2021 - Favorite Drum Software?

VST, AU, AAX, CLAP, etc. Plugin Virtual Instruments Discussion
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Sugarbytes Drumcomputer. It has the sequencer chops (i.e., controlled random etc.) and the MIDI out to drive any acoustic sets I want (i.e. Kontakt etc.).

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stash98 wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 5:40 pm
EnGee wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 6:40 am I also like Softube Hearbeat. Maybe the best synth drums I have heard especially it comes with top notch effects 👌
I have to say, I am demoing the Softube Juno now and it has to be the best plugin Juno I have heard. Prior to that I preferred the Roland Cloud, but this one really has something special to it.

It makes me think that I will need to demo Heartbeat next. Especially since they say that its inspired by 80s drum machines, but with a twist. Thats pretty much exactly what I am looking for. If I can route all 8 tracks out easily to their own channel in Ableton, I will be set.

Appreciate you all suggesting this one. It was on my radar a few years back and I just never demoed it for whatever reason.
Just for you to be set ;)

https://youtu.be/gFGuKoHt7aA

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I am very interested in what Atlas will offer in the next release. If I remember correctly, they said there will be a major upgrade last year (May ?). But I still haven't heard anything from them.

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JiggSaw wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 7:03 pm XLN XO even though I really don't want to say it
Why is that ?

I have bought XLN Audio XO in the last sale and really like how quickly you can build drum grooves, and find sounds across vast sample libraries. The groove features with nudging and swing helps to make drums sound less static and boring. And the built-in sample and effect tweaks help me make things sound better without complicated layering of extra plug ins on individual samples.

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musicmanta wrote: Sat May 08, 2021 11:26 am
JiggSaw wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 7:03 pm XLN XO even though I really don't want to say it
Why is that ?

I have bought XLN Audio XO in the last sale and really like how quickly you can build drum grooves, and find sounds across vast sample libraries. The groove features with nudging and swing helps to make drums sound less static and boring. And the built-in sample and effect tweaks help me make things sound better without complicated layering of extra plug ins on individual samples.
Only because the lack of updates is ridiculous. It's a great product but there's a lot of improvements that could be made.

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EnGee wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 9:22 pm
stash98 wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 5:40 pm
EnGee wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 6:40 am I also like Softube Hearbeat. Maybe the best synth drums I have heard especially it comes with top notch effects 👌
I have to say, I am demoing the Softube Juno now and it has to be the best plugin Juno I have heard. Prior to that I preferred the Roland Cloud, but this one really has something special to it.

It makes me think that I will need to demo Heartbeat next. Especially since they say that its inspired by 80s drum machines, but with a twist. Thats pretty much exactly what I am looking for. If I can route all 8 tracks out easily to their own channel in Ableton, I will be set.

Appreciate you all suggesting this one. It was on my radar a few years back and I just never demoed it for whatever reason.
Just for you to be set ;)

https://youtu.be/gFGuKoHt7aA
Very warm sounding synth btw (considering other videos as well). They nailed it.

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cowby wrote: Sat May 08, 2021 9:02 am I am very interested in what Atlas will offer in the next release. If I remember correctly, they said there will be a major upgrade last year (May ?). But I still haven't heard anything from them.
Me too. My workflow for programming beats is Atlas and HY-RPE2 for sequencing. I love the random choosing of kit and samples. Sometimes i use Breaktweaker, sometimes i use Pulsecode, and i expect i'll be getting Nerve soon.

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This is an auto-drummer I made in Reason. He plays 16 bars with random ghost notes, and every 16th bar, he makes an auto-fill that very seldom is the same. It is probability based, of course. This is the beauty of Reason to me; I can almost make anything I want.

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Tribe Of Hǫfuð https://soundcloud.com/user-228690154 "First rule: From one perfect consonance to another perfect consonance one must proceed in contrary or oblique motion." Johann Joseph Fux 1725.

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Toontrack Superior Drummer and Battery 3/4.

Superior SD3 rules for acoustic drums, especially the newer expansions and the abundance of great quality midi.

I still use Battery 3 often because Kontakt can import it to combine multiple Battery files (one for each drum /cymbal type like they did a decade ago). Battery is just so easy for putting things together from multiple sample sets and doing complex layering.

