Questions on Handling Multi-Channel Audio

Hi there,
I'm an Editor at a news shop that has been running FCP 7.0.3 for a good length of time now. Everyone loves it, I love it - however I understand it is becoming dated and eventually we will need to upgrade to a new NLE if we want to stay up to par with latest codec support for new cameras and simple process enhancements (64bit, background rendering, etc.)
FCPX is one of several options we're trying out, and I have been toying around with the Trial version, seeing the workflow, cutting VO/SOTs and Packages on it.
The 'new' workflow does not bother me at all, I think there are a lot of enhancements that come with X, despite it seeming foreign to the FCP7 loyalists like myself. However, one thing I'm not quite sold on (or understanding of) yet is multichannel audio. So I'd like to ask a few questions regarding that if anyone would be willing to loan some tips. As a preface here's how we handle audio:
Ch1 - Wireless audio (stick mic, lav)
Ch2 - Shotgun mic (usually for natural sound)
Ch 3 / 4 - Usually copies of 1/2 but at Auto volume.
1.) Is there a quicker way to make detached / split audio channels a default state?
- I understand that I can take a clip and detach the audio, and then after that, take it one step further and expand the tracks to see all 4 audio tracks on the timeline. However, that doesn't seem like a very efficient way to go about viewing all 4 tracks (or at the very least the 2 main tracks) if I need to select all and take 2 actions to see them.
2.) What is the best way to 'bring in' only the channels I want to the timeline?
- Right now the best method I've found has been to select the clip in the browser, deselect the Audio channels I don't want in the inspector, and then make the necessary edit. Maybe in theory I could Select All clips in browser and globally change active tracks? I equate this to disconnecting A/V tracks in FCP7. Is this the best way to handle this?
3.) Is there a way to designate channels for export?
- Since there aren't really any 'tracks' in FCPX, it's hard for me to understand what audio goes where on the way out. Usually on our exports, Ch 1 will be dialogue (reporter track, sound bytes, etc.) and Ch 2 will be nat sound. This makes it easy for editors to re-cut from previously edited elements. How do I even go about assigning this? Do channels keep their position (ie. if I dropped in Ch 2 audio from the camera, does that simply NEED to export to Ch 2 on the output?)
That's about it - although if anyone is particularly passionate about the subject I'd also ask what they think about how all of this - if this is an audio workflow that when learned, can be better... OR if you feel it is a step backwards from other NLEs like FCP7, Avid, etc.
I would appreciate any and all answers regarding this. Thanks for your time!

1. Not a great fan of detaching audio except in multicam clips. Generally I'd suggest using the expand audio components function to access the channels.
2. Yes. Switch off the auto tracks in the browser and only turn them back on for the clips you need in the project. With expanded audio components, if you turn the channels back on they will reappear in the timeline.
3. You use roles for this. I know time is tight for news, but taking a few moments to assign roles to the clips in the borwser, which you can do in globally, will allow you to export with separate tracks.

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