Compare DFH superior to BFD

T

thewanderer24

New member
Hi All,

Both of these software packages have gotten a lot of very positive commentary, and I am curious to hear a comparison between the two. I searched extensively here and couldn't find much direct comparison.

Has anyone here used both?? Any pros and cons of one vs. the other?

I'd love to here all your comments before I drop a few hundred on one of these. I am currently leaning to BFD, mainly because I have a drummer/engineer friend that raves about it.
 
I have DFHS, and EZdrummer. I like them both. It depends on how quickly I want a pattern. DFHS is very tuneable, but takes me more time. EZdrummer is quick, and sounds really good. I've never used BFD.....all the drums I've done until recently have been the other programs though.
 
I haven't used BFD, but anytime I've read of people comparing them it was clear that DFHS owns.

I agree. DFHS owns.

Dogman, did you get the 1.6 update to DFHS yet? It lets you put different cymbals in the extra ride slots. Seeing that I never used more than maybe 2 rides out of six I'm pretty stoked over that. I get to make an uber-metal drum kit with like 12 cymbals. Word.
 
metalhead28 said:
I haven't used BFD, but anytime I've read of people comparing them it was clear that DFHS owns.

I agree. DFHS owns.

Dogman, did you get the 1.6 update to DFHS yet? It lets you put different cymbals in the extra ride slots. Seeing that I never used more than maybe 2 rides out of six I'm pretty stoked over that. I get to make an uber-metal drum kit with like 12 cymbals. Word.
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I DL'd the update, but haven't tried it yet. Should be cool though. :cool:
 
has anyone used both that has any comment?

i heard the drum sounds on BFD last night at a friend's, and they seemed good to me. What Don't you guys like about em, that say no??
 
Personally, I'm a proud BFD user. It's very easy to use and the sounds are amazing. That being said, I wouldn't turn down DFHS if someone wanted to give it to me. :)

On another note, you could just get both. FXPansion (BFD) make a converter that enables you to use DFHS sounds in BFD. You could use a BFD snare and a DFHS kick if wanted. Very cool.

Also, BFD allows you to layer sounds. So you could layer two different kick sounds for one sound. Same for snares...toms...whatever. You can also alter the pitch, bleed, room mics, pzm's, overheads, directs, top and bottom snare mics...there's just a ridiculous amount of customization you can do. I don't know if you can do the same things with DFHS but I'm sure they have a comparable feature set.
 
the only thing that i know of, is BFD has patterns built already (i think?) and DFh doesnt. ez drummer does however, and can be used easily with DFHS.

i used DFHS and i just got really tired of playing with fake drums, and have since went back to working on my acoustic sound.
 
I need some drums samples dag nabit. What I am more interested in are patterns, I need as many as humanly possible. I can devote some serious money to this, whatever it costs. Any ideas of what has thousands of patterns??? And is easy to use??
 
DavidK, check out BetaMonkeyMusic.com they have drum loop libraries with a bunch of patterns.

and yeah i'd say go with DFHS, i have it and it's awesome.

i need to DL that 1.6 update! i keep forgetting to get it when i'm home. yeah that always bugged me that there's like 5 ride slots and only 2 of the ride cymbals are worth a shit IMO.
 
Ive used, and install and sell regularly, BDF, DKFH, Battery, and every sample library out there. I personally use BFD because I like it best of all of them.
 
no, but it helps. you can just map it out on the Piano Roll in your midi editor. it can take a while, but cut & paste is your friend.
 
zed32 said:
DavidK, check out BetaMonkeyMusic.com they have drum loop libraries with a bunch of patterns.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I checked it out but their download store is down right now. I am not sure how that works, is it merely a wav. loop and you do your tune in that tempo?? :confused: I would need something that could be in many tempos within one song. I'm frightened, hold me. :(

Are there any drum machines that are pro quality? All I have is an Alesis SR16, good for practice stuff but I couldnt use it on a record. How far has drum machine technology come, has it just been replaced by software?? At least I know HOW to use a drum machine.
 
DavidK said:
Thanks, I checked it out but their download store is down right now. I am not sure how that works, is it merely a wav. loop and you do your tune in that tempo?? :confused: I would need something that could be in many tempos within one song. I'm frightened, hold me. :(

Are there any drum machines that are pro quality? All I have is an Alesis SR16, good for practice stuff but I couldnt use it on a record. How far has drum machine technology come, has it just been replaced by software?? At least I know HOW to use a drum machine.
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well i used Beta Monkey loops when i had Acid, and Acid can automatically adjust the loops tempo to the project tempo without too many artifacts. i tried doing the same in Cubase but couldnt figure out how to make the loops work. but the loops are only a few measures long, so you can mix em or repeat em and they have fills and stuff you can throw in there, so it's pretty versatile. i have i think Drum Werks IV and V on CD. the sound quality is pretty nice on them too, plus they include single hits of the drum samples which come in handy.
 
