Ears are "EVERYTHING". When I bring BIAB tracks to my DAW, I bring them in flat not concerned about whether they've been compressed or how much. I listen to all the tracks needed to create my song arrangement after having auditioned each one to insure the mix is good. Then I set levels, but I use my track gain, not my faders to achieve a combined DB that will not interfere with headroom. I watch my fader levels I set at -12db on each instrument, when I brought them in, and if there is a big enough jump above -12db in various parts, then I use my DAW compressor to tame the jumps within each track.

When all that's done, I begin listening how to improve the sound of each instrument with EQ, Reverb, Amplification maybe, and Pitch correction if needed.

I then bring in Melodyne and make adjustments that way if necessary.

Next step, Link all my channels and raise their level to 0 and turn the output on my audio interface down. Now I can hear what instruments do not sit well in the mix, and do what I need to do to correct that and if the correction caused the Main Fader DB get below 0, I raise the level on the linked faders again to 0, grab my limiter on the inserts tab and select Kill the Transients.

Then I mix down and give it a listen. If I need more instruments, I go back to biab, replace original instruments with those I need and solo them transport back to my DAW.

I don't use Realband, because it doesn't and can't accomplish what my DAW does.