FabFilter User Forum

Feature Request: Pro-MB tighter Attack/Release times

I tried using Pro-MB for sidechaining kick drum on top of bass and found that, even with Release knob turned all the way down to 0%, the lowest band takes too long to recover, resulting in audible "fading in" sound after every kick.

Can we have tighter minimum times for the Attack and Release knobs? I really want to get rid of the other compressor but as it stands I cannot get Pro-MB to recover fast enough. I understand for compatibility reasons the parameter range probably cannot be changed at the knob level, but a small switch could be added that reduces times by a certain amount. Or maybe an "Expert" mode that allows these times to be set in milliseconds (I know Attack/Release times are program-dependent but maybe a mutiplier/divider can be added to tweak the automatic times).

Maybe something for Pro-MB 2 if it is not currently feasible? ;)

Goran

Hey Goran

If I understand your issue correctly, there is a fairly quick and easy fix to this.
Instead of sidechaining to your audible kick drum sample, which may have a longer tail than necessary and will elongate the release of the ProMB, create a shorter kick sidechain file that acts only as a trigger for the sidechain. Doesn't have to be a kick sample obviously. Just a tone that triggers the sidechain to your desired length (and release).

Hope that helps!

Ben

Thanks for the tip but I prefer to keep things simple (I can just carry on with the less-than-ideal compressor that's already in place, rather than mess with an appropriate tone generator to hack around this). The kick always has a fairly short release time, probably 30 ms or less, basically as short as possible given the fundamental frequency.

I think the automatic/program-dependent release time is not helped by the fact that it's in the lowest band (from around 74 Hz down to 30 Hz) and Pro-MB therefore uses overly safe time ranges. I tried limiting the band to around 45 Hz instead of all the way down hoping for a sharper release time, but then the crossover affects the fundamental and phase is mangled and it does not really work.

I hope FabFilter will consider extending the range of attack/release controls for what is after all a professional dynamics tool - it should be able to handle this situation as well as any rival can. I might as well bring up the "soft" attack time affecting the beginning of the kick, changing the click in a way that varies with time which IMHO also needs extending for these scenarios.

The other tool I would prefer not to use can handle both attack and release components well, so why not Pro-MB? I see it as a blemish on an otherwise amazing plug-in. It is only a minor feature (to be fair, it handles so much almost automatically, but extra control is always welcome).

Goran

Hi Goran,

Thanks for the report, we'll look into this when updating Pro-MB!

Cheers,

Frederik (FabFilter)
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