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I have done everything in my power to frequently test all the major drum programs in various ways over the years and the Abbey kits always win out in the end for me....though I quite like the craviotto kick and the supraphonic snare in the 4 mic set up of this new EZ CLASSIC and Im sure to give em a go. BFD NEVER wins out for me so I just refuse to bother anymore....and though the ADDICTIVE kits sound sorta cool - they remind me too much of a drum machine so I barely touch em...it would be in XLN's interest to bring something new out to match the competition....for some reason the TOONTRACK EVIL drum kits just dont seem to work for my music and Ive always been disappointed in that....but all other TOONTRACK shit is great....so for me its Toontrack (music city, allaire, avatar, C&V, and metal)and Abbey kits!!!

I route the Abbey channels seperately and work on each component with EQ in particular in Studio one then bounce each one down individually (to later work upon in Samplitude).
They sound great once you throw an eq onto the direct mic and scour for annoying frequencies so dont be put off if you have given something a quick listen and opted not to use it...dont forget, these people have used the best drums, the best mics, the best pre-amps and mixers, etc...the rest is up to us to shape things (just like the 'pros' do!!). I am extremely particular (to a fault??) and the Abbey stuff wins for me 9 times out of ten.

Drums are interesting cause more than anything else - for the most part - we all probably spend more time on them than anything else trying to get the right sound - the right feel - the right liveliness (or deadness) etc....I can work on them all day long and my daughter wonders how I can do it - but she isnt hearing all the little tweaks Im doing...lol...it all sounds the same to her!!!
And, sadly, it may well be that the general punter couldnt give a shit in the end anyway...lol...but I find it enjoyable for some odd reason.

Oh and one last thing...I MUCH prefer kits to be unprocessed and fx free....its much better to ONLY have the recorded samples so I can then fuck with them in MY OWN WAY.
I have two final words for you...lol...and never forget them....
SUBTRACTIVE EQ!!!

Thoughts???

peace to all........

comments

  Resident 16.09.2010 1416
+144
The Abbey road drums take too long to load, or I would use them, I predominantly use The Superior Avatar set.
Yaaaaawn
  Resident 21.11.2010 34
+1
It would be nice to know which Abbey Road Drums you use. The 60's, 70's, 80's, or Modern? All of the above?
  guest -- 0
0
Do you have an audio demo on soundcloud or somewhere else? I'm curious...
Personnaly I used Superior's avatar kit on this one...
http://soundcloud.com/deadwhitehorse/gary-numan-sc
anner-dwhs-remix
any advise?
  Resident 14.11.2008 7 91
+4
boing peng boom cha..... is history repating itsself? Is Life just an endless repitition?
Do you want to invent the wheel again?

How many thousands number one chart breaker were produced with sounds and drum samples no one would use today....but they did and it worked ....so, every one here has to decide which way to go....cutting edge ultry crisp and clean 196 khz with 32 bit and 7.1 surround or maybe better some stereo mp3....you have the choice.
  Resident 26.05.2010 3 325
+47
@ lee1970

You forgot to mention what kind of music you make, would be interesting to know in this context.
I second the request for a sound-sample smile


  Resident 15.11.2009 26
0
bfd for me always wins... i use to load a single piece, record
and than mix all the resulting waves together... nothing
is more realistic than bfd for me..
  guest -- 0
0
Due to my background in producing hip-hop and urban music i tend to use samplers such as NI Battery and Poise however, i do come across times where i want to use a realistic kits for my productions and once upon a time i use to use the Toontrack EZ Drummer which i was always satisfied with but due the lack of editing you can do i wasn't too happy but then i came across XLN Audio's Addictive Drummer which i absolutely love due to the fact that it has build in filters/eq's/effects that i can use to make the kit sound completely different. The drum tracks sound realistic as well and it doesn't take too long to load on Dual Core processors.

I haven't tried BFD due to its size but im perfectly happy with Addictive drummer.

When inspiration strikes i can't really afford to wait for a drum kit to load, i want something instant and the same goes for my synthesizers. Does anyone else share this feeling?


  Resident 5.03.2009 13 89
+175
I record my own drum set and sample it as well. It's much funner playing to a song you've made than just using samples! Beats it by a long shot! yes lol
TDK
  Resident 11.01.2011 133
+14
BFD2-Pros: Kit choices, mixer, excellent ambience sound, presets, simple to buss individually out to host sequencer, loads fast. Expansion are great.
Cons: Interface could be a little simpler

Addictive Drums:-Pros: Probably the most user-friendly on the market. Drag a drop preset midi pattern into host. Sync to tempo feature is simple. Kit choices. Loads faster than BFD. cpu friendly. bussing out to host is very simple.
Cons: Expansions could be better

Abbey Roads Drums (60, 70, 80, Modern) Pros: Awesome sound, simple interface, abbey road room sound
Cons: loading time. not as much kit choices, very very difficult to buss out separately to host, not sure if its possible. l
  Resident 17.10.2008 539
+129
same here for me, bro

Toontrack SU2.0 (or EZDR) + all their shit, or nothing.

i really couldn't get along with bfd2... its.. well "something" isnt there .. and addictive is just a joke.
  Supplier 30.08.2010 552
+334
ToonTrack products all the way for me and The N.i. drums from time to time. And for those of you complaining about N.i.'s drums taking to long to load then I suggest you take the time out to learn your software. Kontakt has been revised to reduce loading times all you have to do is batch re-save.It's called background loading.

