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Favorite Superior Drummer SDX?

dyross

dyross

Senior Member
Hi folks,

I've just acquired SD3 (thanks @UDun for pleasant transaction) and my GAS won't let me wait before obsessing over which SDX(s) to eventually add.

From my EZD experience, I know that not all expansions are created equal, and the more recent ones have significantly more content for the price. Do they tend to be more deeply sampled, or just more kit pieces? So I'm curious to hear what folks think are the best / favorites?

I mostly make vintage-inspired progressive-ish rock, and if there's a drum sound I'm most going for, it would be Mattias Olsson's from Änglagård (as discussed in a previous post). In that thread, it's pointed out that "The Metal Foundry" is recorded in the same studio - but does it still hold up being only 20% the size of newer SDX releases, and is it good for non-metal?

I've also seen some complaints on other forums about lack of round robins on some of the SDX releases. Anyone run into this, have advice on ones to skip?

Thanks,
David
Click to read more...
 
The Yamaha Custom drum set in Death (from Death and Darkness) SDX library is excellent, and a finely sampled drum kit overall. Be warned though, as this is a metal library all the presets suck IMO. If you spend some time tweaking the drum kit, it will sound great for rock (and most other genres). My other favorite is the main drum kit from the Marble Room in Rooms of Hansa (which also has great pop and Beck-type rock drum kits on the dryer side - named under Vocal Booth).

Anyways, there are bound to be different answers here, as people have varying tastes and own different SDX releases. I haven't tested the last couple of rock SDX releases though, but the combination of Death and Room of Hansa is great, as you get some additional useful snares and splash cymbals from Death that can be used for the Marble Room kit.

I know many like Decades, but I'm not a fan of that one - esp. for rock. The jazz kits are very good, but you could get those in the cheaper Big Band EZX library.

In general you can ignore the stock library sounds, I haven't even installed those ones on my SSD. Better to use 2-3 SDX releases from 2019 and later, as they are overall superior IMO.
 
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Zanshin said:
Death and Darkness is my favorite by a country mile (not just for metal, I feel like it's very versatile). I own that, Decades, and Legacy of Rock.
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Thanks, sounds promising! I probably won't get Decades, but how does D&D compare to LoR?

Zanshin said:
I think you should be able to find Metal Foundry used for a good price, but I can't comment on it's quality or suitability.
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Yeah, there are some good prices available. I'll try to find more reviews / demos.

Mike Stone said:
The Yamaha Custom drum set in Death (from Death and Darkness) SDX library is excellent, and a finely sampled drum kit overall. Be warned though, as this is a metal library all the presets suck IMO. If you spend some time tweaking the drum kit, it will sound great for rock (and most other genres). My other favorite is the main drum kit from the Marble Room in Rooms of Hansa (which also has great pop and Beck-type rock drum kits on the dryer side - named under Vocal Booth).

Anyways, there are bound to be different answers here, as people have varying tastes and own different SDX releases. I haven't tested the last couple of rock SDX releases though, but the combination of Death and Room of Hansa is great, as you get some additional useful snares and splash cymbals from Death that can be used for the Marble Room kit.

I know many like Decades, but I'm not a fan of that one - esp. for rock. The jazz kits are very good, but you could get those in the cheaper Big Band EZX library.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips.

Mike Stone said:
In general you can ignore the stock library sounds, I haven't even installed those ones on my SSD. Better to use 2-3 SDX releases from 2019 and later, as they are overall superior IMO.
Click to expand...
Out of curiosity, could you ellaborate on what you don't like about stock libraries / pre-2019 SDX releases? I have noticed disk space allocation changed significantly recently (new SDX released nearly 200GB!), but curious if Toontrack has changed anything about their recording techniques (e.g. # articulations, round robins, velocity layers etc.) that makes them generally better?

I guess the mixer presets for SD3 SDX releases won't have the new effects in SD3?
 
I’ve been debating whether or not to keep EZD3 for the sound library. If I get Hansa, is EZD3 soundset totally redundant?
 
Also, Fields of Rock seems to not get the same love as other recent releases. Is it too new and not as commonly owned, or actually not as good?
 
dyross said:
Out of curiosity, could you ellaborate on what you don't like about stock libraries / pre-2019 SDX releases? I have noticed disk space allocation changed significantly recently (new SDX released nearly 200GB!), but curious if Toontrack has changed anything about their recording techniques (e.g. # articulations, round robins, velocity layers etc.) that makes them generally better?

I guess the mixer presets for SD3 SDX releases won't have the new effects in SD3?
Click to expand...
The stock library isn't as deeply and nuanced sampled, often the drums aren't hit quite hard enough, and the overall sound quality (still very good) doesn't match the level of the SDX libraries from 2019 and onwards.

Btw., if you want brushes and other specialities, then you'll still need the core sound set. These rock SDX libraries typically don't have those things. Unless you get Decades or Big Band EZX, which have great jazz kits. On a side note, the Orchestral SDX is outstanding.
 
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Hansa and Fields of Rock are my favorites. I bought a value pack (3 Sdx custom bundle) on sale from best service. I’m still looking for third SDX beside two I mentioned above but not convinced yet which one I want next.
 
I added the Decades SDX because it added things the main library didn't have, but I looove the George Massenburg kits in SD3. You can do anything with those as a starting point.

Honestly, I don't feel that any other SDX's than Decades and the Orchestral one add anything substantial to SD3. It's already so well done, that they probably have a hard time finding ideas for new packs.
 
I don't know really, I think they are all pretty great, depends on the sound you want. I haven't had all of them ever and so how can I say which is the best? I don't think there is any consensus, everyone has their favorites. They are all superb relative to pretty much all other drum sample libraries IMHO. It just depends on the sound you want. check out the audio demos.

what I currently have above and beyond the factory drum kits that came with SD3: NewYork Studios vol 1-3, Metal Foundary and a couple of EZX expansions. I want to add Rock Foundary and Legacy of Rock when they go on sale as well as the Orchestral Percussion SDX. But honestly they are all good and you can get a lot of mileage from just taking what you have and working with the mixer and FX to produce the sound you want. Aside from that I say if you hear an audio demo that is exactly the sound you want, then you know what to get. They are all great packs...
 
Hansa as well, but it kills me they decided to only include two or three toms per set! Yes, you can de-tune and add more, but it’s just so clunky and unnatural. They were so close to getting it perfect. Argh!!!
 
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