Crisper, Clearer, Easy to dial that perfect gain structure

At tax time, i wanted to add some nice flavor to my studio. I bought an A-Designs 500-HR rack and (2) 500 series units: a name-brand preamp   and the Five Fish Studios X-12. I used both for various purposes over the next 2 months: upright piano, drums (kick, snare, OH,) guitar, bass guitar...And in the end, I got rid of the name-brand preamp and picked up another X-12, no contest. I found the X-12 to be crisper and clearer, easier to use, easy to dial in the perfect gain structure. That's just my personal take on it. I think the name-brand preamp is great but for my money, it will always be the X-12, no contest. - post on Gearslutz.com