Toontrack has announced dfh EZdrummer, a multi-microphone drum sampler designed for musicians and producers in need of a compact, affordable, easy to handle plug-in without compromising sound quality or control.

Screenshots: Main interface | Mixer

The visualized drums in the interface combine auditioning of sounds and drumkit construction. The extensive drag and drop MIDI-library (featuring 2000+ MIDIfiles) enables users to create a great drum-track in just a few clicks. For more advanced handling, users can control microphone bleeding and levels between drums using the internal mixer. The mixer also allows stereo and multitrack routing into the host through one single plug-in, and thanks to the second generation Toontrack Percussive Compression (TPC), system requirements are kept to a minimum.

Features:

• Ranges from entry level usability to pro handling.
• Multiple microphone control.
• TPC G2 reduces system requirements to a minimum.
• Operates in General MIDI.
• Internal mixer allows stereo and multi-track routing into the host through one single plug-in.
• Preset mix modes for quick sound changes.
• Interface visualizes the drums loaded and combines auditioning and kit construction.
• Drums recorded at Avatar Studios, New York by world-class drummers and producers.
• Instant access to a large library of drum patterns with pre-listening, quick browsing and drag'n'drop functionality.
• The humanizer function combines drum hit randomizing and non-cycling.
• Velocity sweep allows instant seamless velocity changes from 1-127.
• Possibilities for the user to add their own MIDIfiles to the library.

Also announced are the EZX drum and percussion expansion packs for dfh EZdrummer - Toontrack plan to release a number of expansions during 2006. When loading an EZX an interactive picture of the drumkit contained in that expansion appears in the main window of EZD and the user is allowed to utilize the pre-listening and direct construction features of that particular expansion.

The philosophy behind the EZX is to give the user sounds recorded and mixed by the best in the business at an affordable price. The sounds will be tweaked with specific genres in mind and recorded with the best producers in that genre. EZX will also contain midifiles in addition to the MIDI in the basic EZdrummer module.

dfh EZdrummer will be available for Windows and Mac OS X in VST and AU formats (with RTAS TBA) and is expected to be in stores in Europe and the US in April 2006 and in Japan in May / June 2006. It will cost $179 / €149 / £99.

The release date for the first EZX expansions has not yet been announced but they will cost between $49 and $99.