Hi Mario,
Thanks again for your comments. Sometime, I would like to talk to you about your experience with SONAR X1C, but that probably belongs on another forum. I have to be careful here that I don't evolve this thread into a tips and tricks thread but I do find it interesting on the differences in processes for mixing and mastering. I am going to try what you suggested. I tried to "mix and master" in one step. I also ran my master bus through the following chain 10 band EQ-MB compresser_stereo imager-limiter. With each stage I tried not to exceed 0db (peak) to the next stage. The limiter would attenuate up to 3db. After mixing down, I used sound forge to "normalize" to -12db RMS. I may search through the threads to see everyone's techniques that way. For now, I will mix down to a single stereo track as you suggested.
Thanks again and Happy Thanksgiving.
Rod M