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tarrtime « Best Entry to Drum Samplers »
Published on 11/30/12 at 15:48EZ Drummer is a sample-playback engine for drums. It can be used as a plug-in inside a DAW, or as a stand-alone application. Toontrack offers a ton of expansion packs that run inside EZ Drummer (or Superior Drummer 2.0), if you want different sounds. There are some pretty good deals offered throughout the year, so I definitely suggest watching the price for a bit if you are looking to purchase it.
Toontrack's installation process is straight-forward (no iLok). Everything about this product really is 'EZ'.
Once installed, the drum samples can be triggered from e-drums, a midi keyboard, or even from the internal midi library of midi drum performances. I think the midi files included in toontrack's products are the easiest to use compared to other products (BFD2, Addictive Drums, NI Studio Drummer, SSD4, etc.). The midi files can be easily dragged into the host DAW for sequencing.
SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE
The samples that come with the base EZ Drummer package are pretty stale in my opinion. The expansion packs have much more usable sounds, and I would recommend looking into the many options to find the pack that fits the style of music you are interested in.
There is one specific (but not completely intuitive) reason I would recommend EZ Drummer. Although the samples included in EZ Drummer aren't great for a final song mix, it is a perfect software package to use during tracking if you are using e-drums or a keyboard to record a drum performance. EZ Drummer is super light on the CPU, which means you can run it at low latency without problems. I always use EZD to track drums because I can use a 32 sample buffer setting to achieve almost no delay while recording. Other software that is heavy on the CPU cannot be run at such a lower buffer setting. That software can just be substituted during mixing when the latency of higher buffer settings (1024 samples) isn't an issue.
OVERALL OPINION
If you don't have access to really nice drums, a nice drum room, nice studio equipment, and a drummer that never makes a mistake, drum samplers are the way to go for recording. There are a lot better sounding drum libraries worth considering if you want to achieve 'semi-professional' sounding drums on your tracks. Toontrack offers some great expansion packs that need to run inside of EZ Drummer, so that is one reason to buy it. It is also a great tool by itself to use during tracking for low latency.
Toontrack's installation process is straight-forward (no iLok). Everything about this product really is 'EZ'.
Once installed, the drum samples can be triggered from e-drums, a midi keyboard, or even from the internal midi library of midi drum performances. I think the midi files included in toontrack's products are the easiest to use compared to other products (BFD2, Addictive Drums, NI Studio Drummer, SSD4, etc.). The midi files can be easily dragged into the host DAW for sequencing.
SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE
The samples that come with the base EZ Drummer package are pretty stale in my opinion. The expansion packs have much more usable sounds, and I would recommend looking into the many options to find the pack that fits the style of music you are interested in.
There is one specific (but not completely intuitive) reason I would recommend EZ Drummer. Although the samples included in EZ Drummer aren't great for a final song mix, it is a perfect software package to use during tracking if you are using e-drums or a keyboard to record a drum performance. EZ Drummer is super light on the CPU, which means you can run it at low latency without problems. I always use EZD to track drums because I can use a 32 sample buffer setting to achieve almost no delay while recording. Other software that is heavy on the CPU cannot be run at such a lower buffer setting. That software can just be substituted during mixing when the latency of higher buffer settings (1024 samples) isn't an issue.
OVERALL OPINION
If you don't have access to really nice drums, a nice drum room, nice studio equipment, and a drummer that never makes a mistake, drum samplers are the way to go for recording. There are a lot better sounding drum libraries worth considering if you want to achieve 'semi-professional' sounding drums on your tracks. Toontrack offers some great expansion packs that need to run inside of EZ Drummer, so that is one reason to buy it. It is also a great tool by itself to use during tracking for low latency.