Instrument Tracks - Any Downsides??

If you want a simple sound

I don't use simple instrument tracks. I like having a track folder with an audio track and a MIDI track inside the folder. It just makes more sense to me structurally and is easier to make changes if needed.

Personally I like instrument tracks. They're not perfect and have their downsides - but nothing that can't be solved by temporarily splitting them, doing what you need to do and joining them again. One example is flipping the stereo interleave button, which for some bizarre reason the Bakers decided to leave off instrument tracks. There are some other documented oddities, like unexpected behavior when cloning an instrument track for instance. 
 
But aside from this, I like the tidiness and convenience of them. They take one lane in your arrangement as opposed to two for an audio/MIDI pair. This makes a huge difference for me in terms of organization. You can have so many more tracks of your arrangement visible at any one time and everything is much tidier. 
 
I'm not sure exactly what isn't accessible on instrument tracks, but most of what you need is contained in the Audio/MIDI tabs of the inspector. For everything else, like I said, it's no bother to just split the track temporarily and access what you need. 

I have started using Simple Instrument Tracks recently. They are convenient if you don't require more than one input & output for a softsynth. However, I wish these two important features weren't missing:

• Stereo Interleave button.
• Input Gain control (although a control labelled as such is displayed, it actually does something else).

Simple Instrument Tracks are also helpful when you're using a control surface. They only take up one channel on the surface and you don't have to switch fader banks as often.
 
Scott

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Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com - SONAR X3 Power! - http://garrigus.com/?SonarX3Power
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I use Kontakt a bunch, and due to its multi-timbral capabilities (I can load up multiple separate instruments into a single Kontakt instance), I just always use separate audio and midi tracks.
 
Track folders help me minimize the extra real estate chewed up by the additional tracks, as well, so it isn't bad.
 
Lastly, for some keyboard sounds, usually an organ, I will often have a separate left and right audio track, and will put a slight delay on one side of the signal, which acts as a really nice widener.  The technique is credited to a German guy from I think the 1930's, but I can never remember his name - I always end up calling him Hasenpfeffer (German for rabbit stew).
 
Bob Bone
 

FWIW I've had SITs not export on a full mix. IIRC it was X2 or X1.
 
I like the folder option especially for drums. I rarely use the mixer inside a drum VSTi.

What Morgan is saying above is an annoyance for some but a convenience for me: I like being able to solo an audio track and know that the MIDI tracks will also be soloed so I don't have to go looking through MIDI folders.
 
Depends on the individual workflow.