Bargain Center: discussion, gossip, etc.

[MasterTuner]

@TS
https://www.timespace.com/collections/t ... -ascending
Toontrack EZX - Americana $19.00
Toontrack EZX - Funkmasters $19.00
Toontrack EZX - Randy Staub Rock Solid $19.00

Does TimeandSpace rotate their discounts, I'm looking for Latin Percussion EZX ?
If so I'll keep an eye on their website. $19 is a good price.

[Vleker]

I've been using Toontrack EZdrummer for years. Can't live without it. Absolutely love it.
Personally I'm into rock and metal. My favourite EZX would be Rock Solid. Sounds phenomenal. Plus I also have Metal Machine and Made of Metal. I also had Nashville and Southern Soul (I regret selling both) they are both excellent.
Rock Solid would easily work for alternative rock and indie.

Thank you for your opinion on EZD and EZX suggestions.
If you mean Randy Staub Rock Solid, it's on sale for $19 along with Americana. If I pick up EZD, I will probably get one of these for now. I am unable to demo it right now due to being away from studio PC, but I will make sure to install the demo to at least check if it works fine in FL Studio before buying it.

If you don't mind, may I ask your typical workflow with EZD? Do you use MIDI grooves as is or modify them? Do you use song creator consistently? You may have other drum products/content as well, right? A little more insight into the workflow will be really useful for me.

I like EzDrummer but imo it's not the most realistic sounding. It's good for writing etc. and you can make it work, but Superior Drummer is the way to go if you want to have more flexibility and realism. But fot the money it's a great place to start as you can use the EZX kits in Superior Drummer later on

[escalona]

What's the general opinion on Toontrack EZdrummer 2?

It's $79 right now and the song creator part looks interesting to me. I do have all the NI drummer collection and Battery 4 by the way, so not much concerned about the EZD drum content/samples.

I think it's excellent. I'd say, though, that if you're not interested in the EZX packs, you'd miss out on its main strength, which is the grooves and mix-presets those come with. Buying it and only using the stock sounds would be perhaps not worth it. That said, I do think it sounds better than Studio Drummer, and is much easier to find what you want than Battery. I'm very happy with it, and I've bought a few EZXs that I like a lot (a country one, big room rock, a jazz one, and action that was just on sale)

I got it for $75 back in 2018, I don't think the price has been this low since.

Exactly what I was looking for, thank you so much.

I'd like to get some EZX packs, but it suddenly starts becoming an expensive affair. It's their strategy after all. I might settle for EZD now, but I will go through all demos of the EZX packs before ordering it so that I know the cost I am looking at - now or in future. Hopefully the packs will be discounted more often than not. I see 3 packs on sale on T+S and one of them sounds good to my taste.

While I scan through them, I'd appreciate if anyone wants to share their EZX pack recommendations for alternative/indie/electronica/pop stuff.

Absolutely wonderful. I have Superior Drummer and actually end up most of the time going to EZ drummer. Listen to the expansions and see if they fit your needs, there are many useful sound samples in their website.
For some jobs, I sometimes use Slate drums but always go back to EZdrummer and use their cymbals and hihats.
You won't regret it.

[WatchTheGuitar]

Personally have SD3 now, but used to have the original EZD. My workflow is find something in the groove search with the right time signature that’s a close match on style, BPM and instrumentation to what I want then start auditioning it against a basic kit. Drag patterns I like into the song track windows to get something close to verse, chorus, bridge etc. Once happy with the patterns, start auditioning kits to get the sound right and find an overall kit I like then swap out a few elements for ones I prefer (nearly always after tighter kicks and snares), play with a few mixer settings to get a good sound then drag the MIDI drum patterns into the DAW to make adjustments where needed. A lot of the time I just end up removing hits from the groove patterns because I find them a little too busy and I prefer simple patterns on modest Ringo type kits over massively appointed prog kitchen sink kits. Less cowbell!

I also bought MDrummer while ago and now use that a lot for creating patterns on the fly over using the Toontrack grooves. It has a really useful way of randomising patterns,

[DubLifeSD]

Acon Digital Mastering Suite is an awesome deal at $38.

[U-o]

Any Thorn presets on sale right now?

[psynical]

Can anyone explain why the no gossip thread posts are getting spammed with thumbs down? So weird.

[mgw38]

Can anyone explain why the no gossip thread posts are getting spammed with thumbs down? So weird.

