i use the cubase compressor for sidechaining pads and bass. i find it does the job.i tweaked the parameters and just saved the settings as a preset.i actually have 6 presets saved for different levels of pumping.
I also use the compressor in Cubase because it’s the only compressor I have that gives me the option for a hard knee. The one thing I don’t like about it is that it can distort the sound if you have too short a release time. This is normal for any compressor, but I find the native Cubase compressor to be the worst. I tend to go no lower than 50 ms of release. I can go way lower with a Waves compressor without any distortion, but the fact that they are soft knee really annoys me.
breeze - Thanks for pointing that out! I missed that. Also I looked at that Rocket comp and that whole site actually. I will try one of these out because the price is crazy. But it does look like that site has sort of lost some activity of late, not a good sign maybe. Thanks for pointing this Stillwell site out. The Bombadier is the one that looks the most promising for my needs actually.
I have (touch wood) managed to get COMPassion working again, and thanks to something else being pointed out, I have better options.
I am pleased to find the The Rocket though, very nice compressor and lightening quick.
Thanks everyone.
If you cannot sidechain (duck) properly with the stock/native Steinberg Compressor (Cubase Pro 8) then you need to read up on how to use compressors. When ducking (kick drum as trigger) you typically look for a transparent compressor with hard knee, peak mode and fast attack. Compressor has everything you need and you should use native plugins if possible to minimize CPU load. Strap Compressor across the track or group you want to duck, click Compressor’s Activate Side-Chain button, go to your kick track’s Sends and select Destination → Side-chains → Compressor. Now dial in Ratio between 3:! and 8:1, Make-Up = 0, Attack = 0.1 to 1 ms, Hold = 0, Release = 30-70 ms, Analysis = 0 (Peak). Lower Threshold until you hear pumping (Gain Reduction). Adjust Release according to groove/rhythm, but not too fast as the pumping then gets choppy and not smooth, 50-60 ms should normally do the trick. See attached pic for example.
The best SC (sidechain) compressor out there IMO is elysia mpressor - it is a super transparent and smooth hard knee compressor with super-fast attack. But it is expensive and Steinberg’s Compressor is close, if not equal, to mpressor’s quality when it comes to SC. Other good workhorses, even though being soft knee compressors, are Waves C1 and RComp - they can pump really well and are transparent. With C1 you can pull the attack all the way to 0.01 (!)…
In some cases - depending on the kick and your mix’ intensity - you may hear a click or pop if the attack is set too fast, you may then ease back a tad on the attack or simply use another kick to trigger the SC compressor.
It is wise to use a dedicated muted kick track (some call it a “ghost kick” or “sidechain key kick”) to trigger the SC compressor. When I say muted I mean activate pre-fader and pull the track volume fader all the way down (minus infinity). This allows for more flexibility as you may control your audible kick and pumping separately. The ghost kick does not necessarily have to be a copy of the audible kick. You can also choose a short and punchy ghost kick - shorter than the audible kick. This allows for even more flexibility as the release span gets longer.
You have (or should have) 3 compressors built into Cubase: (I have them in Nuendo)
Regular compressor
Vintage Compressor
Tube Compressor
All 3 are bundled, so VST3 and with native sidechaining.