Virtual Drums/Percussion

I did not have any compatibility issues while using Addictive Drums by XLN Audio. The manual included with the product is very practical , you get a full understanding of the channels , the groove elements and the effects page. The general setup is quite simple and fast , no difficult tweaking required. The typical functions are well designed , you get multiple pages with effects racks and you get another page of the drums in their initial state. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE The software works decent , the program has a nice stability , no bugs or delays in maintaining the groove. I'm getting very nice performances while using this drum kit , I've been using it for a while now , I suppose about 2 years. OVERALL OPINION What I like most about this product , are the 3 kits provided with the program , the additional drum elements like toms and rides are also present. I also like the fact that you have effects for each channel , you have an eq , a compressor , a limiter and a dist effect. A lot of presets are also included with the program , different grooves sorted by genre , bpm and length , you get also a bus channel that has a low pass and hi pass filter included. The control that you have over the pitch , sound texture , volume , levels , is very handy and well designed. My opinion about the value for the price is awesome , you get this realistic sample based drum kit at a decent price. Precision and quality of the sound 10/10. I've tried several drum kits , there's something unique about this product , the quality , the presets , the midi library , the sync with your Daw , everything is great. Knowing what I know , I would buy this product if I'll need something that can be used in different songs.

FXpansion BFD2 Acoustic Drum Module does not use much CPU/RAM or hard disk space. It will work with a Windows system running XP, or Vista. It will also work great on a Mac computer as well if you have 10.4 OSX or higher. My laptop only has 1 GB of Ram and it worked just fine I just had to have a connection to the internet so it can be authorized (you will have to have an internet connection to authorize this product). There are a total of 32 outputs on this Module, that means that I was able to bring in plenty of external effects and plug ins from other sources. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE All of the sounds are very warm and real, they are all recorded in a professional studio with amazing quality and ambiance. The hi hats sound very good and so do the crashes, they are some of the most real live sounding samples that I have heard this far. The interface is simple to work with because it is designed with the “new” user in mind. Though I have used many other products similar to this one it was still nice to know that they have a watered down interface that is easy to start with a learn from. There are also some very good mixing options to work with like routing, dynamics and EQ. I hae even routed audio from 16 mono outputs to other VST hosts. OVERALL OPINION There are plenty of grooves in this software, I am pretty sure there are over 5 thousand of them and they can be changed to go with whichever style of music that I am working on at the time making this software very versatile for me. There are so many options that you have with this VST, and so many different things that you can do with it. The interface does not seem like it because it is very basic compared to other interfaces. If you take the time to understand everything or refer to the manual you will really understand how to work with this plug in and get the best possible results out of it.

FXPansion Guru has been replaced by Geist years ago but if you can still get your hands on it I recommend getting it right away. Guru has some really good features and is packed with beat boxes and loop machines/samples that you can tweak very easily right in your DAW. If you choose you can use it as a stand alone unit, but in Cubase it worked perfectly and never crashed or slowed down my system at all. Even though it is discontinued I still have it installed on my laptop and use it frequently. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE There are some high quality built in effects that I really did enjoy working with like the delays and bit crusher effects and resonant filters. There is just about any type of effect you could ever need right in this VST. Guru was very easy to install only taking a few moments and it is very CPU friendly as well as user friendly. The interface was not confusing and it was simple to understand. There is also a manual that came with it that thoroughly explains everything or can be used as a reference manual. OVERALL OPINION The sounds are all high quality, but I like to experiment with Guru and run different drums through different filters to create some cool stuff. I even run some of the patches/drums through external filters in my FX rack to see what kind of new sound that I can get. Guru has been a joy to work with but since it has been replaced you will not be able to find much support or tutorials for it online anymore. Geist is also very good and it is worth the purchase if you don’t want to get Guru and just get the upgrade. FXPansion’s Guru is worth the money spent because of the features and capabilities that it has. I recommend installing it on a Windows system because it has been known to have some issues with OS X systems.