zed32 said:
no, but it helps. you can just map it out on the Piano Roll in your midi editor. it can take a while, but cut & paste is your friend.
Click to expand...
Bur how is this done? Is it possible to use these products without owning anything MIDI related? I use real drums, so I've never even thought of products like this. I'd just like to understand how they work.
 
here's how i do it in Reaper:

-first i create a new track, then insert a Midi event in the track.
-then i load the Drumkit From Hell VSTi plugin from the FX button.
-then the first DFHS screen comes up, allowing you to select your drum kit (i have my own preset drum kits that i made)
-Once you pick out the pieces of your kit, you go to the next screen where it loads everything into memory. From here you can adjust the volumes of your individual pieces of the kit, and adjust a few other settings.
-From here, i open up the Piano Roll midi editor in Reaper.
-Then you can either play out the drum pattern you want on a midi controller, or you can paint it in the midi editor one hit at a time.
-I usually map out a really simple pattern first, then copy & paste it for the entire song. then i drag the hits to different places, say if i want to switch from hi-hat to ride or something.
-once i finish the basic grooves for the song, i go back and make up some fills. i just sorta play it by ear.
-once i'm done mapping out my song in the Midi editor, i go back to the plugin screen and click the "Bounce" button
-then arm Record from the bounce screen and play back the song in it's entirety. DFHS then records all the midi hits and uses those for creating the final wav files for the drums.
-once the song is done, hit stop and theres a couple other settings you can fiddle with before finalizing the bounce.
-then DFHS will make wav files for each track in your drum pattern (kick, snare top, snare bottom, OH, etc.)
-then i arrange all the wave files and mix as if it were a real drum recording.

so that's about it, i probably missed some stuff, so if you have any more specific questions, feel free to ax.
 
Greg_L said:
Bur how is this done? Is it possible to use these products without owning anything MIDI related? I use real drums, so I've never even thought of products like this. I'd just like to understand how they work.
Click to expand...

Forget about the drum plugins. You have real drums and seem to be getting along fine. The subtleties and feel of a real kit outweigh the sound quality and flexibility of plugins, imo. I'd take a cheap kit and mikes over a plugin any day.

For anyone that's using Reaper, you can set up mikes on drums (or cardboard boxes if you want) and use the audio to trigger a drum vsti. I'm using a midi keyboard but I use a kick pedal against a thin box, set against the wall, with a mic in it to trigger the kick. It works very well.
 
TravisinFlorida said:
Forget about the drum plugins. You have real drums and seem to be getting along fine. The subtleties and feel of a real kit outweigh the sound quality and flexibility of plugins, imo. I'd take a cheap kit and mikes over a plugin any day.

For anyone that's using Reaper, you can set up mikes on drums (or cardboard boxes if you want) and use the audio to trigger a drum vsti. I'm using a midi keyboard but I use a kick pedal against a thin box, set against the wall, with a mic in it to trigger the kick. It works very well.
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hey travis in "florida" what plug is that in Reaper?

i have drums and mis too, but unfortunately i really suck at keeping time. that's the main reason i got DFHS, just for myself. if i had a good drummer i'd definitely let them bang it out on the real kit hehe, there's truly no substitute.
 
zed32 said:
here's how i do it in Reaper:

-first i create a new track, then insert a Midi event in the track.
-then i load the Drumkit From Hell VSTi plugin from the FX button.
-then the first DFHS screen comes up, allowing you to select your drum kit (i have my own preset drum kits that i made)
-Once you pick out the pieces of your kit, you go to the next screen where it loads everything into memory. From here you can adjust the volumes of your individual pieces of the kit, and adjust a few other settings.
-From here, i open up the Piano Roll midi editor in Reaper.
-Then you can either play out the drum pattern you want on a midi controller, or you can paint it in the midi editor one hit at a time.
-I usually map out a really simple pattern first, then copy & paste it for the entire song. then i drag the hits to different places, say if i want to switch from hi-hat to ride or something.
-once i finish the basic grooves for the song, i go back and make up some fills. i just sorta play it by ear.
-once i'm done mapping out my song in the Midi editor, i go back to the plugin screen and click the "Bounce" button
-then arm Record from the bounce screen and play back the song in it's entirety. DFHS then records all the midi hits and uses those for creating the final wav files for the drums.
-once the song is done, hit stop and theres a couple other settings you can fiddle with before finalizing the bounce.
-then DFHS will make wav files for each track in your drum pattern (kick, snare top, snare bottom, OH, etc.)
-then i arrange all the wave files and mix as if it were a real drum recording.

so that's about it, i probably missed some stuff, so if you have any more specific questions, feel free to ax.
Click to expand...
Cool. Thanks for taking the time to spell it all out for me. Sounds pretty complicated and time consuming. You lost me at "insert a MIDI event in the track". Lol. I've never done MIDI anything. I think I'll stick with real drums.
 
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