you would benefit more by upgrading from your md
I don't agree at all. I used to run AT853 > batt box > MD. I then bought a Zefiro Inbox. Made a HUGE difference in quality of recording. No matter where I played my test recordings and later show recordings, the Inbox improved the sound of the rig by about 300%. Seriously.
I ended up buying a NJB3 and running AT853> batt box > inbox > NJB3, and didn't notice a whole hell of a lot of difference until I A/B'd recordings on my $10k home hifi. The differences are there, but you have to have the playback rig to hear them.
I surmise that with the equipment I run now, MD would end up being more of a bottleneck... But it's nowhere near the bottleneck everyone seems to think, especially when starting out with a modest rig. ATRAC compression got a whole hell of a lot better from the first MD units (I've owned 4 different iterations, the newer the better in general).
IMO for sure blu66z would benefit from a mic pre/a to d upgrade. Way more than buying a DAT, IMO
That being said, I wouldn't come close to a MD with a 10 foot pole nowadays; not with the NJB3 out for under $300
Flame suit on