Steven Slate Trigger and SSD4 super friggen cheap right now.

And you do realize there is a mixer in SSD4 to adjust that 'ambiance' right?

I am not trying to justify SSD4 nor harsh on your opinion of it. But I am also not understanding some things you have stated.

Sorry, I do not use SSD4 with an e-kit and I have no idea how to.

Also the reverb tails that you speak of are adjustable by you within SSD also you know...

Just because any preset kits give you a setting, does not mean that is the sound you particularly want or need. No drum programming software is going to know exactly what you want. One still has to shape it to their personal preference. At least you can start from scratch with SSD.

From my experience, I have found programming with SSD4 to be the most natural sounding of any drum program I have used. I suppose everyone has their own opinions...
 
Tadpui said:
No offense taken whatsoever, jimmy!

I've only recorded live drums a couple of times, and it's been a long while. And I wasn't very good at it even then. But there's just something about the attack of those toms that sounds off to me. When I listen to the fellas in the clinic that record their own drums, the toms sound AMAZING to me. Deep and throaty...like I associate with the sound of a tom in rock music. These just sound weird to me...the attack seems exaggerated and the ringing note too...I dunno...tuneful? If I were to put a compressor on a similar sound and set the attack not quite at the fastest setting, and the release pretty quick, I'd expect something similar: the initial whack being relatively loud, and the ringing note coming through more as the compressor let off. Maybe it's just me and I need to hear these in the context of a mix before I make any final judgments.

Are those the Pearl 12, 14 and 16" toms? Those were the least offensive to me. A couple of the others really has a nasty attack "smack" to them.

EZD's toms bother me too, but in a different way. On those samples, it's less the attack and more the ringing note that bugs me. They just sound artificial, like a caricature of a tom. That's on the pop/rock kit, at least. The vintage kit in EZD2 has toms that sound like empty coffee cans being banged by a stick.
Click to expand...


I bet you are going to hear back from one of those guys saying the same thing as I did. They just sound like well tuned toms.

That 'ringing' (sustain) is what natural toms do. That ring or natural decay is usually buried in a mix, but without it there, you will lose the tone of the drum. You can adjust that to taste, just as someone mixing a death metal album may remove all of the decay from a tom hit to fit the genre. The tom you hear in the sample I posted are just recordings of real toms as they are. No compression. No effects. That is just how that particular set of toms sound.
 
I really didn't mean to give it a scathing review, I don't detest it. The repeatable crashing of Reaper thing got my blood boiling, so frustrations were running high. EZD has me spoiled on user interface considerations, so the glitches and quirks of the SSD player didn't help that.

I still think the toms sound funky somehow though. :D
 
Tadpui said:
I really didn't mean to give it a scathing review, I don't detest it. The repeatable crashing of Reaper thing got my blood boiling, so frustrations were running high. EZD has me spoiled on user interface considerations, so the glitches and quirks of the SSD player didn't help that.

I still think the toms sound funky somehow though. :D
Click to expand...

LOL! I am not butthurt either. :)

I cant say how any software performs in another DAW. I only know what I own and how things work in mine.

I still think you funky somehow though. LMAO!

Seriously, I want to know every users experience with the software I use and recommend. Good or bad is always good when honest.

This builds our ability to give good reviews. :)

Keep messing with SSD and see what you come up with.
 
Turns out this fancy $500 desk I bought at Guitar Center last month qualified me for a $90 e-Cert! Pulled the trigger for the other $9 and I'll have my download coming down soon! Ooooh, new toys!
 
I'd say those toms in Jimmy's clip sound maybe a little EQ'd, just a little, or maybe colored/enhanced going in, but definitely not processed beyond that. They definitely don't sound compressed to me. They just sound pretty much like nice toms. That's how toms are supposed to sound. Attack, tone, then decay. That's what drums do.
 
Tadpui said:
Having to reset my e-kit mapping every time I audition a new kit is beyond annoying. And it works from a philosophy of samples from a library instead of pieces of a kit (the latter is how EZD views it).
Click to expand...

I'm sure you'll find uses for SSD4....just like you have with EZD....but I think you really need to check out SD2.
Based on what you are saying above, that is one of the things some folks comment about, that SD2 interface works more like a "kit" instead of individual samples....same as with EZD, only SD2 sample packs are better overall than the EZD stuff.

I'm kinda going in the other direction....already having the EZD and SD2 and Trigger, and now looking to add SSD4....but based on the Trigger 1 & 2 interfaces, and checking out the demo for SSD4......mmmmm, I'm most likely to use SD2 as my primary drum app, I just think the user interface is a little better, specially since I now already have a nice collection of their sample packs....but I still plan on using the Slate stuff when I can't find the sounds I like in the EZ/SD stuff.

I mean, they are all just tools....there's no reason to be in one camp or the other as though app loyalty needs to be maintained. ;)

So what I'm saying is....find what yo like in SSD4, and then at some point also try the SD2, it's a step up from the EZ stuff.
 
