Better recording quality: Hotter signal and preamp or no preamp?

[GuitarMaestro]

For a current project I want to record guitar DI tracks for reamping later (i doubt it will be neccessary - but just in case).

I wonder what will yield a better quality DI track in the end:

1. Going directly from DI-Box to Soundcard input (bypassing any preamp) - this gives me a signal that peaks at arround -10

2. Going through an M-Audio DMP3 and bring the signal close to 0

What will give me better quality? Make full use of the A/D-Converters range or bypassing any preamp thus reducing noise?

 

[Fox Mulder]

I'd bypass the preamp first, then make up my mind about what I wanna use/not use when re-amping.

Much more flexible.