honestly, i know that the preamp is crap. so i'm not into testing how crappy it is.
and i'm also not fond of livingroom tests to try and get a feel for how a unit sounds.
as for battery life.
I shut mine down last night after nearly 5 hours on my Wamlart 5500mAh 9v LiON pack.
and the battery was not even 1/2 way down on the "status lights". so that is good. looks like this thing will be a snap to power.
I'll be running internal battery tests, but I need a new charger as my NiNH charger sucks ass and appears dead. so once that is replaced, then i'll go forward.
but for the mean time, its EASY to power, and does not seem power hungry at all.
I was running w/the light on, phantom on and powering my 140s..fwiw