Dynamics or Mixer when writing for playback?

When you're writing for the purpose of playback (as in you're not writing to distribute parts for performance)....do you use the audio mixer in your notation program or notated dynamics (or a mix of both?)?

I find that the ability to use the mixer in conjunction with dynamics allows for more timbre variety at different dynamics....for instance...I can have the timbre of a ff trumpet played back at a quiet volume.

This depends widely on the quality of your samples.

If your samples have an abundance of velocity layers (dynamics), then I would work with those as opposed to trying to boost or cut the volume of the raw audio. The reason is primarily because of tone quality....while you may be able to achieve the timbre of ff trumpets but have them sound p, the fact remains that trumpets playing p do not sound like trumpets playing ff and therefore you will be robbing your mix of an extra layer of realism, which is something I, for one, strive to avoid.

Of course, sometimes this hybrid method can't be avoided — if you need a soloist to punch through the mix, for example, but I would still do my best to remain accurate to the true capabilities of the instrument before making any mixer adjustments to volume.

That's just my two cents. :)

This depends widely on the quality of your samples.

If your samples have an abundance of velocity layers (dynamics), then I would work with those as opposed to trying to boost or cut the volume of the raw audio. The reason is primarily because of tone quality....while you may be able to achieve the timbre of ff trumpets but have them sound p, the fact remains that trumpets playing p do not sound like trumpets playing ff and therefore you will be robbing your mix of an extra layer of realism, which is something I, for one, strive to avoid.

Of course, sometimes this hybrid method can't be avoided

When you're writing for the purpose of playback (as in you're not writing to distribute parts for performance)....do you use the audio mixer in your notation program or notated dynamics (or a mix of both?)?

I use automation far more frequently.

I find that the ability to use the mixer in conjunction with dynamics allows for more timbre variety at different dynamics....for instance...I can have the timbre of a ff trumpet played back at a quiet volume.

I can achieve the same thing by setting the note's velocity to a high level (usually at 110 or over) and keeping the track's volume automation low at the point. In reality, that's really all a notated dynamic is doing it's just a different method of inputting the data. "f" may be 100 while "ff" is 115 and so on. Since I mainly write in Logic or in Pro Tools (occasionally) I tend to use the piano roll much more often than the notation view. I find that I can edit the events much faster that way. Could just be me! ;)