[RRuskin]

While it is true that respectable results can be gotten with the current crop of entry level mic preamps and/or the ones built in to audio interfaces, they do not hold a candle to the likes of John Hardy, Great River Electronics, Millenia, and others of that ilk.

You might not be able to discern much of a difference on an acoustic guitar, but you certainly would if dealing with the high-transient sources that a full drum set provides.

I've yet to hear a cheap preamp deliver the clean gain, definition, & headroom of the next level up. And by that I don't mean the sonic tinker toys offering 8 channels for a couple hundred bucks. In addition, the better units offer better pots & switches allowing for more precise gain settings and negating the need to clean and/or exercise them keep them quiet and reliable.

Lastly, one of the reasons many people can't hear any qualitative difference between "margarine" & "high-priced" spread units is because their monitor chains are to put it politely, pretty lame. (OK - They Suck.) A home stereo amp feeding a pair of small speakers with "Studio Monitor" on the name plate just ain't gonna cut it. There's a reason why commercial studios have those big JBL's & high power amplifiers. It's so they can hear what's actually going on.