Clean and uncolored; neutral. But much better than I'd anticipated. They would not be my first choice for critical vocals or "character" tracks..
Mine does double duty. I have it in a four space rack with an Alesis HD-24, which I take out and about to record at various friend's houses. Returning home I use it as an A-D front end for the RME 9652 card in my PC, on which I run Nuendo.
The A-D to my ears, is excellent. Can't afford a head to head comparison to Apogees, though!
The limiters, for me, are crucial, especially for drums. They thicken up nicely if I'm looking for that effect, but mostly they give me security. I never run more than four mics on the drums, and usually three, but the protection is great if the drummer becomes too enthusiastic.
8 pres in a box with limiters lets me record band/rhythm section basics, then import at home and play with the resulting mess to my heart's content. It was a good investment for the way I work.