ZeroZero, I can't answer your first question with certainty. But as for the "optimal settings" in your 2nd paragraph, you can normalize the stems or not. I've done one or the other on hundreds of songs and never heard an audible difference. It DOES make a difference with how you adjust volume levels in your DAW, which is where you will want to measure signal strength for your mix.

I use my sound interface's native driver, and my normal BiaB workflow now is to NOT select optimization when exporting stems.


DC Ron
BiaB Audiophile
Presonus Studio One
ASUS I9-12900K DAW, 32 GB RAM
Presonus Faderport 16
Too many guitars (is that a thing?)