This is a really good unit. I got this to replace a Steinberg UR44. The sound quality on this is better (more headroom). The latency is much, much better (I don't need to use the direct monitoring on this, but it is there if you need it). The routing options are much better than the steinberg - so, much easier to route from DAW to external hardware FX. It is very solidly built. I assume the other input options (fewer or more inputs/outputs) will be of the same quality. The only thing I would add would be a second headphone out (which the steinberg had), and the Steinberg mixing interface had more options than the ESI one - though,99% of the time the routing, mixing, etc will be done in your DAW, so not an issue.