Can I sidechain a compressor using a FabFilter plugin?

Does anyone know? I know that the stock plugins in Cubase Elements don’t have a side-chain fuction. However, there is a side-chain function in the FabFilter Pro-C compressor plugin. I tried adding the Pro-C to my guitar track, for instance, and then went to the sends for my kick drum and tried routing it to that compressor but it doesn’t show up in the list.

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Anyone?

I remember I had to do this before I got Cubase 6 Pro. I really can’t remember how to do it off the top of my head - am at work just now but I wrote a stickie in my studio on the procedure. You can either wait til I get home OR search google - “using Pro-C for sidechain”. I can vouch that it definitely works - and works well, if a little convoluted.

Yeah I’d love to know how you figured it out. I tried doing a Google search and I could find anything that helped. Supposedly there is a button inside the Pro-C plugin that allows you to select the track to trigger the compressor but it doesn’t show up when I open the plugin.

Sorry I have taken a while for this. Totally forgot. Anyways, you didn’t look very hard! This is the first entry when “Fab Filter Pro C Sidechain” is keyed into google!

I read that exact link yesterday. It doesn’t help me because I’m using Cubase Elements, so when I open up the Pro-C plugin, there is no “sidechain button next to the R/W buttons.”

Yes, I see. Well, I looked through my notes and here we are:

Setting up Sidechain Using Pro-C

  1. Add group channed track using the quadro configuration
  2. Name the group channel “Sidechain”
  3. Bring up VST connections window (F4)
  4. Right-click on “Sidechain” group channel (in the group/fx tab)
  5. In drop down menu, enter “Add child bus…” side menu and select “Stereo”
  6. Do the same again and select “Stereo (Ls Rs)”
  7. Enter “Sidechain” track, and press the “e” button
  8. In “Inserts”, select Fab Filter Pro-C plugin
  9. In Pro-C, press “Expert”, then “Ext”
  10. Select which track to be used as the Sidechain Trigger (usually your kick drum audio track, but can be audio any you wish)
  11. Open audio channel settings for the “trigger” track
  12. In sends, select “Groups” and then “Stereo (Ls Rs)”
  13. Activate the send, select Pre-Fader & set volume to “0”
  14. Choose a track to be sidechained & open the channel settings. In output, route to “Groups”, then “Stereo”. At this point you can now alter Pro-C for the deisred sidechain effect.

I know it seems very long-winded and complicated but it’s not. If I could get it to work, anyone can! I must say though, I am so happy I have Pro 6 now and don’t have to worry about all that malarky!

Good luck, let me know how you get on!

I was having this problem until I found this topic. Created an account only to help people with the solution I found.

Clicked on Tenbob’s link up ahead and noticed this:

  • Open the Mixer. In the main track, click on an empty insert slot and select the VST 3 version of FabFilter Pro-C 2 in the Dynamics menu (note the VST 3 icon which looks like ///).

Then I realized sidechain on VST 2 doesn’t work (for cubase at least) u need to use VST 3. I used and worked like a charm.

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