[richiebee]

A channel strip generally has EQ and possibly a compressor. Maybe a gate, maybe other things too. If you try to fix up things as you're tracking and you record using a compressor or a gate, and to a lesser extend EQ, if you screw up the settings, you can't take them back. If you record a clean signal, with no EQ, no compression, no gate, no reverb, then whatever you decide to try is non-destructive. It won't hurt your original recording. You can get creative, learn what works and what doesn't without destroying a take. It means that when you mix, you concentrate on making things better, rather than trying fix or hide problems that you caused during the tracking stage.

Rich