Avantis Kick starting point

Beginner Skill level for the five steps below. Optional intermediate and advanced tips are in Going further.

Dial these in, then adjust by ear in the full mix. Solo it briefly, then judge it in the full mix. If the kick and bass are fighting, decide which one owns 50-70 Hz and cut that range slightly on the other. Headroom: drum hits peak much higher than they look, so keep the loudest peaks on the main LR a few dB below clipping.

Avantis note: On Avantis, use the gate's Side Chain HPF/LPF key filter so snare hits don't open the kick gate. Gate 'Depth' is the range setting.

1High-pass filter

30-50 Hz (start at 40)

Illustration in the style of the Avantis low cut / HPF, not a screenshot. Drawn at 12 dB/oct; the shaded area is what gets cut. Drawn at 40 Hz, the middle of the card's 30-50 Hz.

Clears sub-rumble and stage thump below what the PA usefully reproduces, without touching the 50-80 Hz 'weight'.

On the Avantis: Select the channel (touch its Name Block on the touchscreen, it shades green), set Screen Mode to Processing, then the Filter tab: HPF 20 Hz-2 kHz, slope 12 or 24 dB/oct, Butterworth or Bessel type (there's also an LPF). Gain, Pad, 48V (hold 1 s), Trim (+/-24 dB) and Polarity are on the Preamp tab.

2Gate

Attack Fastest (0-1 ms, back off if it clicks) · Hold ~50 ms · Release 150-400 ms (shorter for a tighter kick)

Illustration in the style of the Avantis gate screen, not a screenshot. The gate is optional here; the graph shows it in case you use it. Range drawn at 15 dB, the middle of the card's 10-20 dB. The threshold is an example only; set it by ear.

Use: Optional
Threshold: Just above the bleed from snare/toms
Attack: Fastest (0-1 ms, back off if it clicks)
Hold: ~50 ms
Release: 150-400 ms (shorter for a tighter kick)
Range: 10-20 dB (don't fully close)

A partial-range gate tightens the kick and cuts bleed without the unnatural 'chopped' sound of a full close.

On the Avantis: Processing > Gate tab: Threshold, Depth (Avantis' name for range), Attack, Hold, Release. Side Chain lets you pick the key source and switch in an HPF/LPF key filter. The Gate Library also offers a Ducker in place of the gate.

3EQ

HPF 40 Hz, 12 dB/oct
1 Bell 60 Hz, +2.5 dB, width 1.4 oct
2 Bell 325 Hz, -6.0 dB, width 0.8 oct
3 Bell 3.75 kHz, +2.0 dB, width 0.9 oct

Illustration in the style of the Avantis EQ screen, not a screenshot. Curve shows the midpoint of the suggested ranges; HPF drawn at 12 dB/oct.

Frequency	Gain	Q / width	Why
50-70 Hz	+2 to +3 dB	Wide (~1)	Body/weight. Small boost; the PA and room usually supply plenty.
250-400 Hz	-4 to -8 dB	Medium (~1.5-2)	The 'boxy', cardboard tone lives here. Cutting is usually more effective than boosting lows.
2.5-5 kHz	+1 to +3 dB	Medium	Beater click so the kick reads in a dense mix and on small speakers.

On the Avantis: Processing > PEQ tab: 4 bands, +/-15 dB each. Width is set in OCTAVES, not Q (roughly: 1.5 oct = Q 0.9, the widest; 1 oct = Q 1.4; 1/3 oct = Q 4.3). LF and HF bands switch between shelf, bell, or 12 dB/oct cut. Drag the dots on the graph, or pinch for width. PEQ runs before the compressor by default; swap per channel via Options (saved in the Show, not in Scenes).

4Compression

Attack 10-20 ms · Release ~100 ms (timing, not shown on graph)

Illustration in the style of the Avantis compressor screen, not a screenshot. The card gives a ratio range (3:1 (go to 4:1 if needed)); the graph shows the first value, 3:1. The threshold is an example only: it is set so a −6 dB peak gets about 4.5 dB of gain reduction, the middle of the card's target. Set yours by ear while watching the gain reduction (GR) meter. Drawn hard-knee with no makeup gain. Attack and release shape timing and don't change this curve.

