XLN Audio

XLN Audio’s Addictive Drums is very easy to use and does not take long to understand at all. I fully understood how to work this plug in within a matter of minutes. I really love all of the compression and EQ capabilities that can be done when working with each individual sound separately. I am not a huge fan of the way the drums sound as is or even the kits that first come with it. I think they could have included some better kits that have more a “jazz” sound. Some of the distorted kits are really good though if you spend the time tweaking and EQ’ing them. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE I have never experienced any crashes or freezes working with Addictive Drums and it has become one of my favorite drumming plug ins over the years because I can run it many times simultaneously and not have to worry about it crashing or slowing down at all being that I like to have most of my drums on different channels and not all in the same pattern. OVERALL OPINION All of the basic functions of Addictive Drums are easy to work with and understand. Changing kits and adding patterns and fills is simple. I do not like most of the patterns though, and when it comes to changing patterns based on Tempo and BPM it can get really confusing because if you are in double time or regular time they patterns cannot be automatically changed you have to go in and manual move the MIDI notes which can be a daunting task. For the price that Addictive Drums cost I recommend purchasing it and getting some more kits for it based on the style of music that you are creating. Right out of the box it will have everything you need if you want to spend some time tweaking the sounds and molding them to fit your style of music but there are a lot of options to change and work with.

The Metal pack for the addictive drums adds a certain explosiveness to your repertoire for sampled drum sounds. To be perfectly honest, this program assumes you are simple and just want something quick. That is fine, and what this program lacks in tweaking (I am comparing this to Superior) it makes up for in ease. This program simply works, and as before, if you want to do just a bit of customization, it is entirely possible to do so. The metal pack, in particular, adds a few thunderous drums that are always fun to play with in more bombastic music, and if one is trying to use midi to create metal in any way or even just plan old harder than hard rock, this will certainly have something you can use. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE Unfortunately, these drums in and of themselves seem to lack that something. It is not quite noticeable sitting deem in a mix, but I would never trust these particular samples with a solo bit because unless I spend an unfair amount of time on them (and yes, more unfair an amount of time than anything Toontrack makes) then I will not be able to get anything that I would particularly believe. I have had friends tell me they sounded a little bit too sampled when I showed it to them, and I would have to agree. However, a lot of metal bands use samples when they drum nowadays anyway, so is it really so much of a dishonor to do the same? OVERALL OPINION In the end though, I have become addicted to the ease of use that this program affords me, and all of these extra drum packs make this program something fantastic. What is odd about this program is that the realism of these samples seem to vary, but being that type of musician I am, I am not to concerned with that, and just need something percussive and nice sounding for my mixes. Take it for what it is.

I purchased this since I was wowed by the sound of the online demos. It does indeed sound good, and the software is quite well laid out. I bought it primarily for live use, and have found out that it doesn't respond to MIDI volume change messages, which kind of hampers that scenario. I could therefore only recommend it for use at home or in a studio. The chorus effect sounds quite artificial as well - I've tried lots of different permutations of knob settings, but just can't get it to sound sweet. The electric grand sound on a Nord Stage 2 sounds fab with chorus added, but the chorus on here just doesn't sound right for some reason.

The funk ad pack for XLN Audio's beautifully simple and easy to use program, Addictive Drums, is exactly what the name of the thing says it is. It is a bunch of tight drums that are made and tuned to funk. And although Addictive Drums, thanks to XLN's commitment to simple programs, is not a terribly customizable program, it scores big points with its presets. Presets are rarely what you want, but in the end, you find that they are at least close to what you want, and thus, you are able to tweak them to a certain degree. What is particularly nice about the funk kit is how many different presets come with it. This allows you to experiment with different sounds, and this makes this simple programs almost more inspirational than productive. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE There is not a terribly load of variation in the actual drum sounds, but the funk drums are clean and tight, and oddly enough, explosive when you want them to be. Remember the presets. The presets are incredibly useful for getting an idea of what you may want from a drum kit, so in and of themselves, I can simply say that the sound quality of these drums can get very life like when you work with them enough. And anyone who does not want to try working with drums especially when they are programming MIDI is probably a little bit too impatient for audio production. OVERALL OPINION In the end, the funk pack is just another addition to the line of XLN Audio's Addictive Drums program, and although they are labeled as funk, a genre I personally do not really indulge in, I find their general cleanliness to be more than enough for many other applications, like faster jazz inspired music. Give these a shot! See if you do not like them.

The Modern Jazz pack for XLN Audio's beautifully simple program to use Addictive Drums, is a great addition to the line of drums that is, as its title says, a set of jazz drum kits, tuned for jazz purposes, with sticks rather than brushes. This program adds a bunch of kits tuned to a bunch of different presets for any kind of jazz you can imagine. The challenging part, of course, lies in getting your skills in programming something as spontaneous as jazz up to par. So, let us get down to it. This is a pack to be added on to the base program XLN Audio's Addictive Drums. The main draw of this program is how convenient it is. It is nowhere near as comprehensive as some of the other things on the market like Toontrack's Superior, but there are presets preset presets. When writing in a DAW, presets can be incredibly inspiring, as you can listen and tweak, rather than tweak toward an imaginary goal. SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE Surprisingly, I was incredibly satisfied with something as nuanced as Jazz. I did not expect it to be this easy to get great sounds for a genre that is all about articulation, but underneath a piano and a vocalist and a bass, this drum kit, worked with properly, sounds incredibly authentic. All of the presets are there to help, and even though the tweaking in Addictive Drums is a bit limited, rarely do you find that there is not a preset that is at least roughly close to what you want. Another good way to look at it is obviously to treat it as an actual recorded drum sound, and you can route FX chains to tweak them dry normally in your chain in your digital audio workstation. OVERALL OPINION For the type of music I enjoy doing, these drums are perfect. They are crisp, and not too overwhelming like many different drum sounds. They may lack the bigness and explosiveness of other kits, but they are not trying to be that way, so I heartily recommend this add of pack for those of you who need a jazz drummer but do not have one.