You can try using the lower zone mixconsole. It may be right up your alley. I (still) don’t like it but… maybe you will.
BTW… Strange indeed that it worked in CB E 8:
Over the years I have gotten used to the unavailable AOT mixconsole function but, every so often it still bothers me when my mixconsole gets hidden. So I submitted another “feature request” just to see how much feedback it will receive.