First time here. Looks like Kontakt is what I'll be using, especially since I've spent over a week downloading various third party libraries for use with Kontakt at non-premium DL rates. My last major acquisition will need to be drums. I need a recommendation for that (pop/rock/country). I looked at Drumasonic at:

http://audioz.info/samples/sample-libraries/42520-download_music-services-drumasonic-v20-fixed-grooves-n-dumped-nki.html

but I couldn't figure out from the descriptions if the add-on and fix posts there make this product installable and usable without any hitches. Anyone with experience installing Drumasonic from those posts?

 

Use Addictive Drums, dude!! Fast loading & easy, no hassle!!

 

Thanks, juboh, I'll check it out.

 

It really depnds on what type of music.

If your doing Rock/Metal or realistic music then Toontrack Products are the way to go. Either Ez Drummer for easy without needing to know too much on the production/mixing/mastering side or Superior Drummer for when you want better than pro drummer sounds with options that cover the sky. Not to mention there are soo many kits that you'll never use them all. And unless you really up on real drums you'll find almost every type of drum piece you could want from Metal to Jazz to Funk to pop and whatever else you could imagine doing.

Next on the list after those Steven Slate Drums 3.5 Plat+ are all pretty decent and are are kontakt library's. All the Multi's come pretty much perfectly mixed and ready to rock without having to endlessly screw with things for a decent sound. The only real down side is some of the sample sound flat which could probably be cured with sending individual drums ported to different effect mixers to cure it. But still SSD's are ready to go in the box and come with over 30+ preset multi's.

After that NI Studio Drummer is ok, unfortunately it has the same issue SSD has with the drum pieces sounding a lil flat and lifeless. Like SSD Studio Drummer is pretty much set up ready to go without too many that you need [or can] do with it.

After that I wouldn't bother.

I'm not trying to be a d##k here but Addictive drums are garbage unless your trying to do late 80's sounding metal or trying to do industrial stuff. I say that because addictive drums sound fake as all hell. I'd say almost synth fake. And in the end quality wise compaired to the above 3 it sounds like its 16bit. Which I'm sure it's not but the quality difference is there. I tried out Addictive Drums for a bit when In Flames made a few drum kits for their metal expansion and I went through every single sample and preset in every addictive pack and in the end I couldn't only put together a single kit that sounded decent and even then it's still very specific song related. Not only that but the genius at does the mapping for addict drums should be shot. For some reason they think they "alternative" midi settings are better than the original midi drums layout and its just lame. You can change it but it's annoying and makes you respect the company less for even trying to do something so un-needed and making it difficult to find how to change it back if your not familiar with vst options.

So you want the heirarchy?

1. Toontrack Superior Drummer
2. Tontrack EZ Drummer
3. Steven Slate Drums 3.5 Platnium+
4. NI Studio Drummer
5. May as well use synth drums

 

Excellent! Thanks very much for this in-depth look at my options. Saving your answer!

 

I'm just saying Addictive Drums is the way to go for beginners cos it loads faster & easy, no hassle. But if you really going for the real deal then go for BFD2 or Superior Drummer!

 

I like Battery (all-rounder), Studio Drummer (generic), Addictive Drums (I think it's my preferred one, especially for rock, although I agree their mapping kinda sucks), Session Drummer (mostly hard guitar stuff) and Groove Agent. I liked the compressor's sound from the Cakewalk Studio drumkit (Trip-hop joy)! I'm pretty sure there is more I don't recall of. Some of these also have a variety of samples for many genres and some handy tools like velocity humanizing and other parameters (which is not necessary but I find it handy). It's also good if you can replace a certain part (e.g. change just the snare). Just make sure it has multiple samples (not so much rr, rather dynamic response and different sounds). Also tried Studio 7 Drums and liked it (not too much variety though). I think EZDrummer sounds too harsh and fake for anything. Well, these are preferences and suggestions. I try to stick to things that work best. Try and conclude for yourself.

 

NP, if you have any specific questions I can help on that too. I've been doing digital "realistic" drums for years trying to find the right products/sounds that would make drummers drool and never suspect it wasn't real. It's an art form but there are a lot of mysteries that can be cleared up by someone who's already figured them out.

The only real other competitor I haven't talked about is BFD. BFD is just as expensive as Superior Drummer and the sounds are better than both SSD and NI Studio Drummer but I'm not fond of the layout, the kits are VERY specific and in the end once I found Superior Drummer 2 I never looked back.

But if your looking for easy, sounds great, and wont take weeks to get try out EZ Drummer to introduce yourself to the Toontrack family. Start with the MetalMachine/Metalheads/pop kits and go from there. Because if you can't find the sounds or options you want in EZ Drummer Superior Drummer Will blow your mind. It'll just take a bit to educate yourself on how to use it and set up good kits by yourself.