OK, the other discussion is a little long and out of control, so I will start a new one. What do you guys think of this for a solution to the issues around the number of busses, sends and inserts? Instead of making the mixer and master section ever more complex, how about creating a sub-mixer to add flexiblity instead? Here is a simple, quick mock-up to illustrate what I mean:
As you can see, it is quite small and could easily accommodate more sends and inserts, this is just a quick mock-up to give you some idea of what I am talking about. Think of it as working like DrumRack; you add it to your project and it creates a stereo strip in the main mixer, like any instrument would. Then you add instruments to it in exactly the same way you add insert effects. i.e. a right-click menu where you can select an existing instrument or load a new one into each slot. You can add and remove channels from it, just like DrumRack, and you can use as many of them as you like in a project.
I see several advantages to working in this way. First, it could modularise your workflow and keep the size of the main mixer more under control. Imagine a Mixer that was just 4 or 5 strips, each pointing to a sub-mixer, one for drums, one for bass, another for pads, etc. No more scrolling the Mixer across to find the channel you need. If you could save presets for sub-mixers, you could also quickly load up an ensemble of, say, your favourite combination of drums from DrumRack, Tomcat and EKS-9, all in one convenient sub-mixer, with the appropriate effects already in place.
The big advantage though, is that you only need to add complexity when you need to, so you are not forced to work with a more cluttered and ever-harder to decipher Mixer and Master Section all the time.
OK, there are also disadvantages when compared to busses but there will still be 4 busses when you need them. Sub-mixers would just be another tool to relieve the pressure on those 4 busses.
So, whaadya reckon, does this solve all your problems? I can't see any real downsides myself and, unlike more busses, I can see some uses for this in my own workflow.