Best Virtual Drums?

[esizer]

I currently have EZdrummer and it does ok but I love home recording and want to improve the sound quality all around. What program sounds the best? Or better yet, what is the best way to set up virtual drums to sound their best? I know this is a very broad question but I'm interested to hear what y'all have to say.

[colejustesen]

It seems like there is a lot of love for the Steven Slate stuff. I have heard clips and it does sound amazing. I have been using both EZdrummer and Fxpansion BFD Eco and much prefer the sound of the Fxpansion stuff. I want to get their BFD2 stuff, but it is a bit spendy, though not as spendy as the Steven Slate stuff. I got the BFD Eco for a good deal (~ $30 but is usually $100) around Christmas time, so I thought I would try it.

I don't use any kind of MIDI device to trigger them though. I was cheating and using Guitar Pro to save MIDI files of guitar tabs of songs that I liked. I imported those into my DAW and used them as a backing track per se. I would like to get a keyboard at some time to actually create my own drum samples.

These aren't the best eq'd samples as this is still fairly new to me, but you can hear the difference between the two programs.

EZdrummer:
https://soundcloud.com/col-justesen/paralyzer-ezdrummer

BFD Eco:
https://soundcloud.com/col-justesen/paralyzer-bfd-eco

I hope that it helps you out... I really prefer the sound of the BFD stuff...

Cole

[exafro]

I have Slate 4 and it sounds pretty awesome. What it really boils down to is if you want to dive into processing the drums yourself or if you want to just program some them and have em ready for a mix. The Slate stuff is great for just plopping down into a song, but they don't have the same flexibility that something like Superior Drummer affords you.

[IAmTheKurgan]

http://www.bluenoiseplugins.com/plugins/drummix/

Download the beta plugin. I use this free drum plugin. It's a micd up Ludwig kit. Raw and uncompressed. They sound great for what they are.

[colejustesen]

http://www.bluenoiseplugins.com/plugins/drummix/

Download the beta plugin. I use this free drum plugin. It's a micd up Ludwig kit. Raw and uncompressed. They sound great for what they are.

Those actually sound really good! For $30 that is a pretty good sounding set!

Cole

[IAmTheKurgan]

http://www.bluenoiseplugins.com/plugins/drummix/

Download the beta plugin. I use this free drum plugin. It's a micd up Ludwig kit. Raw and uncompressed. They sound great for what they are.

Those actually sound really good! For $30 that is a pretty good sounding set!

Cole

Yea and the beta version one is free too \m/

www.reverbnation.com/kurgan

I used the beta plugin for all of the songs on there

[colejustesen]

http://www.bluenoiseplugins.com/plugins/drummix/

Download the beta plugin. I use this free drum plugin. It's a micd up Ludwig kit. Raw and uncompressed. They sound great for what they are.

Those actually sound really good! For $30 that is a pretty good sounding set!

Cole

Yea and the beta version one is free too \m/

http://www.reverbnation.com/kurgan

I used the beta plugin for all of the songs on there

Those drums sound pretty darn good for free!

Cole

[Audiofan]

Hi! You can also check out this recent top vst drums list here for a few more options....

[colejustesen]

Just to let you know, FXpansion is running a sale on BFD Eco for $29 right now. It is originally $99... Might be worth looking into

Cole

[Nixerx]

SSD is nicer sounding than Superior.

[ajaxlepinski]

Damage by Native Instruments is really, really good.

[esizer]

I totally forgot I even made this thread. Thanks guys!

[mrelusive]

alright. Luddite checking in here. Downloaded this. I have no idea how to use it. The only other drum programs i've used have been completely separate from my DAW. I'd make a beat, export the .wav file and use that in n-Track studio.

This should apparently just open in my DAW, right? How?!

[esizer]

alright. Luddite checking in here. Downloaded this. I have no idea how to use it. The only other drum programs i've used have been completely separate from my DAW. I'd make a beat, export the .wav file and use that in n-Track studio.

This should apparently just open in my DAW, right? How?!

Which one did you get?

[mrelusive]

alright. Luddite checking in here. Downloaded this. I have no idea how to use it. The only other drum programs i've used have been completely separate from my DAW. I'd make a beat, export the .wav file and use that in n-Track studio.

This should apparently just open in my DAW, right? How?!

Which one did you get?

ha, my bad. I got the Drummix beta plugin

[esizer]

alright. Luddite checking in here. Downloaded this. I have no idea how to use it. The only other drum programs i've used have been completely separate from my DAW. I'd make a beat, export the .wav file and use that in n-Track studio.

This should apparently just open in my DAW, right? How?!

Which one did you get?

ha, my bad. I got the Drummix beta plugin

Which DAW are you using? Most of them you have to load the VST, then make a virtual instrument track.

[Sasquatch]

I have Slate 4 and it sounds pretty awesome. What it really boils down to is if you want to dive into processing the drums yourself or if you want to just program some them and have em ready for a mix. The Slate stuff is great for just plopping down into a song, but they don't have the same flexibility that something like Superior Drummer affords you.

this.

EZ drummer sounds great as a raw recording but isn't mix ready.

[Elessar [Sly]]

[nightflameauto]

I'm a fan of Addictive Drums. It comes with a bunch of preset kits with all the processing already built in, and gives you the option of raw/unprocessed sounds as you move on with it. You also have the choice of processing inside the plugin, or routing each "channel" to a strip in the DAW for processing. It's flexible and sounds a million times better than the built in samples in Logic.

[mrelusive]

Which DAW are you using? Most of them you have to load the VST, then make a virtual instrument track.

I'm using n-track. I can load the vst in a new instrument track, but i can't figure out how to make beats. Do i need to use the piano roll / midi or something?

[mrelusive]

nevermind, figured it out!

[Bardagh]

I'm a fan of Addictive Drums. It comes with a bunch of preset kits with all the processing already built in, and gives you the option of raw/unprocessed sounds as you move on with it. You also have the choice of processing inside the plugin, or routing each "channel" to a strip in the DAW for processing. It's flexible and sounds a million times better than the built in samples in Logic.

Addictive Drums is a great option and often overlooked, particularly now that it is kind of long in the tooth. They really need to make a new version and redeem themselves after some of the awful expansions they have released. I used it for a while and still find it to have some of the most natural feeling velocity changes and really useful integrated processing options. Where it falls short to me is in the cymbal options and general sound of the overheads. I also never really liked any of the toms too much.

I did find it a bit easier to program them to sound and feel "real" compared to SSD4 which I use most of the time now. FWIW Slate is pretty limited in the cymbal area as well, and folks either love or hate the sound of the OH stuff because it seems rather colored by something in the original recording chain. Tubes or transformers in the mic pres/compressors or something...

[Loins of Fire]

Doesnt get any better than Superior Drummer with some expansions imo.

[nakedzen]

Currently using Slate. They sit in a mix really well, although they are sort of narrow/small sounding somehow. I fixed that by putting the Finnvox Studios drum room impulse (search youtube for "finnvox plate reverb" if you want it) and some psychoacoustic widening from Ozone 5 on the drum bus though.

[Santuzzo]

I'm a huge fan of Addictive Drums.
To me it is easier to work with than SD2, since it's less complicated but still offers you all the flexibility you need to get YOUR drum sound.

I used AD on my EP, if you want to have listen, link's in my sig below.