I would define myself as in-between with a slight, maybe more bias towards the old way of doing things, I know that some commercial artists are recorded digital & mixed / tracked through expensive old school mixers & have heard great recordings made this way.
However the finance options for doing this for the home / project recordist are limited, particularly when working in an all digital set-up (AKA mix in the box) which is when the limitations of prosumer digital become apparent, limitations which analog tape masked somewhat at the time. It’s not really surprising that since the digital era started that more attention has been paid to outboard pre amps, EQ & compressors, because with digital there is no forgiveness, & even expensive plug ins will struggle to change this in most cases after tracking.
In the ’80’s to ‘90’s many people worked with a multitrack tape machine synced up with a MIDI sequencer, running keyboards, samplers, drum machines, FX’s ect, all running through an analog mixer. I’ve come to a conclusion that the best option for me is an updated version of the above running with a DAW which is just a updated sequencer in effect with added audio recording. Just use the DAW facilities for extra audio tracks & even transfer tracks over when you run of track space on the multitrack.
In this way for me personally the tape machine is still the most important link in the recording chain, I even turn off the DAW whilst tracking because it is a distraction most of the time unless mixing.
One related thing I would mention is that good sounding outboard gear is important, even a couple of channels worth will do the job on the most important instruments. This is something you have to pay for apart from a few exceptions, most of the prosumer stuff will not match up to the sounds you hear on classic recordings.
However, for the cost of prosumer microphone preamps, equalizers, & especially compressors, you can make your own DIY versions, many of which are of classic designs which you will pay thousands for. I’ve just finished a Stereo Neve Mic Pre clone, Stereo SSL Mixbus compressor, & am working on a 1176 compressor & Stereo Tube Opto Compressor similar to
a LA2-A.
I’ve come to the conclusion that everyone needs at least some outboard gear with audio transformers on board for that larger than life sound & a tube guitar amplifier of course. You can also get away with cheaper mics with better outboard, I’ve really been surprised with dynamic mics used with the Neve Mic pre clone I built, even a T-Bone Ribbon cheapo priced at £50 sounds great, I never even liked a Audio Technica SM58 type mic I’ve had for 20 years until it went through this pre.