[kittonian]

This has been an interesting discussion to say the least. I'm impressed by the few who caught that both songs posted were using DFHS/C&V. Some didn't however and that proves my point.

People in "the know" can tell whether things are real drums or sampled drums (for the most part) but the public doesn't listen like we do.

The two songs I posted were demos prior to the real drums being done and were heavily processed with plug-ins. The mixes were also both done completely in the box with the only analog gear during mixing being a 2 bus compressor (dbx 160sl). In fact they were laid in using a Roland SPD-20 octopad and then quantized to all be in perfect time so that the other instruments could be laid down without using a click track.

When I showed these roughs to non-engineers and asked them whether they were real or sampled drums, not one person could tell me without a doubt which they were.

There is no question in anyone's mind whether or not a great drumset that's tuned to perfection and has all the right stuff surrounding it (room, mics, pres, comps, eqs, and the engineer) and is being played by a fantastic drummer will make a difference. Of course it will. The point of this discussion was whether you could use software to make samples sound like real drums to the outside world. The answer is yes you can. Will it ever be as amazingly dynamic as a perfect situation like I just mentioned? Probably not, but that's hardly the point.

I'll also let you all in on another little secret (and I'm not mentioning names so please don't ask). I did a track for a band a year ago for their upcoming record and a major engineer that everyone here is familiar with is going to mix. When they showed that engineer the demo that was done with DFHS/C&V, (and no, they didn't tell him it was samples), he said that the demo sounded great and didn't need much tweaking for the final track that will go out for sale. I think that says it all.