Logic Pro Mix Bus Chain: The Stock Plugins I Mix Into, With Settings (and What Not to Put There)

The short answer: a Logic Pro mix bus chain is three or four stock plugins on the Stereo Out, in this order: Gain for level and mono checks, Channel EQ for a gentle subsonic cut, the Compressor on its Vintage VCA circuit at 2:1 with 1 to 2 dB of gain reduction, and an optional ChromaGlow at low drive. Put it on early and mix into it. Leave the Compressor's built-in Limiter and Distortion off, keep Mastering Assistant out of the way while you mix, and bounce with peaks around -6 to -3 dBFS. A mix bus chain glues the mix while you're still making decisions. It isn't a mastering chain, and it shouldn't try to make the track loud.

Mixing into a light bus chain, then mastering as a separate step, is how I work on my own releases (Sony, Universal, Ultra, Dim Mak, 50M+ streams). This is the stock Logic version; the Ableton version is in the Ableton mix bus chain. The FL Studio version is in the FL Studio mix bus chain, and the Pro Tools version is in the Pro Tools mix bus chain. I sell a Logic mastering chain, disclosed at the end; this post is the step before it.

Mix bus chain vs mastering chain

Both chains can live on the Stereo Out, but they have different jobs at different times.

If you've read what a mastering chain is, this is its little sibling: the same tools, at a fraction of the amount, doing a different job.

One Logic detail first: the plugins go on the Stereo Out channel strip. The Master fader next to it controls overall volume and has no insert slots, so it isn't where a bus chain lives.

The chain, in order (settings chart)

ChromaGlow arrived in Logic Pro 11, so on earlier versions skip slot 4 or leave saturation for the mastering stage. Exact control names and ranges can differ between Logic versions; the plugin window is the authority. Studio VCA is a cleaner VCA alternative if Vintage VCA feels too colored on your mix.

How to set it up

1. Get a static balance first. Faders and pans only, no bus processing. If the song doesn't work as a rough balance, a bus chain won't save it. The order of operations is in how to mix a song.
2. Gain stage the channels. Pull channel levels down so the Stereo Out peaks around -6 dBFS with everything playing. Gain staging explains why.
3. Load the plugins in order on the Stereo Out. Gain, Channel EQ, Compressor, then ChromaGlow if you use it. Save the strip with the Setting button at the top of the channel strip (Save Channel Strip Setting As) so every mix starts here.
4. Set the Compressor on the loudest section. Cycle the chorus or drop, pull the threshold down to 1 to 2 dB of reduction, match the output to the bypassed level, and A/B. If you can clearly hear it working, back off.
5. Mix into it. From here on, every fader move happens through the glue, so the balance you make is the balance you'll hear after the bus compressor. This is the reason it goes on early: adding bus compression at the end changes a balance you already signed off.
6. Check mono and references regularly. Switch the Gain plugin to mono every so often, and compare against a commercial track at matched loudness; how to use reference tracks shows the loudness-matching step.

What not to put on the mix bus

• A limiter, or the Compressor's built-in one. A limiter on the Stereo Out makes everything sound louder and better for a minute and hides balance problems. If you want to preview loudness, put one last and bypass it before you bounce.
• Mastering Assistant. It's a mastering tool. Running it while you mix means every balance decision happens through a master you haven't chosen yet.
• Heavy multiband. Multipressor on the whole mix flattens the dynamics mastering needs. Multiband control belongs on single elements or at the mastering stage.
• Big EQ moves. A 3 dB high shelf on the bus is a sign the hats, vocal, or synths need EQ on their own channels.
• Width boosts. Widening the whole mix early with Direction Mixer makes the stereo image the last thing you can fix, and it's the first thing to collapse on club and phone speakers.

Group buses do the heavy lifting

A light mix bus chain works because most of the control happens a level down. Put the drums in a Summing Stack and give the stack its own Compressor (often a few dB more reduction than the mix bus), add punch with Logic's Enveloper (compared in the best transient shaper plugins), and run the lead through a proper vocal chain (the Logic Pro vocal chain uses stock plugins too). That leaves the mix bus with only one job: gluing parts that already work.

Bouncing the mix for mastering

Bounce with the limiter off, Distortion off on the Compressor, and Mastering Assistant out of the path, with peaks around -6 to -3 dBFS. Use File > Bounce > Project or Section, choose a WAV at 24-bit (or 32-bit float if your version offers it) at your session's sample rate, and set Normalize to Off. Keep the Compressor and gentle EQ on if you mixed into them; they're part of the sound you approved. If a mastering engineer asks for no master bus processing (my own stereo mastering intake does), bounce a second version with the whole bus chain bypassed and send both. The full checklist is in how to prep a mix for mastering, and what is headroom explains the numbers.

Then the master

Once the mix is bounced, the mastering chain takes over in a fresh project or on the bounced file: cleanup EQ, multiband control on the low end, tone, width, saturation and a limiter, each doing a small job. The Logic Pro mastering chain walks through every stage with stock plugins. The Ultimate Master Chain for Logic is my own version of that stage, built from Logic stock plugins, with 8 macros (LO-CUT, LOWS, MIDS, AIR, GLUE, MONO-MKR, WIDENER, LIMITER). I'm biased; mix into a light bus chain first with any tools, and any mastering chain will have more to work with.

Quick answers

What should be on the mix bus in Logic Pro? On the Stereo Out: Gain for level and mono checks, Channel EQ with a 20 to 30 Hz low cut, the Compressor on Vintage VCA at 2:1 with 1 to 2 dB of reduction, and optionally ChromaGlow at low drive. No limiter.

What are the best Logic Compressor settings for the mix bus? Vintage VCA circuit, ratio 2:1, attack 10 to 30 ms, release on Auto, threshold set for 1 to 2 dB of gain reduction on the loudest section, Auto Gain off with Make Up matched to bypass, and the built-in Limiter and Distortion off.

Should I put plugins on the Stereo Out or the Master fader in Logic? The Stereo Out. The Master fader only controls overall volume and has no insert slots.

Should I use Mastering Assistant while mixing in Logic? No. Keep it out of the path while you mix and bounce, and use it, or a mastering chain, on the finished mix as a separate step.