Ratio: 3:1 (go to 4:1 if needed)
Attack: 10-20 ms
Release: ~100 ms
Gain reduction: 3-6 dB

A slower attack lets the beater transient through, then evens out hit-to-hit level.

On the Avantis: Processing > Compressor tab: Threshold, Ratio (1:1 = no compression up to Infinity = limiter; the steps in between aren't published, so read the value on screen), Gain (makeup), Soft Knee, Attack, Release, Manual RMS or Manual Peak detector, Parallel Path for dry/wet blend, and a sidechain HPF/LPF. dPack adds DEEP compressor models (Opto, 16T, 16VU, etc.).

5FX send

None / dry

Keep dry: no FX send.

Illustration in the style of the Avantis sends view, not a screenshot. Bus numbering depends on how the venue file is patched; set the level by ear.

Kick reverb muddies the low end in most clubs.

On the Avantis: 12 RackExtra FX slots. In the FX screen's Back Panel, set the unit to Mix->Return and pick the FX send bus. To set a channel's send: press that FX send's Mix key on its master strip (input faders become send levels), or open Routing for the channel (On/Off, Pre/Post, level). Hold Pre + touch a Name Block to toggle pre/post.

Avantis specifics

Avantis Solo runs the same Continuity UI, processing and 64-channel/42-bus engine as dual-screen Avantis, just with one 15.6" screen and 12 faders (Avantis has two screens and 24), so the steps above are the same on both.
Dyn8 (multiband dynamics + dynamic EQ) only exists if dPack is installed (paid; 16 instances, or 24 on firmware 2.0+; check Setup > Config > Add-Ons). Insert it from the channel's Processing > Inserts tab: Insert A sits after the gate, Insert B after the PEQ/Comp. Handy for de-essing vocals or taming boomy acoustic guitars, but these cards don't assume you have it.
Continuity UI: the strip rotaries handle gain or pan, and one button press folds the bank view to show EQ or compressor settings for every channel in the bank. Three soft rotaries take parameters you assign. Firmware 2.0 adds Smart Rotaries and PEQ, Source Expander and Dyn8 rotary options.
Save a finished channel to the Input Channel Library (Preamp tab, or touch the selected-channel area). It stores filters, gate, PEQ, comp, delay and name/colour (plus preamp if you choose, and sends on 2.0 firmware). You pick which parts to recall.

🎧 What to listen for

Solo it briefly, then judge it in the full mix. If the kick and bass are fighting, decide which one owns 50-70 Hz and cut that range slightly on the other. Headroom: drum hits peak much higher than they look, so keep the loudest peaks on the main LR a few dB below clipping.

Going further (3 optional tips)

Not needed to get a good start. Try these once the basics above sound right.

IntermediateUse the gate's key filter

Lets the gate listen only to the beater so snare hits don't open it.
On the Avantis: Processing > Gate > Side Chain: switch in the LPF and set it around 1-1.5 kHz.
AdvancedShape the attack with a transient tool

Adds or softens beater punch without EQ.
On the Avantis (needs dPack on firmware 2.0): insert the Transient Controller RackExtra FX on Insert A or B.
IntermediateCopy one channel's settings to the others

Saves time when several mics need the same starting point.
On the Avantis: hold Copy and touch the processing block (e.g. Gate) on screen, select the next channel, hold Paste and touch the same block. Save finished channels to the Input Channel Library (Preamp tab).

Common gear for Kick

Shure Beta 52A · Kick mic
AKG D112 MKII · Kick mic
Audix D6 · Kick mic

Scene / preset file

Coming later: downloadable Avantis channel preset for this card.

Sources

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Avantis Kick starting point

1High-pass filter

2Gate

3EQ

4Compression

5FX send

Avantis specifics

🎧 What to listen for

Going further (3 optional tips)

Common gear for Kick

Scene / preset file

Sources

Related cards

Kick Drum settings on other consoles

Related sources on the Avantis

Terms on this card

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