On the Fly Mixing Anyone?

[audiothings]

I've recorded dozens of Indian Music concerts to multitrack. Heavily sweetened, cleaned and edited in post... But I recently found two live concerts I had recorded, direct to Masterlink... They were casual recordings made for a friend... all handheld dynamic mics with switches... the mix was done on a compact analog mixer which I will not name. (Suffice to say its the least reputable name in the business To my surprise, they hold up pretty well to my multitrack mixes, and to my ears (or imagination?) they have a sort of "analog" appeal... like each instrument is full and complete in its own space, but still sounds cohesive with the rest of the ensemble. I'm guessing this is due to the analog summing pre A/D...

I'd like to know... does anybody here prefer to mix direct to stereo at the performance venue? Do you feel it presents any sonic advantages?

Thanks,