There are limiters in mic preamps and also in recorders. The main difference simply stated is that limiters in most outboard preamps actually prevent the signal from exceeding a set gain level, to prevent overloading the preamp and distorting. Limiters in most recorders are limiting the signal from overloading the A/D converter by clipping the signal at a set point. The problem with that is the active electronics at the input in front of the limiter can be overloaded and the limiter simply prevents that distorted signal from peaking past a certain point at the A/D. You will find that using the limiter on a recorder like the M10 will throw you off and you'll end up with levels that seem fine, but sound will be distorted on playback. If you used limiting with a high quality preamp,it would limit the signal from distortion at the preamp, and pass a signal to your recorder that will not peak to the point of overloading the recorder input. Bottom line, limiters in recorders are usually not the best thing to use to prevent overloads.