I think there used to be a box to check when rendering like "merge output with audio". Don't see that anymore...am giving up on that route for now.

I did find a workaround using your daw idea, but i used Audacity, which is free, then I had to add an extra cable from the output of my midi/audio interface (roland ua-25ex) back to my computer so that the computer is now recording both midi and realtracks in real time.

The ua-25ex is the "play" sound card as before, but my computer is now set to the "record" sound card.

Thanks for the idea.