How do i get the sub-bass and kick to sit in their own space in the mix?

[James.D]

I’ve been trying to get a cleaner low end in my mixes, but my sub-bass always feels either too weak or it completely muddies up the kick. I’m using EQ and sidechain compression, but I still can’t seem to find that pocket where they both have their own space without one disappearing.

[Penelope.J]

Yeah I’ve been there. Sub and kick have their own space when you’re not fighting the same few Hz. I ended up giving the sub its own foundation and cleaning up other bass voices first. A tiny move I stuck with was pulling the kick down a notch around 40–60 Hz and letting the sub carry the low end, then using a gentle shelf on the sub to keep it tight. It didn’t fix it overnight, but the mud started to clear a bit.

[Oliver13]

Mostly I’m convinced it wasn’t just EQ. My room and monitors were lying to me. I’d think the low end was clean, and then in headphones or car speakers it sounded mushy or boomy. I started checking mono compatibility, stepping out of the project to listen on a phone, and noting when the sub disappeared. The numbers didn’t tell a truth, so I relied on what I heard at different points.

[Samuel14]

I did sidechain with a fast attack and a mid-length release, and I watched the gain reduction meter. It ducked a couple of dB for about a hundred milliseconds, but the sub still bled into the kick or faded away after the transient. I’m not sure if I just didn’t time it right or if the balance is off in the mix.

[Noah.H]

One thing I tried was carving a small notch in the kick around 60–80 Hz to leave room for the sub to breathe, and I left most of the sub’s energy alone. It helped a little, but I’m not confident this is the root cause. Could the issue be something else?