# Heres how to make Superior Drummer sound 100 times better



## Batsinthebelltower

Alright METAL BRAHS 

So prettymuch everyone uses SD2.0 metal foundry or core pack

its the same shit every time, adjust bass drum to punchy bass with treble click edge

adjust snare so it doesnt sound like shit stock sound... avoid the st anger bin lid snare sound lol

scoop eq on toms for thumping rolls

FUCK THAT i am DONE with SD2.0 sounds

Download Toontrack EZMIX . Insert SD2.0 into your DAW , set it up so each drums on a seperate track. Label what each drum is on your tracks (tap a midi controller and see what meter goes up for what drum) 

Then Loadup EZmix as a vst effect on every seperate drum. Turn ALL mic bleeds off otherwise the ezmix presets will bleed also. Inside EZ MIX goto drums sections and apply the Snare sounds to your snare etc , go through each one until you find one you like. They are ALL vastly better than SD sounds !! I apply metal kick , gated snare , tapedrive hihats, tapedrive cymbals , metal toms , and it sounds fucking epic compare to any SD metal foundry setting. My final step is to create a bus track , send every drum to this bus and put vst Sonitux compressor on it "drum destroyer" setting. Blend this with your uncompressed sounds to your liking. (parallel compression technique)

Ive already posted this video, but listen to the drum sound , forget the solos - the kick is rich and clicky with solid bass response, the snare is gated with 80s reverb and sounds mega , the best snare i have ever mixxed - DOWNLOAD EZMIX NOW !! Oh and it also has a lot of great guitar and bass sounds if you are using vst and cab sims for your guitardistortion , probably better than the current status quo of head vst , tubescreamer vst then recab -its all in one settings , however i am using an ADA MP1 preamp here


----------



## geoffshreds

i dont know man, i disagree. these drums sound a little weak. Superior/metal foundry can easily be tweaked to sound amazing. check out my metal foundry kit https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/drum sample.wav?w=AABzDl1MEwe0iUe61LrkN_vw58XYgB88BdRJvZ7jl2Jeqg


----------



## kaaka

I aggree with the fact that splitting the drums on different channels and using EZMix can vastly improve the sound of SD. At least it is perfect for me who is kind of a recording noob.
But there is also a lot of people who can get an amazing job done with metal foundry only (I'm not one of them at present unless I use a shitload of time).


----------



## Larcher

Yeah, these drums don't sound very powerfull at all. 

EZX + Metalmachine to be honest sounds the best.


----------



## axxessdenied

How to make Superior Drummer sound 100 times better?

Get Steven Slate 4 Platinum.


----------



## Stealthdjentstic

Please stop


----------



## shnizzle

this is exactly my problem with EZmix. sorry for being harsh now, but that right there is the laziest and lamest thing for mixing. you basically did nothing but put presets from other mixing engineers on the drums. on top of that they don´t even sound good. there´s no power behind them whatsoever. 
but i do agree that mixing SD can get boring after some time. i suggest you rather get some new drum software and do the mixing on it yourself to get new perspective on the whole matter.


----------



## MassNecrophagia

To be honest, you could get a much better drum sound by doing the mixing yourself. It wouldn't take very long, either.


----------



## KingAenarion

This is what FX chains/presets are for.


----------



## Kurkkuviipale

Do I sound like a jerk if I claim to mix 100 times better sounding drums than this without EZMix?


----------



## Paulsh90

Yeah i gotta agree with everyone else and say that i don't really like those drums. Especially that snare, sounds like an 80's glam rock snare haha not that there's anything wrong with that of course, just doesn't have the punch/power i usually like.

But to each his own, if that's the sound you are going for then by all means use it!


----------



## Kurkkuviipale

It's not bad, it just sounds like what it is: A preset. Obviously, at least for me, it does sound a lot better than a lot of stuff that gets posted here or other forums, but that doesn't necessarily mean it would be a good fit for the mix or that it would be something unique to me.


----------



## Prime

I had a feeling this thread was not going to go over well. That said, I think something can be learned from it. Even if someone decides to go this route they may decide to improve upon it. By using ezmix, initially, those people will be able to see the tools used via the ezmix menus and may try to replace them with individual plug-ins of the same type.

