KVR Audio

Guido Negraszus · Post by **Guido Negraszus** » Tue Aug 26, 2014 3:38 am

I don't like it. Someone asked how it sounds. My opinion is that it sounds average. I tried to use in 2 songs so far and ended up using something else. I find the StudioDrummer from NI (Komplete) much better than the GA4 acoustic drums. Maybe I'm a bit unfair because I own tons of top notch sample libraries so I didn't really need any new drums. I guess for someone who doesn't have anything else (in terms of drums) this will be a treasure. I also totally hate Steinberg's GUI's (Same with HS2) Sure, its a matter of taste but I find them messy, unintuitive and plain ugly. It took me 3 days to even understand how it all works. It was certainly the last Steinberg product I purchased. I really liked their earlier stuff (GA1/2, Hypersonic, Virtual Guitarist etc.) where simplicity was on their agenda.

BERFAB · Post by **BERFAB** » Tue Aug 26, 2014 3:26 pm

StudioDrummer from NI is tough to beat on sound for Acoustic kits. It's a very under-rated program IMHO. Not only are the kits well recorded, but the mixer gets you right to some very good acoustic genre emulations (funk, rock, indie, etc.).

The downside to StudioDrummer for me is that it is a Kontakt instrument, and as good as it sounds, can be a bit unwieldy to load and manipulate in a DAW. Also, there's no really efficient way to audition the thousands of MIDI patterns that come with it. It just takes way to much time to get what I need.

GA4 is deep, but that means it's complex, and I'm still getting frustrated trying to get around the program the way I would like. But the drums do sound great. The Percussion setup is first rate and is meant to blend and add color to the acoustic or beat kits. The beat kits have a ton of variety and are very easy to tweak. I like that it's all here under one roof. Again, I differ from Guido in that I really like the new Steinberg instruments. The integration and the fact that GA4 is its own standalone vsti make it fun for me to experiment and try out all it has to offer. Yes, it could be simpler, but I'm hoping a little education will solve that--making the time I put in worthwhile.

Cheers
-B

Guido Negraszus · Post by **Guido Negraszus** » Tue Aug 26, 2014 4:01 pm

Fair enough Berfab. I agree with everything you said about StudioDrummer.But at least you can work with it immediately, everything makes sense straight away and the quality is top notch. Yeah, I don't get it why new VSTi's have to be so complex. It's not like they re-invented the drum machine. That's what it is at the end of the day. A tool which creates drums and beats. I'm not a software designer but I am 100% certain that GA4 (GUI) could have been done a lot more user friendly with a simple straight forward interface. Just have a look at Stylus RMX. After almost 10 years its still my main beat tool. Its done by people who really really love what they are doing but that's a different subject.

gmontano · Post by **gmontano** » Tue Aug 26, 2014 6:25 pm

JRRShop said they should have licenses by the end of the week. I ordered a license and downloaded/installed the full installer. I am hesitant to uninstall and install the demo and need to reinstall again. Berfab, do you know whether the midi dragged to the cubase project includes the full track midi information, or just midi info to trigger the pad?. I'd like to ultimately use BFD3 or SD2 to play back the project.

BERFAB · Post by **BERFAB** » Tue Aug 26, 2014 6:42 pm

gmontano wrote:JRRShop said they should have licenses by the end of the week. I ordered a license and downloaded/installed the full installer. I am hesitant to uninstall and install the demo and need to reinstall again. Berfab, do you know whether the midi dragged to the cubase project includes the full track midi information, or just midi info to trigger the pad?. I'd like to ultimately use BFD3 or SD2 to play back the project.

1) I asked Uncle E if you need to uninstall the demo before adding a full license IF YOU DO SO BEFORE THE DEMO EXPIRES. He thought that you just needed the license. I will try this and post here to confirm for anyone else trying this.

2) I messed around both with MIDI dragged IN to GA4 and MIDI dragged OUT of GA4. Not sure I understand the question, but here goes: ALL the midi dragged out of GA4 were complete midi files. They were not note triggers for the pads containing beat info. They were like any other MIDI pattern files. In fact, I was able to use Sampletank kits on them in my DAW (Cubase 7.5) and they played fine.

Also: As previously reported, MIDI files pulled out of the complexity tool retained the altered complexity info. However, new midi files from other sources dragged INTO GA4 did NOT have the ability to be altered with the complexity tool.

-B

gmontano · Post by **gmontano** » Tue Aug 26, 2014 7:25 pm

Great. You answered my question. I'm looking forward to checking it out.

