Sidechain pops: Does this eat up headroom in a mix?

[junqueira]

When a kick sidechains a bass and it pops because the attack/release ratio isn't ideal; Does this eat up headroom in a mix?

[braduro]

Probably not any more than the kick itself.
Measure it from the average, RMS, value to its peak signal. See if it's wider range and taller peak than the transient on the kick

[Da hand]

It might not be louder than the kick in isolation, but it is adding to the overall amplitude of the mix at that moment - which is the very thing you are trying to avoid by putting a side chain on the bass when the kick hits. Not to mention that you have an audible click that you probably don't want as well. So I would clean it up

[Stromkraft]

When a kick sidechains a bass and it pops because the attack/release ratio isn't ideal; Does this eat up headroom in a mix?

The main reason for this is that you are, most likely, using the Compressor or Glue. Use another compressor without click issues. I replaced both with Native Instruments Solid Dynamics when I had these problems with a heavy bass (only happened to me once). I've heard of others meaning that fetching the Live 8 Compressor does away with this issue as well.

Please note that with my side-chained heavy bass also slower attacks resulted in clicks both in "Compressor" as well as in "Glue Compressor".

[junqueira]

When a kick sidechains a bass and it pops because the attack/release ratio isn't ideal; Does this eat up headroom in a mix?

The main reason for this is that you are, most likely, using the Compressor or Glue. Use another compressor without click issues. I replaced both with Native Instruments Solid Dynamics when I had these problems with a heavy bass (only happened to me once). I've heard of others meaning that fetching the Live 8 Compressor does away with this issue as well.

Please note that with my side-chained heavy bass also slower attacks resulted in clicks both in "Compressor" as well as in "Glue Compressor".

Thanks for the replies everyone! The reason why i'm asking is that I've heard Live 8's compressors are better for avoiding clicks, but to be honest, I've always heard clicks when I sidechain. But I've never tried to clean it up because when all the other instruments are playing it can't be heard. But recently, as I've been learning a lot about headroom, I've been questioning whether or not it was eating up my headroom

[Stromkraft]

Thanks for the replies everyone! The reason why i'm asking is that I've heard Live 8's compressors are better for avoiding clicks, but to be honest, I've always heard clicks when I sidechain. But I've never tried to clean it up because when all the other instruments are playing it can't be heard. But recently, as I've been learning a lot about headroom, I've been questioning whether or not it was eating up my headroom

It can obviously be heard. You just aren't as good as you would hope to hear this or you prefer to pretend it isn't a problem. Everything of this magnitude can be heard or felt. I apologize if that sounds harsh, but you need to understand.

I suggest you look at the alternatives there are that support SC in Live. You could also try Live 8 Compressor, but it has other detrimental features I think. It has also been suggested its slow attack is behind clicks being less common. Given that superfast attack times in other side-chained compressors don't necessarily display this issue should be informative sufficiently enough to not oversimplify the problem.

I was very surprised to learn Glue suffers from this as well. Let me repeat what I wrote before that most of these problems are material dependent and in my experience only a few are dependent on attack settings.

[jlgrimes]

When a kick sidechains a bass and it pops because the attack/release ratio isn't ideal; Does this eat up headroom in a mix?

I don't remember having this issue with 9. Did this issue pop up in a recent update (e.g. 9.5?)

[junqueira]

Thanks for the replies everyone! The reason why i'm asking is that I've heard Live 8's compressors are better for avoiding clicks, but to be honest, I've always heard clicks when I sidechain. But I've never tried to clean it up because when all the other instruments are playing it can't be heard. But recently, as I've been learning a lot about headroom, I've been questioning whether or not it was eating up my headroom

It can obviously be heard. You just aren't as good as you would hope to hear this or you prefer to pretend it isn't a problem. Everything of this magnitude can be heard or felt. I apologize if that sounds harsh, but you need to understand.

I suggest you look at the alternatives there are that support SC in Live. You could also try Live 8 Compressor, but it has other detrimental features I think. It has also been suggested its slow attack is behind clicks being less common. Given that superfast attack times in other side-chained compressors don't necessarily display this issue should be informative sufficiently enough to not oversimplify the problem.

I was very surprised to learn Glue suffers from this as well. Let me repeat what I wrote before that most of these problems are material dependent and in my experience only a few are dependent on attack settings.

Thanks for the tips buddy