Having recently done my own basement testing with (Mackie) solid state pre's and a modest starved plate tube pre (not a hi voltage pre like the Brick, darn it!), I have to say that Richard is, once again, right on the money.
I like the sound of the tube pre exactly because of that tiny bit of distortion it lets me mix in to the signal. But it is noisy. It's useful in mixes where the sound is full and loud and fast and the noise floor will not be heard. It really made my guitar cab mics come alive. The RE20 loves it! I suspect the RE20 and the 414 would absolutely shine thru a Groove Tubes hi voltage pre!
But for music where I need dead silence, like a solo
acoustic guitar or a soft solo vocal, the tube pre I have is too noisy. I switch over to the solid state pre and it is extremely quiet, even with extra gain.......but.....I dont like it because it makes me work harder to get a sound I can live with, because it is more honest, more accurate, and ergo less forgiving.
