** RR REVIEW - ESI's U22 XT USB 2.0 Audio Interface

[Brother Charles]

Hi Gang!
How's it goin', eh? It's your reporter from the great white north here with a brand new review. Although ESI-Audio's inexpensive "U22 XT" 2.0 USB audio-interface was released in 2016, there hasn't actually been a whole lot of press circulated regarding it. As a matter of fact, here in Canada (and USA) not a lot of folks are familiar with the brand name.

If you have a couple of minutes to spare, feel free to drop by the reviewer's lounge to check out the new article I've published.



ESI U22 XT Review – Affordable USB 2.0 Audio Interface - Big Quality, Small Cost!

[Danilo Villanova]

Anybody got an opinion of these on 2023? They're half price where I live but can't find much info. Reviews about their PCI cards are really good though, on pair with RME. I think I might just bite the bullet. Drivers seem to be updated twice a year with last version being last year.

[Brother Charles]

Hi Danilo,

The U22XT is a dandy, entry-level USB audio interface. It works reliably and is USB class compliant. The drivers are generally fast and reliable. It’s nowhere near as good as the bigger “Prosumer” ESI audio interfaces though.

I still use my ESI-Audio U168XT for recording vocals when I need to use my laptop. I’m unable to record vocals using my main desktop system (Thunderbolt, PreSonus Quantum 2) because the room is totally not set up for that task. So, upstairs in our guest bedroom/storage room, makes for a very good dampened “vocal booth”. I use my laptop with either the U86Xt or the U168Xt connected via USB. The pre amps are good and clean; they have plenty of gain and above-average onboard phantom (quiet) power for condenser mics. ESI’s drivers are the fastest USB drivers you can use, except for the uber expensive RME variety, such as the “Babyface” and similar RME audio interfaces.

ESI’s older generation of PCIe audio interfaces were apparently very good. I haven’t had an opportunity to try out the previous generations, but, I do have a Maya 44ex. The card doesn’t glitch or suffer from pops n’ crackles, but the return time latency is not great. The Maya 44EX’s audio quality is NOT as good as the USB powered U86XT or U168XT - it’s closer to the audio quality of the U22XT.

Owing to its USB Class compliant chipset and design, I use my U22XT on my Linux computer. It works perfectly, but the sound quality is not as good as my more expensive audio interfaces. However, for the price, it’s really hard to beat!

Anybody got an opinion of these on 2023? They're half price where I live but can't find much info. Reviews about their PCI cards are really good though, on pair with RME. I think I might just bite the bullet. Drivers seem to be updated twice a year with last version being last year.

[Danilo Villanova]

Thanks for the detailed response, Brother Charles!

I'm actually starting to earn money from music so I'm thinking I should take my iTrack Solo dying as an opportunity to upgrade to something with a better sound.

I record mostly DI guitar and bass, vocals, and mic'ed acoustic guitar. I'm looking at those Audients and the Arturia AudioFuse, which I could trade a guitar in for to cover half the cost.

They both seem to have really nice sounding preamps. Another option would be a Presonus 24c or 26c which would be a bit cheaper than the other ones but I don't know how the preamps or converters compare...

Sound, latency and driver stability are all concerns.

[Tj Shredder]

I still use my good old QuataFire from Esi. I hope they will build a successor with USb-C and a USB-A Hub instead of the Midi ports. UC-48 would be the name, 4 inputs 8 outputs and 3 USB ports in 1/3 rack space. There is nothing like it in that size on the market…
I often play to 8 speakers. Thus I need lots of outputs. Esi has that Gigaport interface with just 8 outputs. Its extremely small as well…
They certainly have the traveling backpacker musician in mind…