Groove Agent 3 has two new pieces called the Special Agent and the Percussion Agent. The Special Agent has a very real studio drummer to your song or set up and some really good acoustic drum kits. The Percussion Agent is more for the grooves, beats, and patterns. But the ability to create all of my drum needs in Groove Agent 3 has been awesome! SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE Installing Groove Agent 3 worked well with my Mac that has 2 GB of RAM and 4 GB of HD space. I am running a G5 2 GHZ system that has dual core processing. It has never crashed or caused any problems on my Mac and on my PC running Windows 7 it runs good, but not as fast as it does on my Mac probably due to the 1 GB of RAM on my Windows 7. OVERALL OPINION I have reached out to Steinberg many times for support issues and they have always helped me without any charge. This program is very easy to use and operate and the interface is easy to work with and it is no confusing. All of the sounds are of great quality and has that “real” drummer feel to it with the patterns and kits. I have many drum programs, and the reason that Groove Agent 3 is different is because it has a smoother more user friendly interface and great kits to go along with it. Also it comes with enough kits (without having to purchase expansions) to cover all of my styles of music that I create. The fills and effects are very good and I recommend purchasing Groove Agent 3 for that alone. The humanized effects are a joy to work with and the price of this plug in makes it a must have in my book. It works perfectly and does not crash at all.

ToonTrack DFH Superior can run on Windows computers as well as Mac computers. They did discontinue it not long after it came out for some reason but there are other versions of ToonTrack available. I was using DFH Superior back in 2007 before it was discontinued, but I am sure it still can be purchased or downloaded online from somewhere. It came with over 30 gigabytes of data and had some very good snares, kicks , toms, and cymbals all feeling very real and humanized to give a real drummer experience and sound all coming from a VST. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE Installing DFH Superior did take a little more time, at the time I was using a Windows XP laptop and it took a few minutes to load all of the sounds because there are a lot of time. The interface of this program was awful to me though because it had so many options and seemed to be so crowded and overdone. But using this program you will get the best “real” drummer sound that you can ever possibly want out of the digital world. The price was only around 200 dollars at the time and that was a very good priced for a software like this back in 2007. OVERALL OPINION With the interface being as complicated and in depth as it is, it was a huge turn off for me and made me not want to work with this program much because there are so many easier software’s that are similar. If the interface was cleaner I would have felt a lot different about this plug in. This program was very CPU heavy and took up a lot of computer space. Just loading in all of the sounds took some time. ToonTrack has come out with other versions of it that are more user friendly and easier to work with. But unfortunately they have changed some of the kits, if they kept some of the same kits and feel that they had with the DFH Superior, the newer versions would be so much better.

Rayzoon Jamstix 2 is an advanced VST drumming program that will works with many DAW’s and production programs. I have used it with Cubase and FL Studio many times. It comes with a built in mixer and compressor and has some of the best drum samples that I have heard out of these types of VST’s. You can easily use the MIDI outputs or Key Mapping features to work with EZ Drummer or Addictive Drums which I both own. I would not say that Jamstix 2 is better than Addictive Drums or EQ Drummer but it works and sounds great. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE Installing it was very quick and easy and it seems to be very stable. It has not crashed nor does it use much CPU to run it multiple times. The drum library is over 1 GB packed with sounds and you can even purchase other kits. One feature that I really liked with the Rayzoon Jamstix is the real time fill generator. The fill generator works in real time off of the style of song and drummer used. OVERALL OPINION All of the sounds and samples are very good, I do not think they are as good as EZ Drummer though. But if you purchase some of the expansion kits then you will start to get some really good kits, but the basic one that comes with Jamstix 2 does no appeal to me that much. This drum program is worth the money spent because it doesn’t cost that much and it has some really good features. The interface is better than many other drumming VST’s that I have used and it is very user friendly. If you want to see how good it is you can download the demo first before purchasing the full version to see if you will like it. I have been using it for a while and I am very satisfied with this software though I prefer EZ Drummer over Jamstix.

The Toontrack Superior Drummer 2.0 installed on my computer running Windows XP without any problems. It ran very well and never crashed or gave me any sorts of glitches or issues. I have also used it on a Windows 7 and Windows Vista computer and it ran just as fine on those. It can also be used on a Mac too! All of the drum samples are recorded at high quality studios by Pat Thrall and Neil Dorfsman who are well known in this field. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE I have used Superior Drummer 2.0 in Logic, FL Studio, Ableton Live and Cubase. It runs pretty much the same in all applications and does not use too much CPU. I can even combine all of my sound libraries from Superior and EZDrummer together no matter which version I have. OVERALL OPINION The sounds are pretty good; the quality of them is amazing I just wish it would have come with some more versatile kits. I also feel like the price of Superior Drummer 2.0 is a little too expensive. Paying this amount of money I expected a lot more from ToonTrack. I have a U control MIDI controller that I use to play the drum samples with through my DAW and it works great. I do love using this program for drum patterns as well because there are some really good ones and I also love the fills that it has with it. I have used other plug ins that are virtually the same as this one. Superior Drummer 2.0 doesn’t stick out to me nor do I think it is better than other drum sample based programs. If it was a little cheaper I would think a lot more highly of it. But all in all, it does have some good sounds and kits that have been very useful for me. I have been using it for months now and so far I am satisfied.

