Haven't heard lot about this.
Is it stable on win7X64?
The video demo sounds real good!The new interface looks real easy to use.
Thanks, Bill

Ye, I've been hesitant on pulling the trigger as well (got EX 3.x) as i haven't heard good or bad things. Fact it, I didn't use SSD 3 EX that much cause I'm not a fan of Kontakt (...or any other NI stuff in general). As such I don't really know how well the drums work in production. Yes, that's right,I've got EX3.x and have never actually used it in a track...

Maybe the fact that it's now standing on it's own feet will make it more appealing, but I'm not sure yet.

I had EX 3.x from previous audiomidi deal, so I decided to upgrade to EX 4.x . To tell the truth, I'm not that much excited of it. Furthermore it is currently (*) extreemly buggy and unusable in my opinion.

(*) it is very new, and currently take it as an "early adopter"

It has an x64 version and uses keyfile as copy protection .

I think it was mentioned that you need a decent amount of memory to load everything in correctly, so especially if you might be on a 32-bit machine and max 4 gigs it may lead to crashes. I think they're going to fix that by allowing you to decide how much detail you want to load in. Apparently, even at 50% it's supposed to sound really good. (I guess the extreme level of detail was for people who are triggering them live in lieu of the real thing?) You'll still be able to render at full detail in any case. So, that might be one of the issues people are having. Definitely still a work in progress and I believe even Slate has said so. I'm guessing that's the reason for the special "early adopter" pricing. But I think the final product is going to be really great. I think it's worth it especially if you're upgrading or crossgrading.

I'm pretty much in the same position.

And the thing is, the upgrade price from EX 3.5 runs out end of February so if I don't do it now, I risk ending up with an 'orphaned' app and no reasonably priced way to upgrade. Hmm....

Same position here. Like and use 3.5 but upgrading to what is effectively a beta, a RAM hog and other issues.. Don't know. I like my products finished. After Slate's foray into the fx department, it seemed like it took like over a year to get the bugs ironed out of the console plug and fx-g.

I think I'll sit this one out. Slate will still need cash after Feb. and I bet a deal will come along should I still want it. It seems that all of the other plugs are constantly having some big promo price.

Currently I'm really enjoying NI's upgrade of all the abbey road stuff and studio drummer is great.

great points guys,thanks.
Does the new player have a purge function,like kontakt.
It would be cool to play a final version of a tune, then
have the player unload the unused samples.I have 24 GIG.

no it does not purge the samples.


it lacks some things which were available with the 3.5 version. there are less controls to edit the samples. the choke cymbal hit which was available on the keyboard version at least, is not there anymore. I had to create one myself by editing the attack of the cymbal hit. Now you have to use the choke keys for each cymbal to mute the corresponding samples. the crash doesn't have its own mixer panel for some reason.



the plugin is not less stable than other demanding plugins like kontakt to name one.

I was disappointed with the new kits. I think the 3.5 kits sound better ( they are included in 4.0). I would have like to get one of those jazz kits, but i guess there's a reason why there is a full version.


ButI think it's worth it for the cymbals , which sound a lot better. And of course it's more enjoyable to use the SSD player than kontakt.The kits load faster and you won't feel claustrophobic anyomore.

The next update with the ability to load less detail and cut the RAM use considerably until time to render a track will be VERY welcome. I'm still tooling along fine in Win XP32 thanks to Kontakt's disk streaming, and don't really want to be forced into upgrading my computer earlier than would otherwise be necessary because of one plugin that devours around 1GB all by itself.

Sound-wise, I'm liking it pretty well. It's a different thing from the 3.5 kits. The new kits are more "raw" and unprocessed, so they have a more natural, less hyped sound. Which can be good or bad depending on what you want in a given context. The heavily-processed kits are great for hard rock, but the more naked-sounding "Indie Kit 1" from 4.0 (driven by real drummer MIDI grooves) worked well for a piano/bass/drums semi-jazzy pop/rock thing I recently did.

I crossgraded from 3.x EX to 4.x EX, and ... I don't know what it is, but I just don't find any of it appealing or usable, be it the GUI, the performance or the sounds.

Not saying it's sh1t, but I just don't like any of it.
To me, it's like Ableton Live as a host: you either totally dig it because you actually need the way it works, or you haven't got a clue what it's all about.
With SSD4, I'm in that second fraction.

Got AD and SD2, and IMO the SSD4 can't compete.

I asked for a refund, because Slate support told me to do so, but AudioMIDI are taking it rather slow.

The Trigger EX on the other hand I quite like.
Maybe I'll start using it, once Slate can wrap their heads around x64 Mac AUs.

so what's the player in v4, if it's no longer kontakt?

Slate uses his own player now.

Lol, i know it's your subjective opinion, but it cured my GAS somehow to get the SSD4, after seeing the good crossgrade deal.
I already own Addictive Drums with Indie and Funk Paks, and it still rocks, and even if the demos i heard from Ssd are pretty nice, it never gave me the impression, oh, i can't do that with AD. Especially the Indiepak is one of it's kind.
Even the basic AD kit still can compete with every new libraries I've heard, even it's quite dated.

I have had AD for a few years (just the standard kit, none of the ADpaks), and I've never really been satisfied with the snares. The rest of the kit sounds good to me, but even with the snare expansions (I think there were 2), I felt it lacked variety and a good sound. SSD 3.5 has a wealth of options for every kit piece, so you can almost guarantee that you'll find something that works for your track. The samples sound amazing as well. I want to upgrade to SSD 4.0, but it doesn't work in Vienna Ensemble Pro right now - it is 64-bit and Steven is very active about keeping touch with the community. Can't say the same thing about XLN and AD - no word on when 64-bit for Mac will be supported and the developers refuse to comment.

Another option that sounds good to me is NI's Studio Drummer. Great sounding samples, lots of articulations (another thing that AD lacks), and a beautiful interface IMO.

If your looking for sometning that has a UI with Compression/EQ FX ala Addictive, BFD, Superior Drummer maybe you shouldn't bother with SSD4. But if your looking for a simple, easy to use drum sampler that packs a punch where it matters (sound quality) then look no further. IMHO SSD4 is the best sounding Acoustic Drum sampler out of the bunch. As for the lack of built in FX, don't most of us use our goto comps/EQs etc. anyway?

Its true that SSD 4.0 is still in beta-pre-release mode but just look what you get for around the same price as SD or BFD. Platinum comes with IMO all the acoustic drumkits you'll need & even a few Elctro ones too. How much would you have to spend on expansion packs for the other main Drum samplers to match whats in Platinum? (a lot me thinks) There's a LOT of samples in platinum & the kits sound real nice requiring minimal processing (something I cant say about the others mentioned)

I was initially put of with the GUI but believe me SSD 4.0 really does shine where it matters. Steven's been very responsive to most of our demands so I'm hoping for a new & improved SSD4 to come very soon.