DR680 or R44 and all i have ever used is cool edit or now adobe 3.0.....multitrack.....I record in mono always. except if go digital in on 7/8 as not sure it will record in mono. r44 will do mono on all......to me much easier in mono to do what ever is needed. I can add level and pan as needed. much easier than doing it stereo wise. i can address how i used to do it if needed... and for fests track splits are few and far between for mono tracks. my .02 if clocked on same recorder
1 drop files into adobe
2 go to multi track
3 drop sources there and align to compensate for delays, pan as needed and tweak levels. harder in stereo IMO
4 play it in many spots checking peaks and sound, there is a button on top of each track to flip phase, this can often tell if something is a muck. i seldom do have to leave it inverted
5 now if one show edit>mixdown to new file in stereo>i belive you have to main up to 3 if mixing stereo sources to keep same levels, mono no need, periodically i might tweak a track eq but....
6 now stereo source mixed>if happy with all level outcomes
07 now listen and edit if needed, I do on occassion add levels to low level sources by highlight area and use envelope process to cause hopefully no noticable level changes as i have saved abunch with fades in and out there so...
08 once right track in cdwav
i showed chomps once at the house and think he uses it since then...time makes it easier to do. i almost always get it right the first time when mixing
i mostly tape wormtown fest these days, many results here https://archive.org/bookmarks/heynow1
I use almost the exact same routine, except if I'm running stereo pairs of mics on a stand, I do like keeping my stereo pairs linked because I do usually apply a number of edits to my recordings before doing the final mixdown (mainly EQ and level matching/normalization between and within tracks). I've recorded mono tracks as well, but for example if I get interrupted and have to leave for awhile, I'll forget that I put an EQ filter on one track and not its mate. Or say I'm working on a specific track and do a number of things to that track. Sometimes I'll forget all of the edits to apply to the matching track. When I keep the stereo pairs linked, most of my edits get applied at the same time to both tracks in a pair.
It's just my personal preference. I'm not saying my way is better, but just pointing out the main reason I do it this way.