This little box works great when used from balanced in to balanced out. When going from unbalanced in to balanced out, I experienced some quality loss, but only on certain loud numbers / passages. I guess it is not expected for a passive pre in this price range to be able to balance an unbalanced source. Unbalanced in to unbalanced out worked great too. The only case I didn’t try was balanced in to unbalanced out. As a curious person I opened my unit and saw that the potentiometer has printed C20K, I guess it is actually a 20K potentiometer? Anyway, it sounds great and the price is great