what format..

[DaveDrummer]

what format is best when recording like 14 tracks live, but you need to be able to adjust levels after recording? kindof like a 4-track tape recorder X 4

[Blue Bear Sound]

Some flavour of MDM -- couple of either the Alesis ADATs or the Tascams --- or a hard-disk based multitracks like the HD24....

[sonicpaint]

I don't think you can get a better answer then what BlueBear just suggested.

Good luck!
sonicpaint