I depends where the master fader is... with 32bit floating point mixers there is tons of headroom.
The only place where a hot signal is a problem is on the master Buss as that is where the DAC is happening and where going over 0db is a real problem.
As for gainstaging on a channel basis it’s really a mater of taste/creativity and knowing your plugins.
E.g. If I’m looking a thicker sound on a bass I might push high gains in to a plugin I know has well moddled analog signal path. Like one of the UAD channel strips.
Some plugins won’t handle high gain going in so you do have to be carful. It just a depends what you are trying to do and what plugins you have.
