FWIW, in my early DAT days (and pre-Neumann days), I used to run my cm300s into my old Sony D5 for it's pre and send the analog line out to my Sony D7...I just liked the sound of the D5 better than straight to the D7, as well as giving me L/R level control I didn't have with the D7...and of course since I wasn't actually running the cassette deck, anlaog generations were a non-issue. I realize it's not very germane here but this discussion made me think of that - I always liked the sound of the 300s and the D5. Matter of fact I'd consider dusting off the D5 to do this again if/when I dusted off the 300s...too much gear collecting dust I guess.