Trackspacer vs. Smartcomp for sidechaining?
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- KVRAF
- 9680 posts since 5 Aug, 2009
hi, i read that people use smartcomp for sidechaining instead of trackspacer, did anyone compare these yet?
i didnt get smartcomp to sidechain in fl studio correctly yet :/
i didnt get smartcomp to sidechain in fl studio correctly yet :/
DAW FL Studio Audio Interface Focusrite Scarlett 1st Gen 2i2 CPU Intel i7-7700K 4.20 GHz, RAM 32 GB Dual-Channel DDR4 @2400MHz Corsair Vengeance. MB Asus Prime Z270-K, GPU Gainward 1070 GTX GS 8GB NT Be Quiet DP 550W OS Win10 64Bit
- KVRist
- 417 posts since 5 Jan, 2007
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- KVRAF
- Topic Starter
- 9680 posts since 5 Aug, 2009
is trackspacer still a cpu hog? thats why i used FL Limiter lately. and i didnt get smartcomp to work somehow for sidechain, i asked sonible support to help though.
DAW FL Studio Audio Interface Focusrite Scarlett 1st Gen 2i2 CPU Intel i7-7700K 4.20 GHz, RAM 32 GB Dual-Channel DDR4 @2400MHz Corsair Vengeance. MB Asus Prime Z270-K, GPU Gainward 1070 GTX GS 8GB NT Be Quiet DP 550W OS Win10 64Bit
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- KVRAF
- 4720 posts since 26 Nov, 2015 from Way Downunder
I use FL Studio too - Trackspacer is about 3-4% per instance, so, yeah, not super heavy but certainly not light on CPU.Caine123 wrote: Mon Feb 28, 2022 11:49 pmis trackspacer still a cpu hog? thats why i used FL Limiter lately. and i didnt get smartcomp to work somehow for sidechain, i asked sonible support to help though.
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- KVRAF
- 3418 posts since 26 Mar, 2002 from london
Not used Trackspacer, but I've found SmartComp to work well but be CPU intensive. Also, it has issues on M1, or did last time I tried it. I've been using MSpectraldynamics recently and I much prefer it to SmartComp for this sort of use case.
Every day takes figuring out all over again how to f#ckin’ live.
- KVRist
- 417 posts since 5 Jan, 2007
I haven’t noticed that it’s high, but I only use it for mixing.Caine123 wrote: Mon Feb 28, 2022 11:49 pm is trackspacer still a cpu hog? thats why i used FL Limiter lately. and i didnt get smartcomp to work somehow for sidechain, i asked sonible support to help though.
- KVRAF
- 18492 posts since 26 Jun, 2006 from San Francisco Bay Area
I use a dynamic EQ called F6 by Waves. I find it works much better than compressors, but I don’t really like that squashed modern sound.
Zerocrossing Media
4th Law of Robotics: When turning evil, display a red indicator light. ~[ ●_● ]~
4th Law of Robotics: When turning evil, display a red indicator light. ~[ ●_● ]~
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- KVRist
- 67 posts since 6 Sep, 2016
SmartComp is more transparent IME
Winner of 15th HOFA Xmas Mix Contest - 2025/2026 & 2023/2024
2nd place winner of Boz Digital Labs Intl. Mix Contest - 2016
2nd place winner of Boz Digital Labs Intl. Mix Contest - 2016
- KVRAF
- 4579 posts since 12 Jan, 2019
For me, in Ableton Live, Smartcomp is easier. One picks the sidechain, turns on the sidechain, and it's working. With Trackspacer, I have to make a send for it and duplicate a track of the source, and if I haven't done it in a while, I forget initially how to do it.
Doing nothing is only fun when you have something you are supposed to do.
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- KVRAF
- 6780 posts since 17 Dec, 2009
some people like me also use Soothe2 instead of either.Caine123 wrote: Mon Feb 28, 2022 10:06 pm hi, i read that people use smartcomp for sidechaining instead of trackspacer, did anyone compare these yet?
i didnt get smartcomp to sidechain in fl studio correctly yet :/
I stopped using trackspacer completely.
Trackspacer's bands are really broad. If you send it a sine wave it will notch nearly +/- 2 octaves on both sides.
Soothe2 can either notch 2 octaves or +/- few Hz depending on the sharpness control

