Disclaimer: I regard absolute colorlessness as the highest goal of a preamp. I am sure that lots of preamps sound great, but I personally judge them by how UNCOLORED they seem.
The DMP2 was about the best bargain on the Planet. It seemed completely
neutral and low noise. It was cheaply built, though. I sold it to keep experimenting.
At one time, I was obsessed with finding an absolutely colorless preamp, so I bought an earthworks LAB102 and a Great River MP2 at the same time. In subsequent A/B tests, I came to the conclusion that the EWKS was the best I have ever heard (still is). The GR sounded "good", but added a little high end "sparkle", almost like the "exciter" effect on some effects boxes. The physics behind the "exciter" effect are too long to go into here. I can see why some people like it, but it was not "natural". I sold the GR and kept the EW
My Behringer MIC2200 sounded quite good, but the parametric equalizer that was built in caused a little noise on extreme settings. I sold it when experimenting. No serious complaints though.
I still have a Mackie 1202 VLZ Pro mixer that I bought specifically for the preamps. It sounds "good" and low noise, but the high frequencies are definitely slightly boosted. This gives a "clean, crisp" sound that some also like, but it is a little cleaner and crisper than reality.
Ironically, although the Mackie does sound good, it sounds the LEAST GOOD of all the preamps I experimented with.
The Audio Buddy is another bargain that really rivals the most expensive in SOUND, but is very cheaply built.
I auditioned a lot of Joe Meek, VMT1, Mindprint, Avalon, etc in stores and dismissed them very quickly because of the very obvious coloration. Here again, they sound "good" if you happen to like them, but they weren't for me. I can't even remember a lot unless you ask about them specifically. Also, except in my studio, where I was able to do direct A/B testing, I know it is very difficult to get a real unbiased test of a preamp, so a lot is just my impression at the time, but I was trying to be as honest with myself as possible.
Here is my opinion: 99% of a recorded sound comes from the microphone. All preamps sound pretty much the same. (BLASPHEMY !) Yes, there is some difference in coloration and noise, but it is subtle compared to the microphone's characteristics. Electronic signal processing technology is WAY beyond microphone technology (the thing that CREATES the signal).
Most of what you pay for in a preamp is solid, reliable case, knobs, good circuit-board construction, etc. The sound difference is a very minor issue. It is long-term reliability that creates the big differences in cost. ....and of course each preamp manufacturer has a marketing-scheme to establish the perceived quality of their product. I am convinced that any high-quality recording could be done with an Audio Buddy (which I still own).....or the Mackies...or any of them actually.
Of course, if you are really going for high quality, you want the highest quality preamp you can afford...but it is mostly driven by insecurity. Spend most of your budget on mikes, and then worry about the writing, performance, and production. Any preamp you can afford will do a good job.
The only preamp I ever listened to that sounded "bad" was the JoeMeek. Here again, it had a "sound" that some people obviously like, but it was the most obviously "colored" preamp I ever heard.
I know this will be disagreed with by some here, but it is just my opinions.
