Well, coming from a built in audio interface preamp from RME Babyface, the difference is mostly in the interaction with the device, being able to adjust the trim, gain, silk (which is subtle) and HPF without looking at the screen, helps one concentrate solely on the sound. To my ears the sound difference was not really huge as both preamps are clean. I really love the HPF on this device, works really well as you can get rid of some low end before recording. Not bad for the money.