we did a little test a while ago - we recorded through 4 mic pres, an avalon, a grace, a millenium and a digidesign, all with the same mic and placement. we recorded a cellist, piano, operatic vocals and percussion, and had each musician judge the quality of the recordings. the ranking after adding all the scores was: 1 - grace 2 - millenium (close) 3 - digidesign 4 - avalon it was the grace 101 that we tested. also, the avalon was 5 years old, so maybe needed some sevice. now this was strictly classical recording, so YMMV i'd recommend trying to get your local pro shop to lend you a bunch of pres for a similar test. they will probably be as interested in the results as you are...