I really see no need to have a littlebox (or any other pre) in there. The mic inputs on the Edirol and Sony are both excellent sounding. And if you need a quiet input, the M10 is hard to beat. So, there is no point putting an extra pre in there.
I think that assumes too much; it needs to be confirmed with a comp. The above paragraph implies multiple scenarios:
1.
That the M10 sounds as good as other a/d devices when run behind a great pre-amp.
That the M10 is quiet is great, but that is not the same as "excellent sounding". The 7xx a/d is "excellent sounding". Is the m10 *that* good? That would be a nice surprise, but I would not assume so.
Does the r09 a/d sound as good as the 7xx a/d? Having owned and compared both against each other, and against the v3's internal a/d, I'd say no. It sounds good, probably even "very good". Does the m10 sound as good as the r09 when used as an a/d behind a great pre-amp? How about the 7xx? I'd really like to know.
What happens when you turn the m10 down to the lowest gain setting, so it can take a hotter signal? Signal levels like you might get from a psp2, or a v3 simultaneously recording to the internal a/d. Does the m10 distort? How does it sound subjectively?
2.
That the internal gain from "mic input" (m10 or r09) is as good as an external pre.It would be interesting to hear how internal gain from either unit compares to our favorite external pre-amps. My experience (and preferences) have shown time and again that the 7xx sounds better with an external pre-amp. So I'd be very pleasantly surprised if any of the sub $300 handholds does better.
Surely by now someone has a v3+bitbucket, an M10, and an itch to test?