Area 33 SDX

Fredrik Thordendal and Daniel Bergstrand bring you an absolute monster of an SDX for Superior Drummer 3.

• Engineered and produced by Fredrik Thordendal and Daniel Bergstrand
• Recorded at 33, Fredrik Thordendal’s personal studio in Stockholm, Sweden
• Featuring seven (7) unique drum kits
• A total of 13 snares, 14 bass drums (x2), 42 toms, three hi-hats and upwards of 40 cymbals
• Recorded using 11 ambience microphone positions (of which seven in stereo)
• More than of 180 GB of sampled drums and cymbals
• Sampled by drummer Leo Margarit (Pain of Salvation)
• Drum tech and tuning by Urban Näsvall, assisted by Jimmy Pettersson
• Includes presets for each kit engineered by Bergstrand as well as the Toontrack sound design team

The Area 33 SDX brings together parts of the original Drumkit From Hell team: Meshuggah guitarist Fredrik Thordendal and producer/engineer/mixer Daniel Bergstrand (Behemoth, In Flames, Dimmu Borgir). In this joint venture of sourcing, engineering and ultimately externalizing their very figment of what the most all-encompassing metal-related SDX for Superior Drummer 3 could be, they ended up with an absolute monster weighing in at a staggering 180+ GB. It was recorded at Fredrik Thordendal’s personal studio 33 in Stockholm, Sweden. This studio, which Thordendal and Bergstrand built from the ground up, was designed with the goal of creating the epitome of a drum room: spacious and reverberant but at the same time profoundly precise, direct and controlled.

With its seven contrasting and complementing kits, extensive pool of additional drums and virtual forest of cymbals, the Area 33 SDX presents a massively broad palette of raw and unadulterated drums that you can hone, shape and mold using the limitless framework of Superior Drummer 3. To add, these are not your average, everyday kits – several of them boast up to eight toms, double bass drums and 15 cymbal slots. On top of that, this SDX was captured using what is beyond traditional in terms of microphones. Each kit was recorded using the classic close-mic technique but, in addition, with an extra set of microphones on each position. This means that each drum and cymbal is represented by both a mono as well as a stereo pair of microphones, allowing you to sculpt tones beyond what you thought possible. Finally, to capture the essence of the room and to give you even more options, 11 ambience microphones (of which seven in stereo) were recorded.

With this one, you’ll have endless possibilities of shaping drum mixes beyond what you thought possible. Let’s head into the infinite universe of the Area 33 SDX.

• Price (USD) $179
• Website - https://www.toontrack.com/product/area-33-sdx/

 

snare sound is so thin?? .. I bought KRIMH drums on BF .. it's really amazing for METAL

 

I don't like the whole kit at all.
Snares sucks, no punch
Kick are flats too
...

It is like the whole drumkit is passed through a cheap "loudness button" process with no mids, no "meat".
As i left Messhugah behind since their "Nothing" album, it is not a surprise to me.

They become a caricature of themselves ... mixing included.
This kit being another nail in the coffin.

PS : listen to those kits presets
https://www.toontrack.com/product/modern-metal-ezx/

PPS : those times are far behind ...

 

Painful to listen to ! this is one i definetl;y pass on

 

JDownloader just told me he can't wait to eat this.

I think this kit does have its place on the old bookshelf. Gotta run it through all the paces to be sure.

 

most of that drum sound is already pretty much achievable with existing SU3 drum kits..

 

I probably could not record each sample as well as these guys so no comment there on like or dislike - BUT - weighing in at well over 180GB - It has to be pretty fricking great and more unique than this to get another library download of this size to an already overblown sized Toontrack SDX library.

 

Honestly... I think the raw kits sound great. But, not metal particularly. I'd use them for classic rock. And yeah, probably all sounds you can get just fine from other libs. But I'm sure I'll give it a try if it pops up, all the SDXs I wind up liking the most are the ones I thought I wouldn't, and vice versa.

 

Yet another waste of time & resources for Toontrack.

Hitmaker was blah. This one reminds me one of the over processed EZX expansions.

SD3 Core & Rooms of Hansa should be the minimum quality benchmarks for anything being released now, and, going forward.

 

I think the kits sounds cool. I'm not a metal creator though, I'd use em for rock / jazz sorta purposes. But i probably wont pick this one up purely cos of the size

 

We seem to keep disagreeing lol on a lot of things...

while i can't help with one's taste did you take the time to go through the "KITS & PRESETS" on the Area33 one, to me i can think of a lot of types of mixes these will be a great match to, and even if they don't, that's the mix engineer's job to make them work together, i have listened to the "MODERN METAL EZX" link you sent and they're kinda similair, the only thing that i did really like was the toms...

quick thought on the exemple posted on the youtube link on the op, i can see that it's the mix is actually really bad, and it does not demonstrate the good areas of this expansion, i still want to invite to listen to the kits and presets (again) with non biased and objective mind!

 

I was convinced by the demos that Rooms of Hansa wouldn't be worth it- glad I tried it!

 

The sound of this expansion is just not right for my taste, I just can't wait if AD2 can import external samples, I hope they would implement this feature in the future so it can compete more with EZD3.

 

it sounds bad.. i don't like processed drums .. it is better to have the raw files..
lastest SDX they all sound kind of the same to my ears.. just more and more.. of the same..
i don't because SOMEONE the same sound engineer processed them and all those "Famous"
engineer have kind of the same Sound.. SDX should try something more different.. maybe
more lose snares.. and more I don't experimentation.. it's getting more and more of the same..sort of..

 

Yeah, they need to try some completely different mic'ing techniques, and venture into more experimental drum philosophy. Crunchy textures, vintage kits that have been mutated, stuff that can be used for things like neo-soul, indie rock, hip hop, nu jazz AND prog rock.

No more generic stuff from engineers that were big in the 80's or 90's. Give the mics to a present-day innovator

 

amen.

 

Best kit is the Oyster kit from Legacy of Rock imo