Yes, we really need a way to send a variety of things to an alternate output path, PRE FX.
The ultimate would be sending clips to an alternate output without any clip/track/montage/master section so we can A/B the before and after on our monitor controller/mastering console. Ability to do this with montage tracks and other things would also be welcomed.
This is a significant reason why I prefer to use REAPER for my initial processing via plugins and analog gear. It can do pretty much all of this.