One thing I am wondering if this device has a digital converter or does it record well enough to not need one?
Welcome back, Jeff! The newish portable recorders have vastly superior analog inputs and ADCs than the old recorders of past, like the JB3. I would never have run analog-in to the JB3, but loads of people do with the M10 with mighty fine results. There's not much need for dedicated a ADC in the signal chain, anymore...especially for stealth.
For keeping roughly the same setup, your alternatives to the Sax + cables:
- NBox + cables. Still available new, or used in a couple different variations (NBox, NBox+, NBox Platinum I think from oldest to most recent.)
- Tinybox + cables. Fat chance finding this one; made by Jon Stoppable / Naiant here on TS, they're out of production, so you'd have to luck into used one.
I don't have any direct experience with the Tinybox, unfortunately. I prefer the Sax to the original NBox, though I think both sound mighty fine in their own way. I don't know what's changed with the NBox+ and Platinum, but I'm sure they're also excellent options if you wanted to change things up.
Unless you want to swap out the Sax, I'd stick with Mics > Sax > M10.