When I'm tracking something that I'm pretty sure I am going to be mixing I tend to not make rash decisions, I mean, during tracking I'll leave a fair amount of options on the table to choose from when it comes to mix. For instance, I'll trk gtr with 3-4 vastly different sounding mics and make the decision about which to use once I'm in a position to hear the song in its entirety. Maybe a part needs to be more aggressive, I'd rather use the 57 than EQ the ribbon. And in many cases you don't know these types of things when you're immersed in tracking, you do what sounds good. At the same time, I'm not saying that commitment isn't important because it is. It makes jobs move faster. If I know for sure that I will not be mixing the project, maybe I'll pair down before sending to mix, maybe I won't. But I know I'd rather receive a mix job with options as opposed to one without. Another engineer friend of mine and I were taking about this, he said, "Shouldn't the thought be to have choices rather than to make compromises?" "Agreed...I think." I said. His girlfriend overheard the conversation and added, "It's 2015, Bruce Jenner is a woman and we can also accept the use of more than 8 trks." "...and though I may never have to, it's good to have options." ~ Bazan