How to give sub bass more presence without dominating the low end?

Mult out additional copies of each instrument with valuable sub content, eq or multi band all freq content out of those new mults so all that is left is sub freqs. Now compress/limit the duplicated tracks with sub content til they have relatively stable dynamic movement---perhaps use linearphase down expansion to balance sustain of these sub tracks as well after applying downwardcompression/limiting. Now that you've got usable content, dbl check the original tracks from which you dublicated (and other ones as well) don't have competing sub freq content----eq or mb compress sub freq from other until balanced or removed for the new sub freq tracks can exist in the mix unobstructed . All that might seem like a bunch of work, but given how sub frequency commands attention from master comp / limiter it's imperative to have easy access to sub content when automating/emphasizing sub throughout a song
 
saturation to thicken up the middle/upper frequencies...

This is assuming you're already cutting out the low frequencies from your other tracks (ex: most parts with keys you could cut out everything below 150, maybe even all the way up to 250hz)
 
Aside from the obvious:
-Gating.. make sure only one thing is going on at a time. If stuff doesn't overlap, it can't clash ;)
-Delay: as in delay the whole subbass track a bit.. if your kick and sub are hitting at the exact same time, that's an awful lot of low end energy. It basically means they both can only be half of the maximum volume.
So offsetting the entire subbass part a tiny bit so it hits just after the kick saves you a bit of headroom.
-Harmonics: suppress the root frequency and boost the harmonic frequencies.

An old trick I used was to run the sub through a reverb, sample it, bring it down to mono and remove the reverb tail. What that does is introduce some harmonics from the reflection, livening it up a bit without
sounding like real distortion.

And the one thing to ALWAYS keep in mind when mixing sub is that (unless you have a really professional studio) you're dealing with frequencies that probably hardly even register on your kit,
and even then need a properly sized and treated room to articulate well. You're not supposed to hear subs, but feel them.. and you're probably not mixing at a loud enough volume for that (if you are, I pity your ears)
... all of that means you'll have a tendency to overdo them if you're mixing at home. Even on great speakers. If you blow it up to club size sound, it's gonna have way too much bass and sound muddy as hell: basscake!
So moderation is always key... even to the point of keeping it low in the mix and then enhancing it across the entire track (or sections of it). It's a cheap trick, but it can sound really good.
 
In addition to what was already said - you don't always have to try and process the sub itself to have more harmonics that cut through the mix; sometimes you can leave the sub as it is and simply double up the bassline with a higher-octave instrument (which doesn't always even need to have "bassy" qualities, since your sub bass is already doing that - it's simply handling the "being heard" part - get creative with it).
 
Never really put much though into sub bass, as that usually consists of me using just any waveform at a low octave.
 
Proper gain staging when mixing, experimenting with different waveforms (as mentioned above), side-chain multiband compression or shelving eq should do that trick. Don't forget about proper HP filters on other tracks. It all depends on the song though.
 
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I've had the same problem trying to get the sub bass to bump super heavy like Bassnectar. It usually ends up just quieting the rest of my tracks if I just turn up the sub bass, weird, but there's a reason.

Just cause of the nature of sound waves, low frequencies (especially sub bass) are harder to hear even at the same levels as other stuff. There's also a thing called destructive interference that makes your songs sound weak and quieter when there's a lot going on at the same frequency (that's why you gotta EQ!).

There are two things I've discovered to help alleviate these issues.
1) Cut the low frequencies out of everything except (obviously) the bass.
- I usually do this by setting a high pass filter to around 100-150hz (sometimes higher)
2) Create a separate bass to fill out the other sound frequencies (remember to high pass this so it doesn't interfere with the other bass)
- I set mine to a saw tooth wave, with an LFO hooked to an evolope filter on the bass (to get wubby dubstep kinda sound). There's also a tube distortion on there to add some extra harmonic frequencies, you can add to your tastes

Somehow the higher frequency bass notes trick your brain into thinking the bass is louder. If you set up everything well you should be able to maintain that bump of the sub bass while having the clarity of the higher bass notes.

I use Reason 5 btw and just started doing this. Got a track in my signature with an example of the regular sub bass
 
depending on what music you are making.... if u want that pure low sub for crap and hip hop, you probably want to cut most things about 300 or even less.. depending on your kick, what that hits at as well, you can usually balance things with side chaining etc... and also, you can get thick sub synths that just seem to fit nicely without any real effort.. :)
 
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