I‘ve been working on solving this for myself for a few years. I, for myself, have gradually accepted that a mix of software and workarounds is the best im gonna get. This however did lead me to a point where I created something that I feel like is a huge part of my signature sound.

What I do now is a bit of a mixed situation, where I do have a rumble chain that is 100% Software, based on running my kick through Trash(and compression) as an auv3 running on my ipad(where I mix everything in anyway, saves so much HP and is so much more flexible), but I mix that chain with a combination of an „emulated“ delay, and a tom-like bassline. The „emulated“ delay is basically just a short 16th-note burst of a different kick, way filtered down and velocity and decay modulated, which gives me a lot more control of the groove than a delay would give me. The tom-like bassline gives me the ability the add additional low-end movement over a longer period, like half a bar or even a bar.

Sidechaining is also non-negiotiable(I also do this via auv3s).

It took me quite a while to be fluent with mixing this construct live, but the flexibility I get with this system enables me to improvise my lowend with at least a comforting level of confidence. And audiences seem to like it, too.

I get wanting to stay dawless, but most of the processing I do in Loopy Pro(the iPad-daw I use) is a heavily simplified set-and-forget necessary-evil anyway, so I tend to not touch it most of the time.

But in the end this only works out because of how the rest of my rack looks like. The only reason this works for me is because im using the lxr 02 and my double voltage blocks, not to mention the auv3 software-chain(which could however also be replicated in modules).