Superior Drummer 3 vs Addictive 2

[Dewdman42]

I remember some years ago there was all the talk about BFD vs SD2. I ended up getting SD2 because i thought it sounded better, even though BFD had a monumentally better GUI to work with the kits. That being said...I never ended up using SD2 on a single track because the UI frankly sucked. I ended up getting SSD4 and later AD2 and I use those all the time, they sound great with very little fussing around. These days, anything goes on songwriting, you can use anything you ant to make a drum track and nobody cares whether it sounds like a perfect drum kit recording session. I rather like AD2 because it comes with a lot of variety of kits...and...until SD3, I felt that their built in mixer was the best in terms of providing lots of FX and stuff to get different kinds of produced sound very easily right from the plugin itself.

I don't have SD3 and probably won't because A) the upgrade price is high B) I don't like that Toontrack is saying I have to upgrade now or can't upgrade later... but based on what everyone is saying, its understandable that it would be the current gen drum setup. BFD and AD2 haven't really been updated in quite a while. But SSD5 is due out any day now..I'm waiting for that..

[noiseboyuk]

Dewdman42 - I hear you re SD2. It really did suck. I bought it, got depressed by it... yes it sounded great but what a PITA is was. When I changed computers, I didn't even install it.

As plenty have said, SD3 is chalk and cheese to SD2, but if you've found another route that works for you, great. I think we're all locked into this spiral of grass-is-always-greener. If your tools work for you, no need to change a thing. (That sentence is the opposite of capitalism, I realise).

[Dewdman42]

Dewdman42 - I hear you re SD2. It really did suck. I bought it, got depressed by it... yes it sounded great but what a PITA is was. When I changed computers, I didn't even install it.

honestly yea...it is one of the sample lib purchases I have made that I honestly felt I wasted the money, I removed it from my HDD to make room for other stuff. I'm glad that that SD3 has been done right this time, but the upgrade cost is high...and now that Toontrack is laying on the pressure to upgrade before the end of the year or else lose your ability to upgrade.... eh.. fool me once....

As plenty have said, SD3 is chalk and cheese to SD2, but if you've found another route that works for you, great. I think we're all locked into this spiral of grass-is-always-greener. If your tools work for you, no need to change a thing. (That sentence is the opposite of capitalism, I realise).

+1

[rod_zero]

Seems to me that a more appropriate comparison would be EZ Drummer 2 vs Addictive Drummer 2.

AD2 is above EZD2 in features but below BFD and SD3.

[Dewdman42]

AD2 is way way above EZ drummer. I know a lot of people back in the day that liked it better then SD2. Not me initially, but later yes.

[ozmuso67]

Seems to me that a more appropriate comparison would be EZ Drummer 2 vs Addictive Drummer 2.

Yes, or as evidenced above, BFD3 vs. SD3.

I've got both BFD3 and SD3. When it was just SD2, I tended to lean towards BFD3. As for SD3 and BFD3, both have good functionality. SD3 improved a lot on SD2 with much more control, things like the grid editor etc, and it is roughly on par with BFD3 in that regard.

But for sound I simply prefer SD3 over BFD3 - SD3 just sounds a lot better. Mind you, I am only using the stock BFD3 library, I am sure it is better if you buy some if not many of the add-on drum libraries for BFD3. But out of the box, SD3 wins in the sound dept. for me. And, mind you, it is pretty large, 230GB is the full SD3 standard sound library size (but that does include 5.1 / surround sound, which I don't use).

NE-way, 4ME, SD3 RULE3 OVA BFD3 4ME

[DrMEM]

What is the advantage of SD3 over BFD3?

I've only tried the demo of BFD3, but SD3's interface is so much better and I find the sounds and variety in the Core samples better as well. I've also experienced robust stability with Toontrack's software with good updates (something FXpansion has not really done - see Geist 2).

I would highly recommend SD3 to anybody looking for acoustic drums. It literally is superior.

In terms of interface and experimenting, probably. In terms of sound, no.

BFD's cymbal modeling makes it superior to any other drum software out there for realistic stuff if you plan on riding cymbal/hi-hats. Once you've heard it, all others sound fake. Sure, you can somewhat do this yourself by adjusting attack on individual hits, but BFD makes it so easy. Highly recommended, especially now that there's a huge sale.

SD3 has a similar option that works well enough (it does adjust the attack on the cymbal hits when you play them fast enough). In terms of sound, it's just as good.

