I wonder if the preamp and/or AD is any different than the UA-5 ?
I was fortunate enough to be on the Edirol developer list for the ua5, and was able to get one a few months before they were released for retail sales. I've emailed Edirol with the same request (to beat on one for review and to get it early and cheap!), so we'll see. Maybe i'll get lucky again.
if its just the same as the ua-5, then I dont need a different box that costs 2x as much just for firewire output and toslink jacks on the front.
though, the meetering feature would be an added benefit.