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stash98 wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 5:40 pm
EnGee wrote: Fri May 07, 2021 6:40 am I also like Softube Hearbeat. Maybe the best synth drums I have heard especially it comes with top notch effects 👌
I have to say, I am demoing the Softube Juno now and it has to be the best plugin Juno I have heard. Prior to that I preferred the Roland Cloud, but this one really has something special to it.

It makes me think that I will need to demo Heartbeat next. Especially since they say that its inspired by 80s drum machines, but with a twist. Thats pretty much exactly what I am looking for. If I can route all 8 tracks out easily to their own channel in Ableton, I will be set.

Appreciate you all suggesting this one. It was on my radar a few years back and I just never demoed it for whatever reason.
When I first got HB, I was all about routing the drums to individual in channels. Now, not so much. I miss the softube eqs, saturation channels and effects.

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I'm trying really hard to convince myself I don't need a maschine as a software drum VST.

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JiggSaw wrote: Sat May 08, 2021 12:39 pm
musicmanta wrote: Sat May 08, 2021 11:26 am
JiggSaw wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 7:03 pm XLN XO even though I really don't want to say it
Why is that ?

I have bought XLN Audio XO in the last sale and really like how quickly you can build drum grooves, and find sounds across vast sample libraries. The groove features with nudging and swing helps to make drums sound less static and boring. And the built-in sample and effect tweaks help me make things sound better without complicated layering of extra plug ins on individual samples.
Only because the lack of updates is ridiculous. It's a great product but there's a lot of improvements that could be made.
With XO, I know it has really advanced sample browsing. So for example if I found a kick to use, would it guide me to claps and snares already pitched in a way that compliments the chosen kick? Just trying to get an understanding of how that browsing AI works. I believe one of the negatives is that it doesn't separate its stock drums from the existing user sample libraries, but to me thats not a huge deal.

Also with the sequencer, it looks like it can apply really nice feel/swing to the drums, is that your experience? I'm typically making house so I just like that nice swung MPC feel. For whatever reason that just comes naturally with an old MPC and a bit of swing dialed in, but I feel like a good software drum sequencer should be able to replicate it as well.

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stash98 wrote: Sun May 09, 2021 8:47 pm
With XO, I know it has really advanced sample browsing. So for example if I found a kick to use, would it guide me to claps and snares already pitched in a way that compliments the chosen kick? Just trying to get an understanding of how that browsing AI works.
That's what I would like it do but it doesn't really. If you start with INIT, it will find similar samples per lane. So you pick a kick from sample space, then you can find similar kicks. If you start with a preset, then you can find similar kits at once as well as lane by lane. However, their filtering options are great. Example... say you like a kit but think the snare is too bright. You can set your frequency range, lock all lanes except snare, and cycle through. But no, if you're starting from scratch it won't guide you and say "Hey.. these snares/claps would go perfect with that kick". I wish it did.
I believe one of the negatives is that it doesn't separate its stock drums from the existing user sample libraries, but to me thats not a huge deal.
This can be done. Like I mentioned above, the filtering is great. You can simply deselect the Core library.
Also with the sequencer, it looks like it can apply really nice feel/swing to the drums, is that your experience? I'm typically making house so I just like that nice swung MPC feel. For whatever reason that just comes naturally with an old MPC and a bit of swing dialed in, but I feel like a good software drum sequencer should be able to replicate it as well.
Yes, it has swing options globally or per lane. Plus nudge options and an accentuator. The reason it's my favorite is because I can get something going super fast. Maybe I just gel with the workflow and how it's laid out. I have a lot of the drum software mentioned in this thread and XO gets me where I want to go faster than all of them. I can get a nice sounding drum track with good samples, swing, velocities, etc. in minutes.

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Maschine (it can do anything drum related) Or Microtonic (my go-to for kicks and snares and claps). Lots in between, but those are the most complicated and simplest drum plugins I own, respectively.
Don't F**K with Mr. Zero.

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+1 for XO. Used to use geist 2. XO is just so fast and fun and effective. Geist is deep, but I found it clunky to get around in. I really like XO a lot. This thread has made me want to get microtonic again though. Used it a long time ago. Loved it then.

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