I totally understand. At first I thought I could ditch the Fdeck. But the Cali only addresses what is being compressed. However -- the Fdeck logically is eliminating and/or reducing lower frequencies wherever I set the knee, which means those are being taken out of the picture before the Cali begins processing what's left over. What surprised me was how the side-chain HPF provided additional sonic benefits even after the normal HPF processing.
It's a solid combo, that is for sure! And I expect the FDeck in front improves how the Cali performs overall, especially in conjunction with that side-chain HPF. Glad to hear it is working well for you
I used to put my HPF last in-chain, but re-ordered things a while back so that it goes before the compressor. So I certainly see the benefits to your selection. You'll have to forgive me, I read your message and thought you were expecting that Cali HPF to be a "separate" effect, but it's clear I was mistaken!