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tarrtime « Most Natural Sounding Drum Sampler »
Published on 11/30/12 at 17:44Superior Drummer 2.0 is the flagship drum sample playback engine from Toontrack. It takes a little while to install the full software from all the DVDs, although you can choose to install fewer samples (fewer velocity layers, skip mic bleed samples) if desired or if your computer can't handle the playback. I chose the full install, but found that in practice and the mic bleed options are overkill and I hardly ever use them.
SD2 can be triggered from e-drums, a midi keyboard, or the internal midi library. The initial midi mapping is pretty intuitive. Layering multiple kit pieces with 'x-drum' is much less intuitive. Toontrack provides some videos worth watching to get up to speed on 'x-drum' and midi mapping.
The internal mixer works like a mixer in a DAW, so it is will be familiar to most users. The internal effects are decent compared to the the internal effects in other drum samplers (BFD2, Addictive drums. even the effects in Kontakt as a host for Studio Drummer). However, I suggest skipping the internal effects and use the multi-out option to send the unprocessed drums to your DAW. Using the effects processing plug-ins in your DAW will produce the best results.
SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE
Superior Drummer excels above the other drum software programs at producing the most natural sounding drums. Other software are more versatile (BFD2), while other other software sounds processed/radio-ready (SSD4). SD2 sounds the most like you are standing in the control room during a recording session. All the bleed options can make for a very realistic drum performance.
My favorite aspect of the software are the tom samples. I think the toms in SD2 are much better than the toms in other software. I don't think the crash and ride cymbals in SD2 are as good as the cymbals in other software (BFD2/Zildjian Digital Vault). The hi-hats work very well with v-drums, which has been a problem in other software.
There are few expansion packs available for SD2 if you want metal/country/jazz/vintage sounding drums. In my opinion, you can pretty much achieve any kind of musical style with the standard samples in SD2. The samples are recorded completely dry/unprocessed. The different musical styles of drum sounds are based more on post-processing than which brand of drum is recorded.
OVERALL OPINION
Superior Drummer 2.0 has many features that are top-of-the-line for sampled drum software. The interface is well laid out, and the samples were recorded perfectly natural. The SDX expansion packs also were recorded the same level of detail (if not more). If you are a tweakhead, you will never get board with all the internal routing and mic bleed in the software. If you want ultra-realistic, natural sounding drums, your best bet is SD2.
SD2 can be triggered from e-drums, a midi keyboard, or the internal midi library. The initial midi mapping is pretty intuitive. Layering multiple kit pieces with 'x-drum' is much less intuitive. Toontrack provides some videos worth watching to get up to speed on 'x-drum' and midi mapping.
The internal mixer works like a mixer in a DAW, so it is will be familiar to most users. The internal effects are decent compared to the the internal effects in other drum samplers (BFD2, Addictive drums. even the effects in Kontakt as a host for Studio Drummer). However, I suggest skipping the internal effects and use the multi-out option to send the unprocessed drums to your DAW. Using the effects processing plug-ins in your DAW will produce the best results.
SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE
Superior Drummer excels above the other drum software programs at producing the most natural sounding drums. Other software are more versatile (BFD2), while other other software sounds processed/radio-ready (SSD4). SD2 sounds the most like you are standing in the control room during a recording session. All the bleed options can make for a very realistic drum performance.
My favorite aspect of the software are the tom samples. I think the toms in SD2 are much better than the toms in other software. I don't think the crash and ride cymbals in SD2 are as good as the cymbals in other software (BFD2/Zildjian Digital Vault). The hi-hats work very well with v-drums, which has been a problem in other software.
There are few expansion packs available for SD2 if you want metal/country/jazz/vintage sounding drums. In my opinion, you can pretty much achieve any kind of musical style with the standard samples in SD2. The samples are recorded completely dry/unprocessed. The different musical styles of drum sounds are based more on post-processing than which brand of drum is recorded.
OVERALL OPINION
Superior Drummer 2.0 has many features that are top-of-the-line for sampled drum software. The interface is well laid out, and the samples were recorded perfectly natural. The SDX expansion packs also were recorded the same level of detail (if not more). If you are a tweakhead, you will never get board with all the internal routing and mic bleed in the software. If you want ultra-realistic, natural sounding drums, your best bet is SD2.