Somebody thinks this is Reddit.

[El°HYM]

Any Thorn presets on sale right now?

Not really a sale, as he doesnt do any of those. Yet, I would definitely check these out, anyway: https://store.emptyvessel.co.nz/dmitrysches

[telecharge]

Can anyone explain why the no gossip thread posts are getting spammed with thumbs down? So weird.

They're eating Grandma's mac 'n cheese at the kids table. Should I get them for you? No? OK, I'll just tell them you said Happy Thanksgiving.

[BBFG#]

Can anyone explain why the no gossip thread posts are getting spammed with thumbs down? So weird.

Maybe they're pointing out the post as SPAM. Or maybe it's because their style of posting is that of advertising using irregular spacing, different sizes of fonts and colors. Other complaints about these threads deal with the fact it's the same MAP price they regularly and consistently have. And that it often takes up half a page. Also the fact that they just refuse to change their approach to posting has become a reason to not even spend a dime or the time with them other than clicking the thumb to let them know it's become more of an assault than a announcement.
But they just won't get any of that.
Keep it short, succinct, with real deals and direct links and without the obvious trickery that turns off so many.

[LoveEnigma18]

I like EzDrummer but imo it's not the most realistic sounding. It's good for writing etc. and you can make it work, but Superior Drummer is the way to go if you want to have more flexibility and realism. But fot the money it's a great place to start as you can use the EZX kits in Superior Drummer later on

Thanks for the suggestion, but I will stay away from Superior Drummer for three main reasons: it is too complicated for my needs, it is too expensive, and not looking for ultra realism here. As you said, my intention is with writing/programming/creating drum parts.

[LoveEnigma18]

Absolutely wonderful. I have Superior Drummer and actually end up most of the time going to EZ drummer. Listen to the expansions and see if they fit your needs, there are many useful sound samples in their website.
For some jobs, I sometimes use Slate drums but always go back to EZdrummer and use their cymbals and hihats.
You won't regret it.

Great to know, thanks!

Fortunately or not, after checking the demos, I am not really liking any EZX packs enough to be excited about them right now. I might pick up one of those that are currently available for $19, but not sure if I need them. Only EZD should be fine.

[LoveEnigma18]

Personally have SD3 now, but used to have the original EZD. My workflow is find something in the groove search with the right time signature that’s a close match on style, BPM and instrumentation to what I want then start auditioning it against a basic kit. Drag patterns I like into the song track windows to get something close to verse, chorus, bridge etc. Once happy with the patterns, start auditioning kits to get the sound right and find an overall kit I like then swap out a few elements for ones I prefer (nearly always after tighter kicks and snares), play with a few mixer settings to get a good sound then drag the MIDI drum patterns into the DAW to make adjustments where needed. A lot of the time I just end up removing hits from the groove patterns because I find them a little too busy and I prefer simple patterns on modest Ringo type kits over massively appointed prog kitchen sink kits. Less cowbell!

I also bought MDrummer while ago and now use that a lot for creating patterns on the fly over using the Toontrack grooves. It has a really useful way of randomising patterns,

Thanks for sharing your EZD workflow, it is helpful to know. Do you find yourself using just the MIDI arrangement from EZD song creator and then using it for other drum samples, etc.? Because if I don't have any EZX packs, the kits/sounds are very limited and one may find it useful to use the grooves with external drum samples. Of course, can get a bit tricky to work this way, but it's a possibility nonetheless.

EZD is the cheapest option for me right now and adds a little bit to the workflow. Not super essential, but something I can at least give a try.

[LoveEnigma18]

@TS
https://www.timespace.com/collections/t ... -ascending
Toontrack EZX - Americana $19.00
Toontrack EZX - Funkmasters $19.00
Toontrack EZX - Randy Staub Rock Solid $19.00

Does TimeandSpace rotate their discounts, I'm looking for Latin Percussion EZX ?
If so I'll keep an eye on their website. $19 is a good price.

It looks like there is a possibility of rotation, because the BS page says "Black Friday Week Phase 4" for Toontrack:

Toontrack Black Friday Deal Four:
Three selected EZX Expansion each only € 19!
Vlaid through November 30th.

https://www.bestservice.com/deals/toont ... _2906.html

I will be keeping any eye on this since I am thinking about getting EZdrummer 2. Would be good to have one EZX in the collection. T+S might be cheaper depending on where you are, though.