The Classic EZX is a multi-sampled drum library. I have to give Toontrack credit for really increasing the sound quality of the newer EZX packs by using a lot more velocity layers/round-robin samples and also including more kit pieces. Compared to older EZX packs, the new ones are a lot larger and sound much closer to the 'professional' SDX libraries than an 'amateur' EZX library. This EZX pack is also really great to use inside of SD2 rather than EZX. You can control the mic bleed for all the instruments in SD2 if you don't want your cymbals washing in your room mics. You can also layer multiple kit pieces using X-drum in SD2. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE I would definitely recommend this EZX for anyone using EZ Drummer or Superior Drummer 2. Compared to the stock EZ Drummer library, the Classic EZX is significantly better in sound quality and versatility. I have several other drum software libraries (BFD2, NI Studio Drummer, SSD4, Addictive Drums) and I find that these Classic drums are perfect for songs if I am going for the 60s/70s thick and dry drum sound. Don't be put off by the fact that these are an EZX and not an SDX, they sound great. I also like that the drums sound great as soon as you load them up without a lot of tweaking. This saves time when I am doing a major session. The library is easy to install, and can be downloaded off the Toontrack webpage. Authorization is really simple for all the Toontrack products. Assuming you are interested in the Classic EZX because you already own EZ Drummer or SD2, everything is pretty much the same getting started with the software. OVERALL OPINION The Classic EZX is an expansion sample library for Toontrack EZ Drummer and can also be used with SD2. This EZX actually appears as two separate EZX libraries inside of EZ Drummer because it comes with two different mic setups. First, all the drums were recorded with the typical mic setup with close mics on every drum and also OH and Room mics. The second mic setup is a 4 mic setup with close mics on the kick and snare with one overhead over the snare and the other overhead next to the ride. The second mic setup is truly old school (ala 4 track tape machine) and goes great with these drums if you are going for the 'Classic' old school sound. Having both options makes the library very versatile from 60s/70s era drum sounds to more modern pop/rock sounds.

If you are not familiar with sampled drum libraries, the idea is to record the drums just as they would be in a typical recording session. In this case, individual drums are recorded with close mics, but also are recorded with overhead mics and room mics. The software used to playback the samples triggers all the different samples (close, OH, Room) at the same time and can be mixed just like a regular drum session. Not only are these drums recorded with the different microphones, but they are recorded at different velocity (soft to loud) levels. The basic premise of recording the drums this way has dramatically increased the realism of sampled drums since the days of the single sample drum wav file. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE The Roots SDX works almost the exact same as the regular SD2 library. If you are familiar to SD2, then Roots will be familiar. Installation takes a long time because there are a lot of DVDs to be copied. You can install smaller versions of the software, but it is kind of silly to purchase the Roots SDX, but then install a `lite' version of the software. If you are worried about you CPU being able to handle the full library, just purchase the Jazz SDX instead. It will save you some money, and the samples come from the exact same recording session. But, if you are a 'tweaker', step up to the big time with Roots SDX. This library is perfect of jazz/blues styles of music. As the name suggests, it is also the best SDX library if you want acoustic drums for any kind of 'urban' music. Obviously if you want drums for hard rock or metal, choose a different SDX than Roots. OVERALL OPINION The Toontrack Roots SDX is an expansion library to be used with the main Superior Drummer 2 software. The Roots SDX can be purchased as a 'sticks' only library. a 'brushes' only library, or a combo pack of both. Regardless you need to have SD2 installed to be able to use this SDX because Roots is not a stand-alone software. There aren't a lot of kit pieces available in this SDX, especially compared to other expansion libraries like Custom & Vintage that have tons and tons of different drums and cymbals. Rather the Roots SDX is fewer kit pieces, but tons and tons of mic channels from the session. For instance, rather than a single pair of overhead microphones, there are multiple pairs of Overhead mics. The same goes for the room mics. There are a full range of Room mics from 'close' to 'distant' providing different levels of ambiance. This is how the library becomes extremely versatile. You can get a dry/tight mix going with one drum kit, but also get a huge drum sound with the same kit if you mix in the room mics.

