Hi,

I recently watched the demo to steven slate SSD4 Platinum, and was quite impressed.
What I'm concerned is that it doesn't have a trial version. So, does it compare to what I use now (EZDrummer and Groove Agent 4)? Is it better or worse? I don't want something that sounds like me tapping a piece of paper (a la shitty snare drums and shit). I like fat sounding drums that have life and that "Oomph!" to them. With EZDrummer 2, I often use the "Rock solid" expansion and use the "roomy rock" preset. Is SSD4 just another EZdrummer, or is it really in fact a good choice? Also, please don't mind the wording in the polls. If you have a sense of humor, you'll understand. It's just a yes or no poll. Ignore the obnoxious humor thrown in, if you'd like.

Cheers & beers

 

Search ebay for a better price and take the dive.

 

Slate does a set of presets for the stock kit in Superior Drummer 2. They're okay, and probably about as decent-sounding as SSD 4 (very mid-rangy rock kits) with decent articulations. I also had the SSD 3 library for Kontakt (which I understand is many of the same sounds used on 4), and the kits there didn't sound too bad, either. It's about on par with Drumkit From Hell for EZ Drummer/EZD 2, except not anywhere near as many articulations, which is why I wound up just getting rid of it. You're probably better off sticking with EZ Drummer 2, unless you're hardcore about your drum sounds, and then you'd be better off getting something like BFD, which you can actually tweak like crazy.

 

I watched a tutorial on youtube and it sounds o.k.but Addictive Drums sounds better (imo).

 

I voted for no because I think you can get by using STEVEN SLATE DRUMS 4 CUSTOM. For 40 bucks you get a very good sounding kit. BTW, no iLok dongle up your butt. This is all I've ever needed. I record live drummers and I use SSD4 to beef up the kits. This kit blends well with recorded performances. It's highly intuitive and faster to use than the legacy Kontakt version 3.5. It's not BFD in terms of tweaks, but it is highly configurable. Even if you needed it to track virtual drums without a drummer, the Custom Will serve your needs. Think about this: How many home-recording drummers have a large number of kits at their disposal? Most of them just one. One kit serves all. And this SSD Custom has enough to cover a lot of fun stuff and it sounds better to my ears than AD or EZDrummer. It also allows you to use your own samples.

 

Last edited: Feb 26, 2016

Hey man, I came across this forum and thought I would reply quickly and give you my thoughts (I know it's been a few months), if too late please disregard.

But SSD4 IMO has its pro and cons, but overall excellent for where the technology is as the moment.

To give you a quick backround on me, I a professional musician (drums, bass, guitar, and singing) with 20 + experience but I am just really getting into VST drums so take this with a grain of salt.

Pros:
1. It sits better in the mix than any software I have hear yet - I have been researching for months and I own SSD4 and am recording with it with electronic drums (MIDI)
2. Price and what you get - $149 for 100 kits (most are very, very good with a little compression and EQ - using multiple outputs)
3. I am a heavy groove player and the kick drums for most part are the best I have heard yet - I can feel the difference in the felt/beaters and the hard and soft tunings when I play live/studio

Cons
1. The cymbals IMO are over processed to my ear and there is no (real) way to take the processing off - there is overhead and room mics which both are very effective in tweaking but don't remove the processing
2. The GUI is a little outdated but very utilitarian and efficient
3. Can't use as a standalone program - Not a huge deal it would be nice for jamming/writing purposes.

I am sure people will disagree and want to tear this apart but these are my thoughts - Hope it helps

 

I would Wait for SSD 5. It's promised to be an improvement and It frikkin better be !
SSD4 is very good but for me it's a workflow killer if you don't play electronic drums.The groove player doesn't recall when closing the fx window and the mixer multi out is clunky and confusing still..
.Addictive Drums and EZ drummer 2 are outstanding products from a workflow and quality perspective.

 

Tried Slate, didn't like, deleted. Wait for Superior Drummer 3, which is released next month.*



* In my fantasy world.

 

I voted for yes because no else had and I felt sorry for it