Anyone using it? I love mine. Is it possible to have the audio of the sidechain signal to pass through so it can be heard? I’m wondering because I use the rnla on the masterbus in live performance and if I side chain the masterbus the kick will also be compressed. Removing the kick from the masterbus and use an individual side chain signal AND kick in one would solve that. Possible?
I’m not using one currently, but have owned 3 in the past, and an RNC.
It is not possible to pass the side chain signal through to the outputs. The circuit is not designed that way.
I’m having some difficulty understanding what it is you are trying to accomplish. If the Kick is being sent into the side chain, then the compressor will compress less when it hears that side chain key input. Are you sending the kick the side chain input via AUX send?
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Thanks for replying.
I’ll try to explain more in detail. I have my rytm send its eight individual outs in to my interface eight ins. I have the fmr set up as an external audio effect on the masterbus in ableton. The kick and everything else gets sent to the fmr. I’m also sending the kick track individually out to the fmr sidechain input. But the result, as you get, is that the fmr sidechains the kick as well. My plan was to mute the masterbus kick and have the sidechain pass through but if I read you correctly that is not an option. My solution is to prepare the tracks in ableton so that they are sidechained there don’t you think?
okay from referencing your first post with your 2nd, I’ve gathered that you feel the compressor is acting too heavily on the kick, when using the kick into the sidechain input of the RNLA.
Have you tried adjusting the level of (the kick) signal going into the sidechain input?
This could give you more dynamic shift between when the sidechain input is keyed with your kick sound, and when it is not.
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Sry I had two beers and my explaining is a bit distorted. You answered my question in the first post but I got a good tip from your second post as well. Thanks again.
Don’t put the sidechained compressor on the master bus, make a send/aux channel and send everything through it that you want sidechained, then send that grouped channel to the compressor, and have that go to the master bus along with the kick. Having a kick trigger a sidechain compressor onto itself is only going to make it quieter, when you want everything except for the kick (and maybe the snare and some other things, but that’s up to you) to be made quieter when sidechained.
Thanks for the input. I see what you mean. Good idea, but I would need a second compressor if I also want to glue the sidechained group + kick on the masterbus?
I used to have the RNLA in my set-up.
As I remember it doesn’t provide real side-chaining for bass/kick pumping.
It is somehow reversed and can be used for hihat enhancement or something.
I now only use it for my guitar/vocals to get the gooyy sound or whatever they call it. However, it can also be used very well to just crank up the A4 level for input into the AR.
For real side chaining I can advice the Elysia Xpressor. It has a very clean sound and is high-end tech. It can be price, but if your lucky and find one second hand…jump on it…
You are correct, and now that I think of it I would just use one of Ableton’s built in compressors to do the side chaining since it’s really only performing volume reduction, and save the RNLA for the master to get your glue, since that will impart more of its character.
The RNLA (& RNC) side chain input is a send/return FX input.
This is how I would use it to get a good bass bump…
Grab a $40 graphic eq bass pedal, and a TRS 1/4" to 2xTS 1/4" insert cable.
Now, patch the EQ pedal into the side chain filter input. Left (gray) side of the cable goes into EQ input, right goes into EQ output On the pedal, kill everything below 150hz or so, and boost everything above it. This should prevent the compressor from compressing so hard when it hears the kick.
Most EQ pedals will also give you an overall level control. You can now use this as an additional threshold fader for the compressor. If using a pedal, it’s important, I think, to use a pedal meant for bass, as you’ll get more control in the sub-kick zone.
I’ve been using a Samson C Com 16 compressor in manual mode this way, and it works and sounds surprisingly good. It’s quite a bit like Rytm’s compressor with the SideEQ set to HP. My Monomachine loves it.
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Thank you @AdamJay for all this infos!
i haven’t realized before how this insert sidechain work.
anyway after some test, i’m now using the RNLA on the octatrack master and using the cv from my A4 to sidechain the signal. so if i understand what you said i’m currently using in the wrong way, broken the send/return loop.
dont send the kick to the fmr … send everything EXCEPT the kick …and only the kick as the side chain signal AND split that kick signal and feed it into a dedicated channel in the mixer. then you have control over
side chain
and
kick signal.
thats how I do it
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hey man ,…
so here is what i have
ar and a4
2x rnla
1x rnc
1 mixer
I have the kick from the ar to sidechain the AR (without the kick signal) and the entire A4
it was so hard to set up but finally : )
if u need more help i am happy to help you.
list all the gear you have and try to type as little as possible and use
a
lot
of
new paragraphs
thank for your reply. i’m currently good with my setup too:
OT -> rnla (sidechain with A4 CV) -> to mixer
A4 -> to mixer
so just some sidechain on octatrack and the A4 go straight to the output
@TrabanT by the way i will be in berlin next week to play on Monday 27th at madame claude, so maybe we could meet there or during the week for a beer or to do some jams… (you can found me on fb as El Ya)
u dont have a master compressor behind the sum of A4 and OT … : )
i m super super dooper busy right now, which feels awesome i have to say…
at the moment i cant schedule anything since i dont want to let anybody down … appreciate the offer. i ll see if i can make it to the madame claude event, will follow on fb …if i am around, i ll say HI : )
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Does anyone have any opinions/preferences regarding the RNC vs the RNLA strictly for sidechaining purposes? I’m interested in getting one of these only to use for sidechaining.
Also interested in triggering the sidechain input with CV.
How is it working out for you? What settings gives the best result for you? Are you using a CV gate as the trigger signal? Some details would really be appreciated!
hey @horisonten!
basically the idea was to use a CV track to trigger the sidechain of the compressor. of course in this case you have to fill the trigger both in the kick track and in the cv track.
All right, but are you using a gate or pitch CV-signal? Or sync? If you’re using pitch, what note range (voltage range) works best in your experience? I’ve read elsewhere that it’s best to not feed the input a too high voltage.
Hey @horisonten,
sorry for the late answer.
I don’t remember what was my setup, but to open the compressor you just need to send some signal with enough volume, so trigger, gate o note is the same. just start with a low voltage and increase it till you see the compressor start working.