All this recent psp2 talk has me wanting to run mine, at a show that is coming up Soon. But I'm in a somewhat similar situation with overload concerns - running into an r09. And this is an unfamiliar venue, where I don't know what the levels will be, and checking is not advised.
This combo has gotten me into trouble with levels in the past. It's a pretty awful feeling once the show has started, then realizing you're in a world of hurt on levels! And you left other pre-amps, that would not have caused a problem, at home.
It's true - the best sounding pre-amp is the one that does not overload your recorder
The m10 can take a hotter signal... It would be really useful if some m10 owners could explore what happens to the m10 recording quality when the "gain" is turned down to the lowest settings, and it is fed a very hot signal.
The psp2 should be able to be run with quiet sources without attenuators.. Though I do wonder how much the sound character suffers if you don't drive the input transformers with sufficient gusto (is "gusto" from french? I think so).
I've always thought the min gain of the pre was closer to 25 db, not 20. But I never measured it. The mic input sensitivity function, and exactly what it does, has always been a bit of a mystery.
I got my psp2 right around the time I sold my 722. And I immediately missed the pro-level input capability of the 7xx . Losing it impacted my ability and desire to run the psp2, especially after initial problems with the hot output.
I've always been averse to attenuators, though I do have a -20 (I think I'd prefer a -5, and a -10). I'm averse to that -20 because it isn't impedance matched to this gear, and I always felt non-attenuated preamps would sound better. Nevermind that many recorders have internal attenuators that we don't specifically know about.
The minijack output on the psp2 is hot.. I don't think there is any way it could be -10. But I'll try and check if I get it cabled right.