Sonnox Oxford Drum Gate 2 Released: A Major Upgrade for Drum Mixing Workflows

Sonnox has officially launched Oxford Drum Gate 2, a significant update to its intelligent drum-gating plugin designed for engineers working with multi-mic acoustic drum recordings and complex drum mixes. This release builds on the original’s innovative approach to gating and adds powerful new tools that make cleaning up drum tracks faster, more musical, and far more precise.

Smarter Drum Hit Detection

One of the core strengths of Drum Gate has always been its ability to identify individual drum hits—like kick, snare, and tom transients—more intelligently than a traditional threshold-based gate. Oxford Drum Gate 2 enhances this with an updated hit-detection system that improves accuracy across a broader range of performances and recording setups, helping the plugin respond reliably to different playing styles and mic configurations.

Integrated Time, Polarity & Phase Alignment

A major addition in Drum Gate 2 is the Align tab, which addresses a common challenge in multi-mic drum setups: phase coherence. With overheads, room mics, and multiple close mics, timing and phase issues can diminish punch and clarity in a mix.

Drum Gate 2’s alignment tools automatically group tracks by name, offer visual feedback, and let you link stereo channels, streamlining what would otherwise require third-party tools.

New Adaptive Resonant Decay Algorithm

Drum Gate’s original resonant decay control was already a standout feature, allowing producers to preserve a drum’s natural ring while suppressing unwanted bleed.

The new Adaptive Resonant Decay algorithm goes further by drawing on Sonnox’s Claro technology to separate the true decay of each drum hit from spill and noise, giving you independent control over gain reduction, decay time, high-frequency damping, and more. A classic “Standard” decay mode remains for users who prefer the original behavior.

Expanded Triggering With External Sidechain

Drum Gate 2 introduces support for external sidechain triggering, accepting both audio and MIDI inputs. This makes it easier to synchronize gating across tracks or use pre-detected beat information from drum triggers or beat-detected recordings. Additional detection modes—such as Hi-Hat, All Transients, and No Gating—add flexibility for different mixing scenarios.

Leveller and Hit Clipper Tools

Drum Gate 2 expands its dynamics control with the Leveller Clipper feature. Unlike static limiters, this new tool calculates a per-hit dynamic ceiling based on each hit’s level after levelling, ensuring consistent transient treatment without flattening expressive performance. Separate controls for soft and loud hits allow fine-tuning of transient clipping while maintaining natural dynamics.

User Interface and Workflow Improvements

Alongside these new technical features, Drum Gate 2 debuts a redesigned user interface that clarifies workflow and visual feedback, making it easier to navigate and adjust settings across the plugin’s advanced modules.

Pricing, Availability and Upgrade Path

Oxford Drum Gate 2 is available now for Windows and macOS in VST3, Audio Unit, and AAX formats. The plugin is currently offered at an introductory price of approximately £83.33 / $119.99 until March 31, 2026, after which the price rises to around £124.99 / $179.99.

Existing owners of the original Oxford Drum Gate can upgrade at a discounted rate, and users who purchased the original on or after September 1, 2025, receive the new version free of charge. A 15-day fully functional demo is also available.

Why It Matters

The Oxford Drum Gate line has earned praise for tackling one of the trickiest parts of drum mixing—managing bleed and transient control—by using intelligent detection and adaptive processing rather than simple threshold gating. Reviews of the original plugin noted how its intelligent transient detection and MIDI export capabilities made gating faster and more musically useful than traditional tools, especially in tricky recordings where bleed and dynamics vary widely.

With Drum Gate 2, Sonnox is stepping up this approach with more advanced alignment, dynamics shaping, and triggering tools that help producers and engineers achieve clean, natural, and powerful drum tracks with less manual editing and fewer compromises.