Just curious, is this documented anywhere? This is the first time I've heard of it in SD3, and it's a pretty killer feature in terms of realism, so I find it hard to believe they wouldn't promote it.

It's been around since SD2, where it was called mhe (multiple hits emulation).

[rasmusklump]

Seems to me that a more appropriate comparison would be EZ Drummer 2 vs Addictive Drummer 2.

AD2 is above EZD2 in features but below BFD and SD3.

Maybe in features but not in sound.
AD always sounds like plastic to me

[zvenx]

I actually liked and used AD2 way more than SD2.
Somehow AD2 just jelled better in mixes and songs to me.
rsp

[jens]

Seems to me that a more appropriate comparison would be EZ Drummer 2 vs Addictive Drummer 2.

AD2 is above EZD2 in features but below BFD and SD3.

Maybe in features but not in sound.
AD always sounds like plastic to me

I own and use both SD (first 2, now 3) and AD and I don't think I am able to tell on which song I used which of those three (potential remembering aside, of course)...

both have their advantages and disadvantages.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

These days, anything goes on songwriting, you can use anything you ant to make a drum track and nobody cares whether it sounds like a perfect drum kit recording session.

I get the impression that perhaps most of the opinion in this thread is from those who are using these software drum packages in lieu of session drummers i.e piecing together and editing the included loops.

For my personal interests/needs, I'd like to hear more about the performance aspects from people who play them as instruments, either via finger drumming or e-kit, and who've compared SSD to BFD.

[twitewhite]

Seems to me that a more appropriate comparison would be EZ Drummer 2 vs Addictive Drummer 2.

Yes, or as evidenced above, BFD3 vs. SD3.

I've got both BFD3 and SD3. When it was just SD2, I tended to lean towards BFD3. As for SD3 and BFD3, both have good functionality. SD3 improved a lot on SD2 with much more control, things like the grid editor etc, and it is roughly on par with BFD3 in that regard.

But for sound I simply prefer SD3 over BFD3 - SD3 just sounds a lot better. Mind you, I am only using the stock BFD3 library, I am sure it is better if you buy some if not many of the add-on drum libraries for BFD3. But out of the box, SD3 wins in the sound dept. for me. And, mind you, it is pretty large, 230GB is the full SD3 standard sound library size (but that does include 5.1 / surround sound, which I don't use).

NE-way, 4ME, SD3 RULE3 OVA BFD3 4ME

When you say it sounds better, are you talking about the raw samples or just after processing? Do you really think SD3 is that much better than BFD3 to justify the price/hard drive space?

I currently own BFD3, but after watching some YouTube videos on SD3, I kinda want it. It sounds very good, maybe even better than BFD, but it's a bit expensive and I probably will have to buy a hard drive for it unless I can delete enough unused plugins from my computer! If you or anyone else who has/has used both softwares can chime in, I would very much appreciate it!

[ozmuso67]

Seems to me that a more appropriate comparison would be EZ Drummer 2 vs Addictive Drummer 2.

Yes, or as evidenced above, BFD3 vs. SD3.

I've got both BFD3 and SD3. When it was just SD2, I tended to lean towards BFD3. As for SD3 and BFD3, both have good functionality. SD3 improved a lot on SD2 with much more control, things like the grid editor etc, and it is roughly on par with BFD3 in that regard.

But for sound I simply prefer SD3 over BFD3 - SD3 just sounds a lot better. Mind you, I am only using the stock BFD3 library, I am sure it is better if you buy some if not many of the add-on drum libraries for BFD3. But out of the box, SD3 wins in the sound dept. for me. And, mind you, it is pretty large, 230GB is the full SD3 standard sound library size (but that does include 5.1 / surround sound, which I don't use).

NE-way, 4ME, SD3 RULE3 OVA BFD3 4ME

When you say it sounds better, are you talking about the raw samples or just after processing? Do you really think SD3 is that much better than BFD3 to justify the price/hard drive space?

I currently own BFD3, but after watching some YouTube videos on SD3, I kinda want it. It sounds very good, maybe even better than BFD, but it's a bit expensive and I probably will have to buy a hard drive for it unless I can delete enough unused plugins from my computer! If you or anyone else who has/has used both softwares can chime in, I would very much appreciate it!

For me, SD3 sounds better to my ear than BFD3 - both raw and processed. I find that I like the sound of SD3 better in my mixes than BFD3. However, YMMV and it just depends what you like. I find SD3 to sound more rounded and balanced than BFD3, but that is not to say with tweaking you can't get BFD3 to sound good enough.

