting into more gaming content as well as hosting live streams. One of my first attempts at gaming content didn't come out very well. The premise of what I'm trying to do involves being able to listen to game audio as well as adding my own commentary, but I found that it became an unlistenable mess with my voice competing with game audio. Then I plugged in and setup this audio controller and wow, I truly didn't know what I was missing. The audio controller gave me the ability to quickly and easily manage the different audio streams. I was able to turn down or mute the game audio instantly when I needed to interject, and vice versa. This has opened up my mind to new possibilities and I can see now how this will help with live streams as well. It's managed to get me even more excited about putting out more variety of content now. Another concern of mine when I first got this audio controller, was how complicated it would be, especially for someone like me who isn't exactly an expert. Not to mention up until now, I didn't even know this was something I needed. I can assure anyone that finds themselves in a position like mine, don't hesitate in getting this audio controller, it's easier to get setup and going than you would think. All it took was plugging it into my computer and then downloading the software and it was up and running. For setting up the controls, I just watched a quick instructional vid from Hercules, and I do mean quick, as in I probably less than a minute, and was ready to dive in. Hercules did a great job in simplifying this process. Just select the audio source from the menu and drag it where you want it assigned. For actions like 'mute', it was the same thing, select it for whichever source the mute is for, and drag it to one of the buttons. I found this really helpful too, as it allowed my to quickly mute a stream and then un-mute it while keeping the dial in the same position so that when the audio came back in, it remained at the same level I had it previously. To sum up, if you're into content creation, streaming, gaming, or honestly even just a multi-tasker who works at a computer, this audio controller can be a game changer. Another use I discovered was in fact work-related, where I could easily manage video conferencing meetings and skip the whole fumbling around searching for the mic mute button in the meeting software. Basically, anyone could benefit from having an audio controller. So don't be like me and hesitate if you're on the fence, getting this audio controller was one of the better decisions I made, both for myself and my careers.