1. Yes. You can set the Dante card sample rate in Dante Controller. The card will handle sample rate conversion to/from 96kHz.
2. The Direct Out source point is global for all channels. However, if this is set to post processing for the ME outputs, there are two other methods of recording that don’t rely on Direct Outs and would achieve what you need:
– You can use tielines to patch input sockets directly to Dante / Pro Tools. These will only be affected by the analogue gain and not any channel processing.
– You can you use the ‘Record Send’ function in the Virtual Soundcheck screen. This will also take the signal straight after the preamps, but following the order of the channels (instead of the sockets), so it’s often preferred for multitrack recording and/or virtual soundcheck applications.