Quote:
Originally Posted by Wall2Wall
Strange that the workaround wouldn't work for HD Native. I didn't even know you could sidechain with UAD. Always use stock Avid to sidechain.
|
UAD's not having sidechain capability isn't the problem. The latency INDUCED by using UAD's in a session (or any latency inducing plugin... i'm just using UAD's as an example because they induce a considerable amount of latency in most native systems) are what really shine a spotlight on the problem.
I too use stock AVID (or Waves, i.e. C6) to sidechain with.
Let me give you a classic scenario I see a lot (i'll use an extreme example to illustrate the problem):
Someone gives me a session to mix. I start working on the drums. I am given a pretty lackluster kick sound so I slap a UAD Neve 1073 plug on it, give it some color/drive/eq. Then I compress it with a UAD API Vision plug or UAD Mpressor plug to give it some smack. Then I run that through the UAD Studer to give it some oomph and warmth, etc... doing this chain might induce something like 4,000 samples of latency on the kick track. No problem though, right, bc we have automatic delay compensation? Right. All is well.
I get the drums slamming. Everyone is happy. I move onto the bass. I get that all cleaned up. Then I slap the stock Avid dynamics over the bass chain so I can sidechain it to the kick as a trigger. Pretty normal trick.
NOW, DO THIS:
Hit the 'listen' button on the Avid compressor. Solo the bass track with the Avid compressor with sidechain active AND solo the kick drum. You will hear a GNARLY flamming of two kicks. Sometimes sounds almost like a 16th note flam! This is no bueno. Effectively, the bass is being compressed by the kick at the WRONG times now, defeating the whole freakin' purpose of sidechaining the bass to the kick in the first place. Loooong sigh....
The only workarounds in HD Native (11.3.1 is what I'm running) that I've had success with is to EITHER:
- print/commit the kick sound AND bass sounds with their respective plugins active and then disable them once printed so that your kick and bass tracks have ZERO delay from any plugins. Then if BOTH tracks have zero delay, sidechaining is sample accurate (a la analog). It's just a drag that you HAVE to do this.
Or...
- You can duplicate the kick track and make a dedicated sidechain trigger track of the duplicate that's muted but is sending to the compressor sidechain input on the bass track and nudge the duped kick track around in time so that it no longer flams when auditioning through the sidechain "listen" when alongside the main kick track. Again, a drag.
This all just seems ghetto for such a "pro" system. And this ISN'T a weird type of scenario. UAD's, Pro Tools, and sidechaining... am I weird? I think not. I can't be the only one who's experienced this. Perhaps one of the only people who's taken the time to write about it here though...