# Drum software advice...Ez drummer vs SD vs SSL etc



## vejichan (Nov 22, 2012)

I am primarily a guitar player. I'm looking for easy to use simple click and go drum software. I play from VAn halen/80's shred/lynch/vai/satch all the way to dream theater, evergrey, periphery. 
What do you guys recommend? something not so complicated but will do the job.

thanks


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## Nykur_Myrkvi (Nov 22, 2012)

EZ drummers drag and drop midi feature is great for something like that. You could make drums in Guitar pro, export the midi and drag it into the program you're using with it. (for me: Pro tools)


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## Winspear (Nov 22, 2012)

Superior Drummer > EZDrummer purely because of sound quality. Yes it has more feature and CAN be more complicated but there's nothing stopping you loading it up and using it just as easily as EZ.
I don't know about any other software.


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## Nykur_Myrkvi (Nov 22, 2012)

EtherealEntity said:


> Superior Drummer > EZDrummer purely because of sound quality. Yes it has more feature and CAN be more complicated but there's nothing stopping you loading it up and using it just as easily as EZ.
> I don't know about any other software.


Oh, I've only used EZ. A friend told me Superior Drummer didn't have the MIDI drag and drop.


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## Andromalia (Nov 22, 2012)

Uh, the midi is dropped in the DAW and the software reads it, SD can do that.
EZdrummer is enough for most home uses I'd say.



> Yes it has more feature and CAN be more complicated but there's nothing stopping you loading it up and using it just as easily as EZ.



Half true, the samples in SD are better and WAY more varied, but I do not find the presets to be as plug and play as EZdrummer's are.


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## Winspear (Nov 22, 2012)

Andromalia said:


> Uh, the midi is dropped in the DAW and the software reads it, SD can do that.


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## aturaya (Nov 22, 2012)

SD is awesome and pretty easy to just grab a preset and go for it, and has way more samples and features. SSD is less tweakable but is pretty easy to sound good because the samples are preprocessed. SD sounds really bad unless you process them yourself or use a preset because the samples are completely raw.


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## StefanSido (Nov 24, 2012)

My top 3 to look for would be: Superior Drummer, EZDrummer, Addictive Drums. I haven't tried the BFD 2 but the demos on youtube sound pretty good as well.


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## WhiteWalls (Nov 26, 2012)

I would never get Superior Drummer as my first drum software simply because it's way too complicated to use unless you already have a pretty good knowledge of drum mixing, while EZDrummer will certainly get you there with much less effort (check out the expansions beforehand to see which one you like best!)


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## ShadowAMD (Nov 28, 2012)

Andromalia said:


> Uh, the midi is dropped in the DAW and the software reads it, SD can do that.
> EZdrummer is enough for most home uses I'd say.
> 
> 
> ...


 
It is more varied, I wouldn't necessarily say it sounds better but with the cost of EZdrummer then the packs (For variation) you might of well have bought superior.


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## Metaguitarist (Dec 24, 2012)

I'd like to revive this thread as I'm in the same boat as the OP.


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## Sam MJ (Dec 24, 2012)

Depends on your needs.

Steven slate drums/EZ drummer are both good ready to go pre processed samples where as superior drummer is raw and unprocessed. You'll need to learn to mix drums to get them sounding good.

If you want to learn to mix drums, get SD. If you just want to make music and be done with it I'd get one of the other two.


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## vejichan (Dec 25, 2012)

I guess i'll stick w/ EZ drummer since Superior drummer sounds pretty complicated. How about the expansion packs for ez drummer? metal heads? or drumkit from hell? are they similar to ez drummer or more complicated like Superior drummer... 

any suggestions to improve the drum sounds from ez drummer? 

thanks!


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## WhiteWalls (Dec 26, 2012)

Metal Machine is the best sounding one by far, Drumkit from hell is not bad but it requires a lot of work to sound "human"


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## vejichan (Dec 28, 2012)

How can you make DFH sound more human/better?
thanks


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## noise in my mind (Dec 28, 2012)

vejichan said:


> How can you make DFH sound more human/better?
> thanks



Usually just move the hit velocities up and down to get more dynamics. You can also move the hits slighty off the grid to with the snap function off. These little things can go a long way.


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## noUser01 (Dec 29, 2012)

Just buy EZDrummer, do a track or two and if you really like it, then buy Superior Drummer. You're not losing money, and if you end up hating EZD (HAHAHAHAHAHA YEAH RIGHT! ) then you'll save money by not getting SD2.0.


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## Ryan-ZenGtr- (Dec 30, 2012)

Not many Slate users here, I guess?

There's a distinct lack of comparative data so far. I'll try to fix that with some links...


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## Ryan-ZenGtr- (Dec 30, 2012)

^_It's Adrian's little brother!_ 



Here's YouTube channel with a few different comparison videos;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiuiBL1zeoM&playnext=1&list=PL33A81075EBFA3790


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## Ryan-ZenGtr- (Dec 31, 2012)

No opinions?


