I think I may have been confusing here… the pres are quiet, so you can take advantage of the dynamics on offer - I just suggested the careful gain-leveling as a way to ensure that levels were good and loud to minimize the effect of the level reduction when that signal is piped back down USB to the mixer. I haven’t had any trouble with excess noise - no more than from any other modern analogue device. Certainly not 90s-era, thank goodness. What makes it feel a bit screwy is that the gain knobs have a weird curve. That isn’t to say that the gain is weak - but you might have to crank the knob more than you’d expect to get the levels you want. Rest assured, though, there is plenty of gain for anything you throw at it. I used a ribbon mic to track a mountain dulcimer - a very delicate, quiet instrument - and was able to capture the sound very nicely with the MTK’s pre-amp.