http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/pr
oducer/kontakt-4/?content=1227
Get a job

http://www.audiop2p.com/pre.php
  guest -- 0
0
BATCH RE-SAVE.....Thanks Mykal.... was wondering `bout that... so drum sampler goes like this... addictive = abit synthetic but nice... Superior Drummer 2.0 = title says it all ( realistic drums ) ... BFD = big lag behind SD2.0... NI Abbey = superior realistic sound, but limited options... compared to.... uguessed it... SD2.0...
  Resident 15.06.2009 145
+34
BFD is nice for that lo-fi, indie sound, Superior Drummer for everything else. I've only got Evil Drums, Custom Vintage, Metal Foundry, Metalheads, and Classic but Evil Drums sound the best for general purpose rock stuff. Any advice on what other BFD libraries sound great?
  guest -- 0
0
hey guys...nice to see that Ive begun a topic of interest.
Its good to see varying views as there isnt meant to be a right or wrong approach...just personal opinions, I guess.
As for the dudes comment about using MP3's in songs? well...um....actually I wont even comment on that....lol

A while back I posted some 'presets' that I made for the Abbey kits which enabled seperate routing to the DAW and also individual kit piece loading...I dunno what became of em...maybe theyre around somewhere.

As to what kind of music I make? the easy answer is that I generally make music that requires reaslitc drums....of course there are certain genres where any old drum sound would do...in the right context I would be happy to use an XLN preset if a song needed that sound....I have respect for XLN but as i said, the drums are more like a drum machine sound (imo)....perhaps the simplest test is to compare a particular snare from XLN to the same snare from other products and you will see what I mean (perhaps).

Realistic drums arent only in the quality of drums being used....but also (geez I hate this word) - the 'programming'...making it sound real - and there is no reason at all why programmed drums cant compete with a real drummer so long as you know what you are doing and what is actually possible when drumming (Im not a 'drummer' as you may think but a jack-of-all-trades).

To answer one question, I use all of the Abbey kits depending on what Im after for each song....the rides, cyms, hats are top quality - yet they tend to be the easiest of any drum software to replicate so that may not be saying so much....but the toms are by far the best that I have come across and the kicks and snares are great...the Early 60s Kick may seem a little misleading but I assure you that its great in any rock song today....one thing I will say (and this may be a common thought) is that a lot of the kits sound sorta ok but not great when you load them up....but its what you can do to them that makes them the best (imo)....if you can route them seperately (read above) then you can fuck with the direct mics individually...I mainly only use subtractive eq and save my own presets within Studio One....I may do further enhancements late in my primary DAW to add comp or any further eq.

I agree with the comment from gtrash re: BFD that 'something isnt there'....there seems to be a 'softness'(?) that I dont care for....and yeah, something that I just cant put my finger on...which is a shame....and YES I have tried....oh how I've tried!!!

to be continued......
  Resident 16.09.2010 1416
+144
Quote: Mykal
And for those of you complaining about N.i.'s drums taking to long to load then I suggest you take the time out to learn your software. Kontakt has been revised to reduce loading times all you have to do is batch re-save.It's called background loading.



As far as I know, that only applies if u reload the drums after loading them the first time... If u open a new project.... they load slow as hell....

Correct me If i am wrong... I'd love to be wrong. bow

Edit: I was wrong.. however having to batch-resave 150 gigs of samples seems a bit extreme, they need to have this done when the product is installed. yes

Also... it takes bloody ages, on somerthing like Abbey Road, or Electri6ity.
Yaaaaawn
  guest -- 0
0
I'm not big on Abbey... Sounds amazing but not versatile at all. I just can't see myself using it for every song I use with drums. BFD(2) on the other hand, I'll never run out of options! When I get bored with BFD, I'll use Superior Drummer. If I had to rank them...
1. BFD2
2. Superior Drummer
3. Abbey Road
4. Addictive Drums
5. MicroTonic :)
  Member 4.03.2011 24
+1
The following is all in my humble opinion as a producer who has tried all the drum libraries available on this site (besides BFD)... I make hip hop, orchestral, and pop music... on Mac Pro 12 Core (16GB), via Apogee Symphony System.

Ocean Way Drums (OWD) in my opinion are superior to everything mentioned above. Clear and direct sounding kits that allow you the producer to add as much or as little processing as you prefer. The CA12 mic presets are absolutely refreshing to the ear, as compared to the overused Shure Beta 57 Direct mic presets. It all depends on the user. The problem with OWD is that they don't cooperate well with my Roland TD12 module, so...

I go with Superior Drummer 2.0, running Custom and Vintage, the next best sounding sampler, and the sampler that works well enough with my e-kit, and still sounds pretty amazing. Toontrack's products may not have that top of the crop LA Studio sound that OWD provides, but at least I can play them on my e-kit (still trouble with the hi hat however). Toontrack samples always come across as boxed in (mid-eq heavy) compared to OWD. They don't have the high end clarity that OWD provides.

Addictive Drums plays nicely with the TD12, however, I don't record much rock or metal, which seems to be the niche that AD continues to explore most heavily. Over compressed and the high end bite is a bit too much.

Abbey Road Drums. Great sounds, but very processor intensive, via Kontakt. I was very shocked at how long the samples take to load and how poorly it triggered from my e-kit. It is too bad because I do really enjoy Abbey Road Drums (60s). To be completely honest, I would love to see a video of someone routing the Abbey Kit as mentioned above.

From one user to another, good luck with your endeavors.


  guest -- 0
0

Interesting points! I enjoy reading others opinions/how2 info on apps like these because I'm an idiot and have a hard time getting myself to Read the Manual!

Thanks wink
Mike

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