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## DavePiatek (Jan 2, 2013)

WhiteWalls said:


> Metal Machine is the best sounding one by far



This. With Superior's kits, it's difficult to get a decent sound without doing the multi-out thing in my DAW. With Metal Machine and EZD, you can load up a stereo instance with the default settings and write. Easy as can be.


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## GatherTheArsenal (Jan 9, 2013)

My vote's on EZ Drummer with DFH, it's super EZ to use (woohoo, a pun!) and with the right tweaking it can sound pretty damn good. I agree with what's been said about the kick and snare samples as well, they're OK. I primarily stick to one or two at best koz the others don't cut it for me so yes, they could be better. 

For what it's worth, everyone that's heard what I've recorded with EZ Drummer asks me who's manning the throne on drums, not expecting it to be a plugin. That's the desired effect IMO 

Edit: definitely going to seriously consider Metal Machine after seeing all the love it's getting here.


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## sear (Jan 16, 2013)

EZdrummer is basically a songwriting tool, so if you want to sit down and just make music, it is excellent. The Metal Machine samples are much better than the Drumkit from Hell ones (unless you just want to make Meshuggah knock-off songs), but the built-in grooves that come with Drumkit from Hell are awesome and I use them all the time even with Superior Drummer.

To be honest I have rarely got good results from the default Superior Drummer kit or even the Metal Foundry kit. I found both have a lot of trouble cutting through a dense mix. They sound good on their own and are great for rock, pop, etc., but I have to do a lot of layering to get them to sound decent for metal. I'm sure some people have managed to get them sounding great, though.



GatherTheArsenal said:


> For what it's worth, everyone that's heard what I've recorded with EZ Drummer asks me who's manning the throne on drums, not expecting it to be a plugin. That's the desired effect IMO


To be fair, you can show most people a terrible mix and if they're listening on their iPod headphones, they'll think it sounds like like a radio-worthy recording. Many people don't even realize high-quality drum samplers exist.


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## Woahdude89 (Jan 20, 2013)

I know this thread is a little old, but I just wanted to point out to those that aren't aware that Steven Slate Drums 4 Platinum kits are NOT processed. The full version still contains a boat load of the processed samples from previous versions, but the new ones are raw. Slate said so himself on the UltimateMetal forums somewhere. But you really do have a lot of options, you can make great custom kits, and the interface is very easy to use/intuitive. If you have the cash to spend on it, I would highly recommend it. I've used the SD2 and the metal foundry and still find that I can get better mixes with Slate samples. That's just one bearded man's opinion! Good luck.


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## drmosh (Jan 22, 2013)

WhiteWalls said:


> I would never get Superior Drummer as my first drum software simply because it's way too complicated to use unless you already have a pretty good knowledge of drum mixing, while EZDrummer will certainly get you there with much less effort (check out the expansions beforehand to see which one you like best!)



Sorry, that's total rubbish. Superior comes with a load of presets to get close to where you want to be. 
Not buying something superior (lol) because you don't yet know how to use the features is a waste of money since you invariably want to or inevitably will learn at some point


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## Nykur_Myrkvi (Jan 23, 2013)

Andromalia said:


> Uh, the midi is dropped in the DAW and the software reads it, SD can do that.
> EZdrummer is enough for most home uses I'd say.


OK, tried this on my friends Pro tools setup and for some reason only EZDrummer allows him to drag and drop midi. SD just doesn't play it.

However I was wondering. I'm recording demos for my band now, using EZdrummer (DFH, mixed a little to sound a bit more human) and we've been thinking about using programmed drums for the full album we're hoping to record in the coming months. 
Would you recommend getting SD up and running (with any particular sample kit?) or work on EZdrummer sounding better? Something else even? 
(Not open to the suggestion of getting a drummer, two years of drummer trouble have left me begging to release these songs)


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## Narrillnezzurh (Jan 23, 2013)

SD will offer you quite a bit more versatility than EZD, and it really isn't too hard to get a passable drum mix with all the guides that are out there. I'd recommend SD over EZD any day.


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## Nykur_Myrkvi (Jan 28, 2013)

Narrillnezzurh said:


> SD will offer you quite a bit more versatility than EZD, and it really isn't too hard to get a passable drum mix with all the guides that are out there. I'd recommend SD over EZD any day.


But does anyone have any ideas why it might not be reading the MIDI?

I'd love to use SD as I can use it at this friends house but I've tried google-ing this problem but I've found nothing of value. Everyone seems to be able to drag and drop. It's probably something very basic we've overlooked.

Edit: I may have very possibly figured it out...I'll let you know.


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## Nykur_Myrkvi (Jan 28, 2013)

Superior Drummer 2.0 driving me insane?

This sounds like it could very well be the same problem I'm having. It shows the hits on the track and if I click a drum it sounds but if I press play nothing happens, no drums.

How do I change the midi channel?


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## meambobbo (Mar 4, 2013)

Is manual setup on SD required? IE, if I had a preset I like in EZD, could I not just port that over?


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