I think the Pure Path eq/preamp is supposed to be more like the console. The 9098 stuff...it's ok. It doesn't do a lot for me. We've got a couple of the exact same units you have. The preamp is a little sterile for my taste, but it is one of the quietest preamps we've got, so it we keep it around for occasions where we need something like that.
The eq does have a nice feature set, but it seems to add a weird veil to everything I run through it. I'm also really bummed out about the fact that the high mid band only sweeps up to like 4k. I very often find myself pining for something that goes to 6 or 8k.
Maybe it's my imagination, but the Millenia and Daking units we have sound noticeably better to my ears. Come to think of it, I get more mileage from our console's eq, which has a similar feature set to the 9098.
The word on the street is that the Pure Path units are the ones to have. I've been wanting to try them, but just haven't had the budget.