Couple of things. The U5 is regarded more highly than the 166XL, however in this application you have to remember that it's signal is just a third or less of the combined output. In this case what the U5 brings to the table is a little warmth. The 160A would have been nice, but the additional spaces at one channel versus two was hard to rationalize. With the U5 I will sometimes bypass the 166XL, and sometimes use it very mildly. I debate with myself from time to time about the need for compression. With three vastly different preamps the dynamics and therefore the mix can vary greatly based on attack. That's not necessarily a bad thing. But discreet compression channels allow you to mitigate that. The U5 being the least aggressive means that it probably has the need for compression the least as well. The second 166XL is always at risk of being eliminated if I find I need another rack U for something, and if I do it will be just the Monique and VT that remain compressed occasionally.
