thanks for the help guys! i actually have the MTII at work w/me, packaged up, and ready to ship back. Talked to the company i purchased it from last night about it. Getting a refund and will be putting that $ toward the M10 I think. I love my M1 DAT recorders and my MZ-RH10 - should have stuck with Sony from the get-go
in reading over the SD MP-2 literature, does the XLR output and the tape output follow different paths? ie, does the output to the tape output follow the "discreet, six transistor, impedance balanced" path that the XLR outs do? if this is a dumb question, i am sorry, but my knowledge of things electrical stops at wiring lights/outlets. the 1/8" seems to be the way to go feeding any of the recorders i do have (as kirkd mentioned).
as a side note - could someone drop me a PM about methods of mounting these 1280s when trying to not be noticed?
also, for those who have used the 1280s with either a Mixpre or an MP-2 - how long do you get running 48V phantom power with these mics? the literature shows 2 condenser mics, 48-v power, super bright meter intensity, and cranking headphones - Duracell AA batteries last 2hrs. would getting some good rechargeable lithium or NIMH batteries with high mAh capacity gain a considerable amount of operating time? what have some of you used that provided good results?
sorry this has went past just cables and into the pre, recorder, batteries, etc...
thanks again for all the help!