Theoretically the Microtrack should have no impact on a digital file passed to it via s/pdif. Whether the 'quality' of a recorder impacts other aspects of the process is of course dependent both on the device, what an individual's goals are and how they achieve those goals. When the generation of handhelds to which Microtrack belongs first started to appear I reviewed several of the devices and reason Microtrack did not get added to my kit had as much to do with battery and recharge options as anything. Back in the day (PII 300 mHz) I regularly used a casio branded USB (1.x) audio interface whose converters were not much improvement over the laptops onboard but it suppurated s/pdif and I used it for several years to capture a 2 track board mix while using all 8 channels on the hard disc a/d for individual mics. Not a perfect set up but turned out to be less of a pia then trying to integrate mini disc with the HD recorder.