The Ui16 is an unproven product, but I took a chance based on some very good reviews. Here is a summary of my purchase experience, and it also pretty much summarizes a 30+ page thread in a very popular online audio forum that has the initials GS:

The Ui16 has great features and functionality at it’s price point. The GUI is great, the EQ, FX and compressors all sound good to my ears, and the AFS is really nice to have.

The preamp noise (hiss) is perfectly fine at less than +30db, which is probably going to be the normal range for most users, but it starts to get noisy over +30db . At +40db or more it gets pretty bad. Turn on phantom power and you will get even more hiss.

I have experienced several hotspot disconnects that have required a full reboot of the mixer in order to reconnect. This includes disconnection of a LAN connected Win7 laptop.

I have had difficulty several times connecting 2 different iPads and an iPhone. A reboot of the mixer was needed, and then they all connected easily.

After updating to the latest firmware (V1.0.4246), it looked as though my connectivity issues were resolved, but after further testing, all the problems continued, if not worse than before.

An email to Soundcraft Tech Support has received no response. I would send the unit back for this reason alone. And no, I’m not the only one that has been ignored by Soundcraft – read the GS thread for yourself.

At the end of the day, a remote connected digital mixer MUST HAVE a reliable WiFi/network connection or really, what’s the point?? It’s like driving a car that could lose the brakes at any time – and it does. There is NO WAY I would use this mixer on a live gig, and in rehearsals it’s been frustrating to get it to connect and stay connected.

Bottom line: I really liked the Ui16 – I gave it 5 stars for the times that it was working correctly, but I had to send mine back. This is a product that has been rushed to market, and it’s just not ready yet. I’m not going to pay them to Beta test their product.