Rajah · Post by **Rajah** » Wed Aug 27, 2014 2:44 am

BERFAB wrote:
gmontano wrote:JRRShop said they should have licenses by the end of the week. I ordered a license and downloaded/installed the full installer. I am hesitant to uninstall and install the demo and need to reinstall again. Berfab, do you know whether the midi dragged to the cubase project includes the full track midi information, or just midi info to trigger the pad?. I'd like to ultimately use BFD3 or SD2 to play back the project.
1) I asked Uncle E if you need to uninstall the demo before adding a full license IF YOU DO SO BEFORE THE DEMO EXPIRES. He thought that you just needed the license. I will try this and post here to confirm for anyone else trying this.

2) I messed around both with MIDI dragged IN to GA4 and MIDI dragged OUT of GA4. Not sure I understand the question, but here goes: ALL the midi dragged out of GA4 were complete midi files. They were not note triggers for the pads containing beat info. They were like any other MIDI pattern files. In fact, I was able to use Sampletank kits on them in my DAW (Cubase 7.5) and they played fine.

Also: As previously reported, MIDI files pulled out of the complexity tool retained the altered complexity info. However, new midi files from other sources dragged INTO GA4 did NOT have the ability to be altered with the complexity tool.

-B

The Auto Complexity is crazy... After using it, it is hard to just use 'static' midi clips... It's just seems so natural... Hope they put it into the Beat Agent soon...

And the Percussion Agent is perfection... 10 out of 10.

BERFAB · Post by **BERFAB** » Wed Aug 27, 2014 2:26 pm

Rajah wrote:
The Auto Complexity is crazy... After using it, it is hard to just use 'static' midi clips... It's just seems so natural... Hope they put it into the Beat Agent soon...

And the Percussion Agent is perfection... 10 out of 10.

Agreed.

The complexity tool is really the groundbreaking feature here. Genius.

Also, I stumbled upon some very helpful vids in the Cubase YouTube channel. All the most recent ones deal with GA4. I recommend watching these BEFORE sitting down with the demo.

Cheers
-B

cruster · Post by **cruster** » Wed Aug 27, 2014 6:35 pm

Do you need the USB dongle even for the demo/trial?

BERFAB · Post by **BERFAB** » Wed Aug 27, 2014 7:37 pm

cruster wrote:Do you need the USB dongle even for the demo/trial?

Unfortunately, yes.

It's great if you already work in Cubase or have another Steinberg product. But for everyone else, the dongle is an unnecessary burden.

The restriction is also surprising given that the trial is among the most generous in the biz: 30 days of full, unrestricted access with a full content download. You can even save presets.

Cheers
-B

cruster · Post by **cruster** » Wed Aug 27, 2014 8:34 pm

BERFAB wrote:Unfortunately, yes.

It's great if you already work in Cubase or have another Steinberg product. But for everyone else, the dongle is an unnecessary burden.

The restriction is also surprising given that the trial is among the most generous in the biz: 30 days of full, unrestricted access with a full content download. You can even save presets.

Cheers
-B

That is unfortunate. I have no other Steinberg products and the closest Guitarget doesn't have the USB dongle in stock (the next closest does, but I'm not driving an hour and a half for a $30 dongle just to try a piece of software).

I'm intrigued by the complexity function; haven't seen anything like that in Studio Drummer. But, I'm not exactly a Studio Drummer expert, so...

BERFAB · Post by **BERFAB** » Thu Aug 28, 2014 3:23 pm

No, StudioDrummer doesn't have that feature. It DOES have a shedload of midi patterns nicely tagged into every imaginable category, and it also has a great sounding kit. But Steinberg are definitely breaking new ground here.

stikygum · Post by **stikygum** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 5:16 am

Does anyone know if you need to uninstall Groove Agent 4 Trial version before you install the full retail version? If so, how do you uninstall the Trail version? I don't see an 'uninstaller' in the Trail version folder.

pc2000 · Post by **pc2000** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 6:22 am

stikygum wrote:Does anyone know if you need to uninstall Groove Agent 4 Trial version before you install the full retail version? If so, how do you uninstall the Trail version? I don't see an 'uninstaller' in the Trail version folder.

The same way you un-Install any program on your machine. Also,a number of installers used to install a program will have an option to remove the program if you try to re-install.

Guillermo Navarrete · Post by **Guillermo Navarrete** » Wed Sep 10, 2014 7:37 am

Hello,

stikygum wrote:Does anyone know if you need to uninstall Groove Agent 4 Trial version before you install the full retail version? If so, how do you uninstall the Trail version? I don't see an 'uninstaller' in the Trail version folder.

You don't need to uninstall the trial of Groove Agent 4.
To uninstall an application on a PC go to the Control Panel of your computer > Start > Control Panel > Uninstall an application.

On the Mac you have to drag the application from your applications folder into the trash can bin, and then remove the content manually.

Best regards,
GN

Groove Agent 4 incl. Trial out now for all.