Thanks for your replies, fellow AGFers!
Larry - I wanna be better than average, which was why I was thinking about upgrading
But point taken, will I hear the difference with a new preamp, or just convince myself there is coz I've spent all that cash!? I just want to get the best possible results and would spend good money for better results.
Moon, wasn't really thinking about replacing my interface, it's got everything I need and works fine, just thought that a £400 mic pre has got to sound a lot better than the pres on a £250 interface. That Sound Devices interface sure looks, but it's way over my budget (in the UK), and lacks some of the facilities I need in an interface.
Kev - thanks for reading up on the spec. You can bypass the mic pres by using the channel inserts, only drawback is this will be an unbalanced connection between outboard pre and interface. The io26 also has ADAT and s/pdif inputs, which presumably bypass both the preamps and the A/D converter, so any outboard pre with a digital out would do.