Great! Seems like this will be the perfect solution for me.
This. I use it more since I got a patch bay. Also, if using a DAW and overbridge, you can hook it a track, bounce the result to audio, and then go for another track with possibly a completely different configuration.
No offense taken ā Iām the first to admit I am not using the Heat to its fullest potential. One day, I might explore the patchbay route. I do like that idea, but I donāt want to add too much complexity to the setup for now. Heat is here to stay, that much is true.
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On the Heat, for master bus, noā¦ at least I wouldnāt. Granted, I largely focus on mastering and would prefer more subtle and overall control. Iāve absolutely used the Heat for mastering, but definitely more on the gentle side and using the mix control without the envelope. I wouldnāt use it that way, but of course YMMV and itās all about taste, preference and overall objective.
Love the Heat though for its overall sonic presence and flavor especially on individual tracks/elements and occasional master bus duties.
Edit: for that ābounceā you generally want one of two things ā multiband compressor that can do upward expansion or a dynamic EQ that can go upward as well. For me, I sometimes like that movement in high hats and other upper end percussion, so Iāll use a multiband compressor (Fabfilter MB Pro usually) with just a single band from ~7K or so and up. Iāll add 1-2dB of expansion, and set the release so itās not too quick, but adds that movement and vibe. I can do mostly the same thing with a dynamic EQ like Sonnox or any other, but I love the sound of that one. Itās kind of an āit dependsā and trial on which to use, but thatās the overall idea.
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I usually use the env follower to control wet level. That way you can dial in compression for some pumping. Sometimes that works, and sometimes it can be too much.
But ive also used a synced lfo to controll the low eq to get some dynamic in the bass. You could also set the filter to highpass and increase the resonance to boost bass. So the Heat can work as a pseudo dynamic eq as well.
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This came up on my YouTube today:
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A friend ov mine just bought the AH mk2 and we have been planning to use it to get more gravity to the lows and to āglueā our mixes together for more solid end result.
However when we briefly ran some of the tracks through it and were trying different dry/wet blends it sounded much darker when the mix was not fully dry or wet. IĀ“m suspecting some kind of phase issue. IĀ“ve been planning to buy one too at some point but this made me consider other alternatives, maybe Culture Vulture if I can afford it since it sounds slightly more interesting to my ear.
Has anyone had similar experiences with the AH mk2?
If it sounds like a phasing issue, it could be related to the filter pan, best to make sure itās off and not being affected by the LFO or env.
Iāve used mine extensively exactly as you describe and never fully dry/wet and it sounds fine.
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Now that you mentioned it, my friend was messing with the filter panning before we tried running the mixes through it. IĀ“m pretty sure the patch was initialised before we did that experiment but cannot be sure. I was really impressed with the different circuits but this seemed like a pretty big problem for what IĀ“m intending to do with it.
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Yeah, if the filter pan is even slightly engaged itāll have a pretty big effect on the sound.
Throw a bit of fast LFO at it thoughā¦
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Yeah, audio rate modulation really makes it a wild piece of gear. Paired with other Elektron gear it is almost a no-brainer but the phasing issue made me think of other alternatives. Thanks for pointing out the filter panning. We will try again and make sure everything is set to zero before running stuff through it.
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I have this issue, when the dry/wet is 50% , which makes sense, like playing two songs together in sync you get phase cancellation. Iām surprised no one has mentioned this b4. I canāt use w/d mix because the more you add the dry it sounds shit (closer to phase cancellation).
Is my mkI defective?
Can t replicate on my mk1, and would ve noticed years ago if it was the case. As mentioned above, do you have any frequency pan going on (filter page 2)? That s the main phasing source in AH, but not when centered.
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I experience the same,but only when the filter is active. Try to deactivate it and listen for any changes. I would like to do not have to deactivate the filter in order to use D/W knob, but heyā¦this is how filters workā¦shifting phases due to delays network. Also they are analog filters so I would never expect that they can go linear phase.
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So I thought āI would have set the filter pan to 0ā and I looked and saw that there is very fine adjustment settings and it was set slightly above 0.
Phasing gone now.
Thanks guys, I feel like I have a new toy to play with.
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Yeah I ruined some mixes by having a slow lfo on frequency panningā¦
Sorry for the ultra basic question, but how are you routing the heat for mastering, exactly? Just put all of your tracks in a group then send the group to an audio track containing the Heat plugin? If so how should the Heatās track be set up? Monitoring set to āinā and output type set to āsends onlyā? Should I have this track activated (big yellow track button in Ableton) or deactivated?
Sorry but to date Iāve only plugged things in to the Heat directly, and software routing always does my head in 
Itās a little more nuanced answer and I havenāt used the Heat in Ableton (although I probably should give it a shot). I do all of my mastering in Studio One. Iām mostly using the Heat in a mastering context and for that purpose itās not something I use on every track. Iām only every giving a track āwhat it needsā and not using a plugin or piece of hardware (with maybe one exception) just because I have it. Also, Iām almost never using the same process on groups of tracks, rather each one is treated individually. That said, if something is in the context of an EP or album, then Iām certainly thinking that way and shooting for a very similar vibe overall using similar tools.
In terms of using actually the Heat, 98% of the time Iām using the āClean Boostā setting with maybe just a hint of āsmiley faceā EQ ā if the track benefits from it. I generally donāt use the envelope follower trick, but thatās certainly a cool way of doing it. Itās a matter of playing with the drive (more modestly for me) and wet/dry levels to taste. Iām really very simple with it honestly and just using it like I would a plugin. It either sits in the very beginning of my chain or somewhere in the middle depending on if the track needs some amount of correction. Generally, I like to do any correcting (subtractive EQ, de-essing, etc) to come before Iām enhancing or boosting, however if little needs to be done, then Iāll do the broad stroke enhancing early on.
Hope that helps.
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Certainly helps. Thank you!
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realize this is a crypto bump, but it addresses something I was hoping someone could state explicitly: putting the heat through a stereo 1/4" patch bay (the patchulator pro) and yet the Heat takes balanced, TRS, both input and output in stereo pairs. The patchulator can accept stereo 1/4", balanced, or mono. It can even do CV or expression. Itās all passive.
What kind of y-cable is going to accept two TRS and come out stereo? OR should I just use TS out of the Heat with an insert lead? Or two separate pairs of patch points in/out the patch bay? (itās only got 10 slots, so that feels like a waste)