Mic pre opinions

Hi. I just bought (and love) and RME Fireface 800 and now want to add 8 more mic pres to it. I'm thinking the RME Octamic or the Mackie Onyx 800R. Anybody got any experience with either or both of these units? I've got a Mackie 1402 VLZ mixer and don't think too highly of the mic pres in it (plus, you can't bypass the mic pres when you use the line inputs: just resistored across) so I'm curious about the Onyx series. I live in a pretty remote area so I can't just make a trip to my local music store and check this stuff out myself too soon...input is appreciated.
They are roughly the same price: Mackie comes with more options (and more digital out options, at that), but I'm assuming it's made in China versus the RME being made in Germany. I'm not super-political, but it matters a little to me that somebody is actually getting paid a decent wage and still has a job instead of manufacturing going completely overseas. Oh boy, this thread will have at least two kinds of responses, I'm sure! Let the fun begin.