The Metal Foundry SDX is made by Toontrack and it is the metal expansion pack that our group was looking for. We have been through a lot of different expansion packs but none of them had that metal feel. We heard about The Metal Foundry after spending hours online researching for metal packs. We had a chance to check out some of the sounds that come with this pack before purchasing it. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE Some of the kicks that made us want this pack so bad were the Ludwig Amber Vistalite and the DW Collectors Series kicks. All of the samples are really good though; those were just the ones we had the chance to try out before we made the purchase. After hearing some of the snares like the Tomas Haake Engineering 7x13 snare and the Pearl Free Floating 5x14 there was no question we were going to spend the money and get this pack right away. OVERALL OPINION Installing the Foundry SDX was not that quick though; for some reason all of these drum samples take a long time to load into the computer. But it was well worth the wait because now we have every single drum sound that we need to have for our style of music. I really like all of the grooves are very good and the fills too, you can play around and switch the drums up to give it a different feel. It comes with your complete drum sounds from kicks and snares to toms and cymbals/hats. There is nothing that you do not get with this pack. If you need metal or rock drums this is the pack to get. This is by far the best metal drum kit you will find online or in a store. If you need to hear some of the samples just check on the website to hear how great the drums are. You will be hooked after the demo!

Volume 3 of the Toontrack New York Studio is an expansion pack for anyone who has ToonTrack. It has over 18 GB of sound and is compatible with Mac and PC computers. This expansion was a must have for myself and my group because we have been using ToonTrack for years now and it is always a huge bonus when they come out with these expansion packs because of the quality. Installing this expansion pack was easy due to the fact that you already have the main software installed. It does take a few moments though to load in the 18 plus Gig of sound into your system but it is well worth the wait. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE All of the sounds/presets are set up into categories like they were on volume 1 and volume 2. You can easily scroll through the sounds manually or you can get right to the sound you want to get to by going through the categories. There are also a lot of great fills for your chorus, intro, outro’s, and bridges. The fills have always been one of my favorite aspects of Toontrack because it gives you realistic fills if you are looking to have that authentic drummer sound and feel with your music. OVERALL OPINION All of the sounds that come with Volume 3 are very good just like the previous 2 versions. They are of great quality and recorded in the best possible studio they could be recorded in. This pack works with Superior Drummer 2.0 and EZdrummer (which is what I use). This is the newest pack from Toontrack and it is by far the best New York Studio volume that they have come out with so far. The main creator of this pack is Nir Z, he has been on tour with John Mayer and Jason Mraz. So I knew that it would be great, I love all of the fills and sounds. They really keep my creative juices flowing while giving me realist drums from a pro!

Battery is a software application and plug-in that can be used as a stand-alone software instrument, or as a plug-in inside a DAW. Battery is a huge library of drum samples. This includes 'acoustic' sounds as well as 'synthetic' sounds. The synthetic drum samples include samples from analog drum machines and also sample from digital drum machines. There are also a large amount of pre-processed/treated/effected drum samples included if you don't want to spend the time to tweak raw or stale sounding drum samples. Battery can be purchased on its own from Native Instruments, however I received it as part of the Native Instruments Komplete Bundle. It can be downloaded off the NI website and installed. Authorization is completed using the NI Service Center application. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE Battery is really easy to use, mostly because it has one purpose - trigger drum samples. It is simple to load the included samples with Battery, and also load samples that weren't included in the library if you have some of your own that you would like to use. There is a lot of editing that can be done with the samples like: effects, adsr envelope, etc. One of the best effects is the 'saturation'. It is really useful for making the drum samples 'punch' in a mix. I have always wished that Battery included a sequencer for drum pattern editing. My wish came true with NI released Maschine, but I would have rather seen it included in Battery earlier. Having a library of patterns would have also been helpful. OVERALL OPINION Native Instruments have clearly moved on from Battery to Maschine as their synth-drum software of the future. However, Battery has a lot to offer Komplete users that don't want to purchase Maschine. The classic synth drum sounds are all included (808, 909, Linn, etc) and there are plenty of unique sampled drums included as well. This library was really designed to compete with BFD2, Superior Drummer 2, Addictive Drumms, Steven Slate Drums, etc. You should look into the NI Studio Drummer Series if you want realistic multi-sampled drum sounds. Battery still gets use in my studio for layering individual drum samples.