Cableguys has announced the release of an update to Kickstart, the fastest plugin for pro sidechaining to achieve tighter, punchier mixes that go effortlessly loud.
Kickstart 2 now features audio triggering, a new kick view and movable slope to lock kick and bass together like never before, and you can create space for your bass with the new multi-band split.
Created by EDM icon Nicky Romero and Cableguys (makers of ShaperBox and HalfTime), you’ve heard the original Kickstart on tracks by David Guetta, The Chainsmokers, Timbaland and many more A-list producers. Now Kickstart 2 is here to keep your sessions moving forward with that same lightning-fast workflow, and new pro features. It’s already in use by Zedd, CashMoneyAp (Migos, Roddy Ricch), Hardwell, Khaliq Glover (Prince, Justin Timberlake), and more.
Kickstart instantly solves the problem of clashing, muddled kick and bass. No more fiddling about with compressors – just drop it on any track to automatically duck the volume with each kick hit. All with rock-solid timing and ultra-clean response.
Kickstart 2 features
- Instant setup: Add Kickstart – get instant sidechain ducking with no setup, synced to your beat, in 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 or 1/1 timings.
- Big Mix knob: Quickly adjust the strength of the sidechain effect to fit your mix.
- 16 hand-crafted curves: Designed by Nicky Romero, Kickstart’s now-classic sidechain shapes are the exact ones he uses to get tracks sounding massive in the club.
- NEW Movable slope: Just drag on the curve to fit your sidechain to any kick drum, of any length. No complex editing tools required.
- NEW Audio trigger: Kickstart can follow any kick drum pattern automatically, using world-class audio triggering from Cableguys. No longer just for 4×4 kicks, now you can use Kickstart for hip-hop, DnB, trap, pop and more.
- MIDI trigger: Need custom rhythms? Program any sidechain pattern in MIDI.
- NEW Band split: Sometimes you want your sidechain loud, proud and pumping. But what if you need that solid, locked-in bass with no audible ducking? Pro mix engineers achieve this through “invisible” sidechaining – a secret weapon technique where only the lowest frequencies are ducked. Now it’s built right into Kickstart 2: just hit the Band button and your mids and treble will pass through untouched by the sidechain.
- NEW Kick view: See the kick and bass waveforms at the same time, on the same display. Get your low end locked tight like never before.
- PLUS Kickstart 2 is enhanced with a resizable interface (75-200%); VST3, AAX and M1 Native support; and Anti-click Trigger Smoothing. And it’s even lighter on your CPU and RAM than Kickstart 1.
Kickstart 2 is available for purchase at the Kickstart website for 14 EUR / $16 USD, while owners of Kickstart 1 can upgrade for 5 EUR/EUR at Cableguys.
You can try Kickstart 2 with a fully functional free demo version with no time limit (you can only use one instance per song and you can’t save your settings).
