8.2Great
Devious Machines Duck by Devious Machines. Sidechain-style pumping without routing headaches—volume shaping for modern electronic mixes.
Plugin comparison
Devious Machines Duck vs Kickstart 2
Specs, price and the Dubspot Score, side by side — with our verdict on which effect to buy.
Independent score / workflow fit / buying signal
Contenders
The side-by-side
8.2Great
Nicky Romero Kickstart 2 by Cableguys is a sidechain ducking plugin that ducks a track's volume on each kick to clear space for bass.
Technical matrix
Specs compared
| Signal | Devious Machines Duck | Kickstart 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $49 | $16 |
| Dubspot Score | 8.2 | 8.2 |
| Formats | VST3, AU, AAX | VST 2.4, VST 3, AU, AAX |
| Type | Sidechain / volume shaping effect | — |
| Developer | Devious Machines | — |
| Curves / presets | — | 16 hand-crafted curves |
| Triggering modes | — | MIDI trigger and audio trigger (Cableguys audio triggering) |
| Curve editing | — | Draggable curve to fit any kick duration |
| Mix control | — | Mix knob to adjust sidechain ducking strength |
| Visual feedback | — | Kick View shows kick and bass waveform display; follows non-4/4 patterns |
| Windows | — | Windows 7, 8, 10, 11 (64-bit) |
| macOS | — | macOS 10.15 or later, Intel or Apple Silicon (Native/Rosetta) |
See the full plugin database for more comparisons.