Mackie Routing w/ an EDP..?

[Loaf citious <loafcitious@gmail.com>]

Hey loopers,

I've been thinking of getting a new Mackie board for my loop rig and
to tell the truth, it's not just cause
of preamps/sound.  The VLZ series, I believe 14ch and up have this one
tiny feature that I can't find
on any other mixer, it's that little button that says "fold aux 2 back
to aux one" or something like that, I'm not quoting here..
Anyway,  as one of the more typical setups go, I like to run my EDP
through the one of the aux, usually the first.  And I like to run my
effects through the second. But, what I don't like is running the
output of the effects back into a new channel.
This was ok, when I was mostly focused on studio work. But, now in
this live looping situation, I find the extra gain staging annoying.
I mean, there's already enough to think about, why do I need one more
level of gain...seems like I'm constantly adjusting it.
Thus the Mackie.
So I guess my questions are this:
1. Does anyone route their stuff this way w/ a Mackie? Does that
little button work like a champ....a good experience?
and
2. Does anyone have any alternative ideas besides the two methods listed 
above?

Thanks,
Andy G.