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Improved Classification Model
Drum Gate 2 features significant advancements in drum hit detection, to provide the most accurate detection of Kick, Snare, Tom and Hi Hats across a wide range of playing styles and recording scenarios.
Time, Polarity and Phase Alignment
When recording acoustic drum kits with multiple microphones, such as top and bottom snare mics, or close mics combined with overheads or room mics, phase coherence issues are inevitable. While general-purpose alignment tools can help, they often introduce flamming artifacts by applying excessive time shifts in pursuit of phase coherence.
Drum Gate 2’s new Align tab solves this with an intelligent algorithm that enhances tone, punch and clarity whilst minimising timing artifacts. The system automatically groups tracks by name, provides visual feedback and offers stereo linking for overheads and room mics. Integrated directly into Drum Gate 2, it eliminates the need for third party alignment tools and streamlines the multitrack drum mixing workflow.
New Decay Algorithm
Oxford Drum Gate 2 introduces a revolutionary Adaptive Resonant Decay algorithm that leverages Claro-derived resonance detection to separate the resonant decay of each drum hit from the surrounding spill, all while leaving transients intact.
With independent control over Gain Reduction, Decay, High-Frequency Damping and High and Low cutoffs for the resonant region, users achieve more natural sounding results with greater flexibility than ever before. For users who enjoyed Oxford Drum Gate 1’s behaviour, Standard mode remains available, offering a choice between the cutting-edge adaptive processing and the familiar Oxford Drum Gate sound.
External Sidechain
External sidechain input expands Drum Gate 2's versatility by supporting both audio and MIDI triggering. This is invaluable when working with recordings that have already been beat-detected, recorded with drum triggers, or when gating needs to be synchronised across multiple mic channels.
Three input modes provide complete flexibility: Internal (DG2's own detection), External (audio sidechain from another track or audio key spikes), and MIDI (triggered by Note On messages with selectable channel and note). A dedicated "All Transients" mode passes all transients above the threshold, without using the classification models.
Leveller Clipper
The unique new Hit Clip feature intelligently helps drums cut through dense mixes while maintaining consistent punch and clarity across all hits. Unlike static clippers that over-process loud hits and under-process soft hits, Drum Gate 2's Hit Clip dynamically calculates the ceiling for each hit based on its post-leveller peak level. This ensures uniform transient treatment across dynamically varied performances without flattening expressive playing dynamics.
Separate controls for Soft Hits and Loud Hits clipping amounts allow precise tailoring of the transient shaping. The algorithm delivers pristine quality, while automatic make-up gain maintains the perceived level.
New Features
- Time, polarity, and phase alignment with the new Align tab
- Adaptive Resonant Decay algorithm with HF Damping parameter
- External sidechain input (audio and MIDI)
- Hit Clip with per-hit dynamic ceiling calculation
- Claro-derived resonance detection for natural decay
- New Hi-Hat, All Transients and No Gating detection modes
Improved
- More accurate drum type classification (Kick, Snare, Toms)
- Enhanced transient detection with reduced false triggers
- Overhauled user interface adds a modern look, clearer communication and a faster workflow
Continued from DG1
- Industry-leading sound quality and detection performance
- Intuitive workflow
- MIDI export for detected hits
- Learn/Remove functionality
- Split Threshold for dynamic levelling control
macOS
- macOS 11.0 or higher
- Intel i7 CPU or Apple Silicon M1 or higher
- 8GB of RAM
Windows
- Windows 10 or higher
- Intel i7 CPU
- 8GB of RAM
Please note: Oxford Inflator is used as an example.
Registration
Note: This product supports both iLok USB and iLok Cloud activation. You will need a free iLok account, and either a physical iLok USB key OR an active internet connection (to start an iLok Cloud Session).
1. Go to the Sonnox registration page or find your product in your Plugin Boutique account and click DOWNLOAD.
2. Read the Software Licence Agreement at the bottom of the page, click 'I Agree'.
3. Find your 14 character activation key, marked as 'Serial Number' in your Plugin Boutique account and copy and paste it on this page and click Submit.
4. Enter your details and click 'Submit'.
5. Your product is now registered.
Note: You will now receive a confirmation email containing your product serial number, licence details and installer links. Please keep this email safe as you may need the serial number to access any future upgrades or to re-download your product installers.
6. Open the Order Confirmation email that you just received from Sonnox and click 'Download' (If you can't find it, check your Spam/Junk folders).
7. Enter your iLok User ID and click 'Verify'.
8. Check that the details are all correct and click 'Deposit' to add the serial to your iLok account. Your licence will now be available in your iLok License Manager but you will need to start an iLok Cloud Session in order to validate the activation inside your DAW.
9. Start an iLok Cloud Session to complete the activation. To do this, open the iLok License Manager application, log into your iLok account, and then click File > Open Your Cloud Session.
Alternatively, if you have a physical iLok USB Key, you can simply drag and drop the licence onto your iLok USB within the iLok License Manager.
Mac Installation
1. Go back to the Order Confirmation email you were sent and click 'Download'.
2. Click 'Mac Installers'.
3. Click the name of the product in blue writing to download the installer.
4. Once the installer has downloaded, double-click the file to open it and start the installation > click 'Continue'.
5. Read through the Software Licence Agreement and click 'Continue'.
6. Click 'Agree' to continue.
7. Click 'Continue'.
8. Select the formats that you wish to install. (If you are unsure about this, either leave the default selections or check out the Plugin Formats Explained article from our Help Centre).
9. Click 'Install' and enter your password to verify the installation.
Your software is now installed and ready to use within your DAW.
Windows Installation
1. Go back to the Order Confirmation email you were sent and click 'Download'.
2. Click 'Windows Installers'.
3. Click the name of the product in blue writing to download the installer.
4. Double-click and open the installer file, then click 'Yes'.
5. Click 'Next'.
6. Read the Software Licence Agreement > Select 'I accept the agreement' > Click 'I cannot sell/transfer my licence without prior permission from Sonnox' > Click 'Next'.
7. Select the formats that you wish to install. (If you are unsure of this, either leave the default selections or check out the Plugin Formats Explained article from our Help Centre).
8. Leave the file locations at their defaults (unless you use a custom plugin folder) and click 'Install'.
Your software is now installed and ready to use within your DAW.
