[dingbass]

the setup:
Windows laptop
M-audio firewire 410 (could use a fast track pro)
Winamp

I mix my backing track down to a 5.1 file stereo backing tracks R+L and the click on the centre track.
Pros:
The nice thing about this setup is that it is really stable and i can run the TRS outputs of the 410 straight to XLR's so we don't require di's. Also, there are an additional three tracks for running other backing items. I.E. can have two tracks of keys, a track of vocals, two tracks of guitar and the click (or any other variation of this) all in one file that just plays like a jukebox. Additionally, winamp can play 24/96 files so there is no quality loss.

Cons:
there is a lot of crap to carry and set up. While the system has worked flawlessly i am looking for a system that is more compact.

I had originally attempted to set this up on an old Mac Powerbook i had but was unable to find a program that would play 5.1 wav or 5.1 windows media files so i traded the mac for a nice thinkpad that works brilliantly.