Strike or EZDrummer??

[hackenslash]

Addictive Drums. Forget the rest.

[thedommer]

BFD 2 forget the rest (probably )

[hackenslash]

BFD is excellent if you want it easy. If you are after sonic excellence, however, there is no competition for AD, IMO.

[Clayphish]

I'm not crazy about Addictive drums mostly because the hihat and cymbals play badly. While its great for tweaking in the drum department, its the problem I mentioned that has steered me away.

Have you checked out Toontrack Superior 2 yet? I believe it has the editing capabilities as in AD and should be out soon I believe.

[PlatinumSamples]

For the most realism with the most leakage - you'd be looking at DFHS and BFD which are full 24 bit. EZDrummer is 16 bit (with slightly less leakage from what I've heard in tracks I've been sent to mix which were created with EZ). AD uses lossy compression.

All these apps have strong and weak points, you should listen to demos from each and decide which you prefer yourself since it's very subjective.

Here are some demos programmed in BFD with no additional EQ or compression:

https://www.platinumsamples.com/JoeBarresi.html

Cheers,

Rail

[Steve MacMillan]

Originally Posted by PlatinumSamples

For the most realism with the most leakage - you'd be looking at DFHS and BFD which are full 24 bit. EZDrummer is 16 bit (with slightly less leakage from what I've heard in tracks I've been sent to mix which were created with EZ). AD uses lossy compression.

All these apps have strong and weak points, you should listen to demos from each and decide which you prefer yourself since it's very subjective.

Here are some demos programmed in BFD with no additional EQ or compression:

https://www.platinumsamples.com/JoeBarresi.html

Cheers,

Rail

I own everything except Strike.

Toontrack Superior has a poor user interface, the sounds are good but flat and drab, good variety. Pitches are for the most part tuned quite low. Sample editing tightness is not great. I slightly prefer the sounds to the stock BFD sounds. There are some very nice kicks and cymbals.

Toontrack EZ Drummer is very simple to use. I think it sounds very nice (I wouldn't worry too much about it only being 16bit). For pop and rock production, the only two kits I like are the standard kit and the Nashville kit. Not a great variety at all. Sample editing is good. The midi grooves are extremely well laid out and useful. The sounds work very well for kit enhancement. You have to put up with long load times. No sample tuning.

Addictive Drums has a great user interface, with lots of sound shaping tools. The sounds are very colorful but a bit inconsistent. Sample editing is very good. Midi grooves are very nice but not quite as well laid out as EZ. One of the snares is a big favorite of mine. For some reason the kits don't seem as glued together as EZ. I don't like the kicks. Demo this one.

BFD historically never ran that well for me in RTAS, but lately with newer versions and faster Macs it does not seem to be a problem. I really don't much care for the original factory sounds. They sound very roomy and grainy and don't take EQ very well. Sample editing tightness is poor. The midi grooves are pretty good, but not as easy to use as EZ. Some of the in house expansion packs sound somewhat better and have improved tightness. The reason I like and recommend BFD is because of Rail's Platinum Samples expansion packs which are far and away the best sounding acoustic drums. Check out the Joe Barresi demos, fantastic.

Both BFD and Toontack are planning huge updates, so I have high hopes that BFD2 will be as cool an interface as AD drums.

STeve

[reflexon]

I have bfd and recently got AD. I like the sounds of BFD, but the load times are out of control for some of the kits. When I am programming drums, 99% of the time it is for a low budget gig that needs things done fast. AD can get usable stuff going very quickly. Thats why I bought it and its found its place in my rig.

If your goal is to get usable stuff done fast, AD is very hard to beat.

[GrendelSound]

I've been using EZDrummer for a while. Sounds pretty good but I've never heard of Addictive Drums and since it's getting a lot of praise I'm going to go check that out.

Alex

[bobdaspit]

Originally Posted by Steve MacMillan

Both BFD and Toontack are planning huge updates, so I have high hopes that BFD2 will be as cool an interface as AD drums.

Just one addition to Steve's informative post...AD also has an update that's just about to come out, along with a retro expansion pack that is quite cool.

[AMIEL]

I like the sound of strike! hate the way it works!

[fova]

Almost bought Addictive Drums but found that they do not have a percussion set.

Because I use percussions a lot in my music bought EZ Drummer with Latin Percussion pack and I am happy EZD owner for a half of year.

I do not care so much about the drums in my music so I prefer EZDs simple interface without any controls and fxs and also like its thousands of ready to use midi grooves.

[Quickpunch]

I have EZ Drummer, Strike and BFD 2(with stock samples).
To me Strike sounds the best in context.
Go figure.

[Methlab]

AD is rapidly becoming my go to because it never crashes and it uses far less CPU then BFD.

The platinum samples in BFD sound really amazing though. But many times the sound I am going for is easier to get in AD. And yes, the kicks are not as good..but you can make them vibe better in the mix for some reason.

[AMIEL]

I have the same onesBDF , EZ Drummer, Strike ..and I think Strike sounds great! just I can not use it!
have no idea how to export the Patterns into MIDI without getting crappy stuff.
and DIGI really is not giving any support....very bad Plug In guide...

[JPeters86]

I'm in love with EZDrummer's Nashville Kit (thank you Chuck Ainlay)

[PhonoquO]

i agree with what a poster said above about AD hihats, i don't like them. EZ drummer has the best and most immediate UI and the sounds seems to be have been treated somewhat already to get you in the ballpark of a good kit sound without having to put a million plugs on all the channels.

If you want to hear it in action, check a little demo called "the wave" at my reverbnation profile. i didn't put much time into those drums either. played all the parts on my keyboard. EZ drummer is easily one of the best plugins i've ever had!

[marchhare]

Have all three (Strike, BFD and EZ Drummer). EZ Drummer by far, love it.

[Melgueil]

EzDrummer - as a previous poster mentioned - Nashville