Ok, ok. I’m just teasing – God bless the younger folks who want to get into recording and music producing – we all had to start somewhere. As a matter of fact, yours truly was only 13 years of age when I “bounced” my first three mono tracks down to a single track; making room for three more ‘live’ tracks on my father’s Phillips 4-track reel-to-reel recorder (circa 1973). For those of you whom are of the millennial generation or even younger - the iGen youngsters - you are seriously more blessed than you might realize. Old guys like me didn’t have nifty contraptions such as: snappy i5 or i7 laptops, multi-track DAW software, and portable audio interfaces when we started out. If I would've had access to a decent laptop, a good-sounding, low latency audio-interface and a FREE bundled starter DAW, I’d have been totally stoked!

Well guess what? This article is devoted to just such a scenario.

ESI’s entry point USB 2.0 audio-interface is prime example of when NOT to judge a book by its orange-y/copper cover. This tidy-looking little box is equally at home in both MAC and Windows setups and like most devices in its class; it features 2-In/2-Out I/O. Expected appointments, such as 48v phantom power and Mic/Line/Instrument connectivity, are at the ready. This sound card delivers an acceptable bit depth and sampling rate, coming in at a maximum of 24bit/96 KHz.
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I’m excited to bring this investigative report to you. I admit that I get a little extra bit stoked when an opportunity is presented to bench-test a new piece of hardware. This is certainly one of those times. ESI is not especially well known here in Canada, or anywhere North America for that matter, but I was highly intrigued when the U168 XT press release came across my desk.

Have you seen the ESI press release on Reviewer’s News? U168 XT Press Release

As it turns out, German technology builders, ESI, have decided to enter the North American audio interface fray. I’m honored that Reviewer’s Revival is one of the original six entities to have received a demo unit.

At 24 bit/96kHz, there is plenty of audio resolution on tap to produce über quality recordings, but since this is a USB 2.0 device, and thus limited to USB 2.0 transfer rates, it won’t take you into the stratospheric 192+ kHz range. I suspect that if you’re using a system powerful enough to handle the incredible amounts of data storage, and CPU capacity, that ultra high resolutions demand, you’re probably using a $3000 “Antelope” HDX interface and Pro Tools HD – in an elite LA Mastering studio. *Wink.

The U168 XT is an upper mid-class prosumer peripheral -- compatible with both MAC and Windows PCs. ALL the boxes are ticked with big, bold check marks: build-quality, features, speed, performance, I/O, sound quality and useful appointments. We must keep things “on-the-level”; I have a few shards of neutralizing commentary to share, but for the most part, I’m very impressed with the U168 XT.