TexRoadkill said:
How does it compare to the Grace?
I've never compared them head-to-head on anything. But indirectly, I've compared them both to Mackies. And to me, they both have that "better-than-mackie" sound, if that means anything.

When I borrowed the Grace briefly, I kind of got depressed that I had to give it back. But now, I wouldn't want to give up my d.i. port, either, come to think of it.
If your sound card has codecs or any of the other pre-akm converters, or if you're using a portable multitrack recorder with a digital input, then I would go out on a limb and say you will get more out of the d.i. port than you would with the Grace, because the akm converters will be an improvement.
Strictly in terms of the preamp alone, the Grace is in a different class, I'll admit. If you record mostly with condensers, then I think you'd be just as happy with either. If you play around at all with ribbons or dynamic mics, you'll really like the way the Grace compliments them. Particularly dynamic mics like the sm7, sm57s and 58s. There is a definite difference there. I'm not sure if a mindprint is an ideal choice for dynamics, and I am guessing it would suck on ribbons because of it's high impedence.