Hi Steinberg,
Any chance of improving the sidechain compressors in a future update?
I don’t know if you agree but the general feedback i’ve heard & agree with is that they’re really not up to the mark for good in time pumping etc. As much as you play around with the controls they’re hard to make groove nicely eg Kik & bass.
I’m just hoping one day they will be as good as others 
Regards,
Codsworth
Hi,
You have to turn off the “auto” for “Make- Up” and turn “Make- Up” all the way down. Also the “auto” for release has to be turned off. If you dont do that you wont be able to get that pumping effect.
Also you need very low threshold and high ratio.
I attached a project that shows an example of typical pumping style sidechain compression.
Also the project shows an expander in sidechain usage.
SC_Compressor_N_SC_Expander_Example .zip (21.7 KB)
Gr,
JHP
Thanks JHP, that is very helpful
I use Sidechaining a lot,
Another tip - People always felt that The same kick drum should be copied and used to trigger the Sidechain, so that the identical waveform is triggering the compressor and (in theory) the sidechain should then neatly behave in direct opposition to the Kick drum, hence ‘moving everything out of the way of the Kick Drum’
More flexible to trigger it with a very short signal (closed hi hat)you can then trweak the release, attack, hold etc to get the desired effect, you must make sure any sidechin trigger is ’ perfect’ perfect timing perfect length of each note, and all at the same velocity or volume.
Sidechaining is heavily used in this (link) track as an effect to deliberately ‘Pump’ the rhythm and some bass elements, and make the track sound more dynamic.
But - It would be very helpful if Steinberg would include a ‘Sidechain ready’ compressor that people can just get going with the necessary set up in place, apologies if there already is one (dont think there is)
Another Tip - Sidechaining isnt always the answer people just think it is!
Don’t forget ‘quadro’ group track sidechaining with VST 2.4 plug-ins. You might find tools more to your liking than the current VST3 offerings in Cubase.
In ‘Quadro’ group track you create two child busses in VST Connections … one for the Stereo and one for the LS/RS.
http://www.electrypnose.com/data/tutorials/Intellinoise_sidechain_compression_v1.1.pdf
Como
Compassion (vst 3) does a great job in this area.