It is up to you - if you have the hard drive space and you can afford it, then IMHO it is worth it. Note you can also choose not to install all of SD3, for example, you could easily leave out surround sound if you don't need that, and save on space.

As for cost, if money is an issue, then BFD3 is a pretty good choice in terms of bang-for-your-buck. However, for me, I had SD2, so it was almost a no-brainer to upgrade to SD3, and I was happy I did, as SD3 is much better all round than SD2.

Just my opinions.

Edit - looking back, I just realised that one of the big reasons I got BFD3 in the first place was its groove editor. This is a really good feature of BFD3 that was not present in SD2. Sure, with SD2 you could edit the midi afterwards, but now SD3 has a groove editor, which I find is great for tweaking parts within the software until you are happy with it, then for me I drag the midi out into my DAW.

So now, SD3 has for me all that enticed me in the first place to BFD3.

[twitewhite]

Seems to me that a more appropriate comparison would be EZ Drummer 2 vs Addictive Drummer 2.

Yes, or as evidenced above, BFD3 vs. SD3.

I've got both BFD3 and SD3. When it was just SD2, I tended to lean towards BFD3. As for SD3 and BFD3, both have good functionality. SD3 improved a lot on SD2 with much more control, things like the grid editor etc, and it is roughly on par with BFD3 in that regard.

But for sound I simply prefer SD3 over BFD3 - SD3 just sounds a lot better. Mind you, I am only using the stock BFD3 library, I am sure it is better if you buy some if not many of the add-on drum libraries for BFD3. But out of the box, SD3 wins in the sound dept. for me. And, mind you, it is pretty large, 230GB is the full SD3 standard sound library size (but that does include 5.1 / surround sound, which I don't use).

NE-way, 4ME, SD3 RULE3 OVA BFD3 4ME

When you say it sounds better, are you talking about the raw samples or just after processing? Do you really think SD3 is that much better than BFD3 to justify the price/hard drive space?

I currently own BFD3, but after watching some YouTube videos on SD3, I kinda want it. It sounds very good, maybe even better than BFD, but it's a bit expensive and I probably will have to buy a hard drive for it unless I can delete enough unused plugins from my computer! If you or anyone else who has/has used both softwares can chime in, I would very much appreciate it!

For me, SD3 sounds better to my ear than BFD3 - both raw and processed. I find that I like the sound of SD3 better in my mixes than BFD3. However, YMMV and it just depends what you like. I find SD3 to sound more rounded and balanced than BFD3, but that is not to say with tweaking you can't get BFD3 to sound good enough.

It is up to you - if you have the hard drive space and you can afford it, then IMHO it is worth it. Note you can also choose not to install all of SD3, for example, you could easily leave out surround sound if you don't need that, and save on space.

As for cost, if money is an issue, then BFD3 is a pretty good choice in terms of bang-for-your-buck. However, for me, I had SD2, so it was almost a no-brainer to upgrade to SD3, and I was happy I did, as SD3 is much better all round than SD2.

Just my opinions.

Edit - looking back, I just realised that one of the big reasons I got BFD3 in the first place was its groove editor. This is a really good feature of BFD3 that was not present in SD2. Sure, with SD2 you could edit the midi afterwards, but now SD3 has a groove editor, which I find is great for tweaking parts within the software until you are happy with it, then for me I drag the midi out into my DAW.

So now, SD3 has for me all that enticed me in the first place to BFD3.

Thank you very much for your opinions. I think I want SD3, as I honestly had the same feeling as you, that it just sounded better (even just by hearing YouTuve videos, which may compress the sound even in HD, I'm not sure. Such a shame there's no demo and it's such a huge download (although it seems I can download in parts, like download just the drum samples first and then later I can download the extra mics and bleed and other stuff). Also, although I've not tried using it, the interface of SD3 just seems more inspiring than BFD3 (could be just because it's new though).

Thanks again! Any other opinions before I shell out 400+ USD for SD3? Lol

[ozmuso67]

I think you'll be very happy with SD3 if you decide to get it.

The only other suggestion is, if money is a bit tight, you might want to have a look around in the "Buy and Sell" subforums here on Kvr - I think I saw used copies of SD3 put up for sale just recently.

That way you might be able to save a few $$ if you can snag a copy here, second hand.