Why has Elektron avoided a good sidechain compressor setup?

Elektron Gear
#1

Kind of a general thought/question here.
Like most of us (I assume), I hold my Elektron gear in high regards. Yet, I’m a bit baffled that we still don’t have a proper implementation of a side chain compressor option.
To clarify, I mean the ability to have the kick duck the mix, but, the kick not be affected.

I know some of the tricks around this (i.e. plocking the crap out of my tracks) but being that Elektron is an electronic music hardware maker, why in the heck would they continue to ignore this fundamental feature?

I’ve resorted to buying multiple nABC compressors, a dedicated kick drum synth (Jomox mbase) and small mixers to fix the issue for myself (Dark Trinity setup and DT/DN setup) but that’s over a $1200 in funds to do something my MPC Live can do with ease (thanks to Mother Ducker).
At least the AR has individual outs so I didn’t need to spend money on another Jomox.
Unfortunately the Syntakt does not…

Am I being overly entitled to think this should be standard on these boxes? Any other techniques that could save me some money down the road?

When I heard about the DT2, I really hoped for expanded I/O to at least let me bypass the current comp limitation but as we all know, the DT2 has the same I/O as DT1

1 Like
#2

Dt2 has selectable bypass per track for the compressor

14 Likes
#3

Mother Ducker :hatched_chick:

3 Likes
#4

I bang on about this a lot but I really hope Elektron implement a way to send track audio to any other track, so it can be used with an envelope follower in an LFO to modulate whatever you want. That would immediately allow all kinds of sidechain fun. Let tracks speak to each other!

7 Likes
#5

I’m considering running pretty much my whole studio into the DT inputs just to make use of the side chain lol.

I’ve also went through a great deal of work to try and get a good sidechain and have never really been able to replicate how it sounded back when I used a daw but the dt2 demos seemed pretty flexible.

#6

DT2 has it. You can select the source as compressor mix, all not routed to compressor, and individual tracks. So if you have kick on track 1, route that away from compressor and use as source = side chain with kick unaffected!

Perfect :slight_smile:

2 Likes
#7

Should be able to be implemented to other units via software update, right?

#8

Define possible :slight_smile:
Nothing’s impossible, but there might be tradeoffs involved you’d not be willing to make :man_shrugging:t2: rumour is they squeezed the last drop of CPU cycles from the DT, how accurate that is i have no idea of.

#9

Anything is possible in software but it has a cost, I wouldn’t expect it but would happily wrong

#10

I stopped using side chain compression about 10 years ago. Its a DAW fallacy, totally unnecessary if you mix properly.

Sure it can be used as an effect , but thats something else. Its not a requirement.

15 Likes
#11

Fair point in general but I’m definitely referring to the “effect” aspect of SC.
I.e. the pumping effect

#12

Well shit, didn’t know that…
Everytime I say “I don’t need that new Elektron box” something comes along to change my mind…

1 Like
#13

Pumping via sidechain is just abusing a compressor because you don’t have plocks.

2 Likes
#14

incorrect, please get a drummer to input notes and go and plock sidechain for his kicks real time. Didn’t think so.

1 Like
#15

If it’s a 4 to the floor kind of thing you can easily use the LFOs on the amp. On syntakt you can use the FX track and sequence it with amp envelope.

2 Likes
#16

I thought Syntakt doesn’t have a compressor at all, does it?

Why has Elektron avoided a good sidechain compressor setup?

maybe Elektron doesn’t like that effect so they deliberately avoid putting that on their devices?
I think that even though Elektron boxes are very capable devices they’re meant to be used as instrument first and the added features just making it nicer but it’s not meant to be a DAW substitute like MPC for example, I think it’s a deliberate choice to avoid THAT type of effect, if you want that effect then use one of the workarounds or you can easily multitrack with OB and DAW and get software or hardware compressors to do that effect…
rytm’s compressor also doesn’t have that sidechain compression, it’s only the spectrum filter sidechain but it applies for the whole main out and you can’t have single track triggering it for others, the individual outs can help you avoid using OB and DAW and have an external hardware compressor to do the sidechain effect but you’d still need something external for that, that’s why I think the decision not to do DAW style sidechain is a design choice.

#17

If you have an A4, there’s a CV loopback trick you can use.

#19


1m

is it about sidechain and compression ?

#20

Some more info about compression on DT2:

1 Like
#21

Ah no not sidechain compression really, just the ducking part.