Oxford Drum Gate 2

Oxford Drum Gate 2 is here

Intelligent detection. Phase-locked alignment. Adaptive decay. Purpose-built for the way drums actually need to be mixed.

The problem with gating drums

Inconsistent hits, phase issues, and uncontrolled spill can wreck a drum mix before the rest of the production has even started. Traditional threshold-based gates can't tell a real snare hit from loud hi-hat bleed on the same mic. Ghost notes vanish. Cross-stick disappears. Source-separation tools can isolate, but often bring artefacts and an unnatural quality with them.

Oxford Drum Gate 2 takes a different approach. It's a purpose-built drum detection engine that classifies each hit by drum type (kicks, snares, hi-hats, toms) using timbre, not volume. Every intentional hit stays intact. Bleed is removed reliably.

What's new in Drum Gate 2

Three major additions join the intelligent detection, Adaptive Decay, Leveller, and MIDI export that existing users already rely on:

1. Time, Polarity & Phase Alignment: Align your entire drum setup in both time and phase from a single Analyse pass. Every instance on every drum track is included. Tighter low end, punchier shells, solid foundation, all before you reach for an EQ or compressor.
2. Hit Clipper: The Leveller feeds per-hit peak information to the clipper so each transient is clipped on its own terms. Uniform power, density, and clarity in dense mixes without an additional plugin.
3. External Sidechain: When transients are already mapped (via trigger plugins, MIDI, DAW markers, or manual edits), Drum Gate 2 can skip detection entirely and focus on decay shaping and levelling. Every instance opens at the same moment, keeping multi-mic kits locked.

Features carried forward and refined: Intelligent Drum Hit Detection, Adaptive Decay (velocity-responsive release), Leveller (dynamic smoothing with ghost-note preservation), sample-accurate MIDI export, Learn and Remove hit editing, and Source/Drum Type/Confidence selectors.

How it works in practice

Insert Drum Gate 2 on your close mics. Press play. Hit markers appear automatically, and the drum type is typically auto-detected from your track name. Adjust Confidence until spill stops without losing wanted hits. Set Decay so tails sound natural. Once Drum Gate 2 is on all your drum tracks, open the Align tab on any instance, press Analyse, and time, polarity, and phase across every mic are sorted.

Overheads and room mics can be set to Alignment Only. They won't be gated but will be included in the alignment analysis.

Specs at a glance

• £99.99 Introductory Offer.
• £149.99 MSRP.
• AAX / AU / VST3.
• Mac & Windows.
• Pro Tools 11+, Logic Pro, Ableton Live, Cubase, Nuendo, Studio One, Reaper.
• Perpetual licence, two activations.
• iLok account required.
• 14-day money-back guarantee.
• Instant digital download.

Own Drum Gate 1? Upgrade to Drum Gate 2 for £49.99. You should receive an email with your upgrade code, or visit sonnox.com/products/oxford-drum-gate-2 to check your eligibility.

New to Drum Gate? Try the 15-day free trial or purchase Oxford Drum Gate 2 at sonnox.com/products/oxford-drum-gate-2