This is a great sounding unit.
The saturation goes all the way from subtle to overblown and everything in between.
It's super easy to dial in the right amount of saturation with the stepped gain knobs, and then use the non-stepped output knob to hit your converter (or whatever unit you're plugged into) at the right level.
It's also great for recording matched stereo pairs, or recalling settings.
The high pass filter is very handy to clean the signal and make sure you're not recording any excess noise or rumble.
The tone button is interesting, definitely has an effect on the sound, though it's a bit hard to A/B since it also affects the volume, so you have to record with and without it and level match to decide if you want to record with it or not.
I haven't tried the instrument or line inputs yet, so I can't comment on those, but I expect them to be just as good.
If you're not using them as well, their buttons can serve as a handy mute button.
The unit is impressively heavy, especially for its size, feels high quality.
All of the knobs and buttons feel very sturdy and nice to use.
There's no noise/pops while using it at all.
The way I have it set up now, almost all of the top ventilation holes are blocked by other gear, but to my pleasant surprise, even in this setup after a few hours of use, the unit didn't even get warm.
Now regarding the QC issues, I've read a lot of reviews about this product that mentioned pretty serious QC issues that hurt the functionality of the unit.
My unit functions well, but has some cosmetic issues.
The white buttons on the first channels aren't perfectly aligned, but more importantly, the red gain knob on the second channel is skewed, meaning it always points to the empty spaces between the gain markings rather than the mark itself.
The only reason it even bothers me is because the unit came with a little badge in the box, saying something like "Hand checked and tested by X", and is marketed as proudly hand built.
It's not something I'd return the unit over, but it's disappointing as I expected more at this price point and with this kind of marketing.
Overall great unit, I recommend it for those who are looking for a Neve style preamp, just know it might not be 100% perfect.