Like I said, in the end, I think something can be learned from this. 

Also, I think the guy was probably just trying to help out. So it's hard to fault someone for trying to help. JMO.


----------



## Speculum Speculorum

Yeah, it's just that people tend to get a little reactionary when folks have presumptuous thread names in the recording section. Better to go with humble and hope than over-market and end up looking like an ass. These drums don't sound bad, but don't have a lot of depth to them either. And to be honest, the snare is approaching "St. Anger"-ness.... so yeah.


----------



## Thep

stills sounds fake


----------



## Batsinthebelltower

wow , well i didnt expect asmuch netrality or dislike on this thread lol , but thats cool guys , i do hope you get your own individual sound - i am really happy with this kindof sound , the traditional european metal drumsound , such as Twilightning , Norther , Sonata etc the snare is 80s magic ! Well anyways , good luck with all your own mixes, i know most of you are into more heavier metal than this , and the djent etc , ROCK ON AMIGOS !!


----------



## Phreeck

Sorry but these drums definitely don't sound as good as some of the sounds I have produced with S2.0.


----------



## Todes

you can make almost anything sound good, really good, you just need to learn a few tips, but if you want to sound really good you need to read mixing books, learn about compressors and a lot of more things, now if you want to sound like a pro you need lots of practice and it becomes a thing where the presets are just not very useful or just for a reference.
This might be a nice starter point, but its not the definitive solution for a home studio.
Also i use addictive drums and i like them, because as almost everyone is using toontrack products they have no sound diversity (at least if you know how to mix a song or things like that).
My advice for you: Amazon.com: Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science (9780240808376): Bob Katz: Books
This is the bible for sound engineers.


Good luck!


----------



## pushpull7

axxessdenied said:


> How to make Superior Drummer sound 100 times better?
> 
> Get Steven Slate 4 Platinum.





I loled. I don't necessarily agree (well, not 100% ) but I still loled.

Drums. What a concept. One thing that is terrific about TT drums is they don't every really sound machine-gunish. But man, the work! I only started using SSD because I got into it at a rock-bottom price and they DO sound more mix-ready. I still get machine gunnish sounding snares though


----------



## pushpull7

BTW, I like this song and most of what I hear very much! But the drums are not there! Now, what I don't know is how much drum bus comping/etc you've used. It's not that the tone sucks, it doesn't. But as has been mentioned, it's a bit weak. It doesn't "cut" the way I KNOW you can!

EZmix is a good tool. I don't have it anymore, but nothing sucks about it. I just feel that there are other things I can use to get the same/better results (I don't play anywhere NEAR as good as that example though!)

Are you using a "drum buss?" If not, consider it. There are some great busspressors out there, or maybe ezmix has that setting (can't remember)


----------



## Rook

My top tip for good superior sounds; don't use superior FX, processing or EQ. I can tire over Superior settings for days, weeks even, and come out with shitty sounds. An hour in Logic and I get something that sounds fresh and vaguely 'real', thought I think real comes more from the programming than the sound.

All that comes out of superior for me are raw sample, Logic does everything else.


----------



## Prime

I agree...I think it is much easier to mold your sounds outside of Superior. 

To make things even easier load up the metalmachine EZX and your almost there to begin with.


----------



## Kwirk

Forget the drums! That first lead was awesome. Dat phrasing. Familiar, yet very different. 

/i'm out


----------



## jmeezle

Slate Digital Trigger + Seraph Recordings samples + Metal Foundry is what I use and couldnt be happier.


----------



## Ratel

jmeezle said:


> Slate Digital Trigger + Seraph Recordings samples + Metal Foundry is what I use and couldnt be happier.



Peter's samples are the best ever.


----------



## pushpull7

@Seraph: 

So how does this work? Are the nki's easy to work with?


----------



## sear

You do realize that you can make the default Superior drums sound almost like anything if you are smart enough to blend drums together and use pitch shifting, right? You'd be amazed how much layering a piccolo snare can make it cut through, for instance, or how much a change of 2-5 cents will make your kick sit better. The only time I like to replace drums is using Steven Slate for the kicks, those samples are pretty great and take processing extremely well.


----------