Greg_L said:
I'd say those toms in Jimmy's clip sound maybe a little EQ'd, just a little, or maybe colored/enhanced going in, but definitely not processed beyond that. They definitely don't sound compressed to me. They just sound pretty much like nice toms. That's how toms are supposed to sound. Attack, tone, then decay. That's what drums do.
Click to expand...
:thumbs up:
 
Greg_L said:
I'd say those toms in Jimmy's clip sound maybe a little EQ'd, just a little, or maybe colored/enhanced going in, but definitely not processed beyond that. They definitely don't sound compressed to me. They just sound pretty much like nice toms. That's how toms are supposed to sound. Attack, tone, then decay. That's what drums do.
Click to expand...

Fair enough, I can accept that.

miroslav said:
I'm sure you'll find uses for SSD4....just like you have with EZD....but I think you really need to check out SD2.
Based on what you are saying above, that is one of the things some folks comment about, that SD2 interface works more like a "kit" instead of individual samples....same as with EZD, only SD2 sample packs are better overall than the EZD stuff.

I'm kinda going in the other direction....already having the EZD and SD2 and Trigger, and now looking to add SSD4....but based on the Trigger 1 & 2 interfaces, and checking out the demo for SSD4......mmmmm, I'm most likely to use SD2 as my primary drum app, I just think the user interface is a little better, specially since I now already have a nice collection of their sample packs....but I still plan on using the Slate stuff when I can't find the sounds I like in the EZ/SD stuff.

I mean, they are all just tools....there's no reason to be in one camp or the other as though app loyalty needs to be maintained. ;)

So what I'm saying is....find what yo like in SSD4, and then at some point also try the SD2, it's a step up from the EZ stuff.
Click to expand...

Agreed, I'm not looking to find one be-all-end-all sample pack. I really like the UI for EZD, but I realize that it's more for people that don't care to futz with their drums. SSD4 is just really new to me so I know that I'll have to futz with it, I'm just bewildered by the different ways that I'm going to have to mess with it to get what I want. I'll come around. SD is still on my shopping list, although now that I've spent over $200 on drum software, I'm like 1/2 way to what I could've spent on a 2nd hand set of actual drums! But since I suck at drumming, I couldn't quantize real drums so that's worth a fortune to me :D
 
Okay, I've been fighting this for two days. Downloads took 10 hours and two of the files were corrupt (another 4 hours). Tried to install exactly like they show. Couldn't get to work at all in my Cubase LE. Realized LE does not allow VSTi's so I downloaded Reaper and installed it. Reaper will identify all of my VSTs and my VSTi's, except SSD4. When I run the install like the video shows, I don't get any options, and I can't find where it's installed the dll. Have tried reinstalling several times. Deleted all the files and re-extracted, re-installed, re-searched and re-frustrated. Same result. Where is the file to show Reaper SSD4?
 
I don't know Reaper and I have yet to get SSD4.....but, normally, when I install a new plug/VST, I might have to "re-scan folders", so that the DAW app finds the new plugs.

Not sure where that is in Reaper....but have you tried something like that?

Also, during the installation, didn't you see any paths shown for where SSD4 was going to drop files...???
 
BroKen_H said:
Okay, I've been fighting this for two days. Downloads took 10 hours and two of the files were corrupt (another 4 hours). Tried to install exactly like they show. Couldn't get to work at all in my Cubase LE. Realized LE does not allow VSTi's so I downloaded Reaper and installed it. Reaper will identify all of my VSTs and my VSTi's, except SSD4. When I run the install like the video shows, I don't get any options, and I can't find where it's installed the dll. Have tried reinstalling several times. Deleted all the files and re-extracted, re-installed, re-searched and re-frustrated. Same result. Where is the file to show Reaper SSD4?
Click to expand...

I hear ya man, I had some download issues as well. Not exactly a slick installation process, is it?

When I installed the actual VSTi via it's own installer, I just stuck it in an existing folder of mine where I keep VST files. You can run the installer again and take note of where it gets placed during installation, or change the file path and put it somewhere that'll make sense to you.

Then open Reaper, go to options and find the VST section. In there you can add a new directory to the VST search path, just point it to wherever the SSD installer stuck your .dll. You can re-scan so it'll pick up anything in the new directory. Or if you have a few minutes you can clear the cache and rescan.
 
Yes, I'm looking in the VST folders and there's nothing for SSD4. No file for it to rescan. I did try. The installer takes about .75 seconds and though I've tried to see it, I just can't follow. Tried about 14 times.
 
As you're clicking "next" in the installer, one of those pages should show the intended install path. Something like C:\Program Files\VSTPlugins for the 64-bit version, and something like C:\Program Files (x86)\VSTPlugins for the 32-bit version.

Did you leave the "VST x64" box checked in the installer? I unchecked the RTAS and 32-bit and only installed the 64-bit VST.

Let me go downstairs and go through it again to make sure I'm not relaying info from some fever dream I had :)
 
Also, did you download the 64-bit Windows version of Reaper? I haven't used the 32-bit version for a long time...it may not even recognize 64-bit DLLs while scanning.

I'm going thru the installer again now. I unchecked the 32-bit VST and RTAS, leaving only the 64-bit VST checked. I browsed for my VST plugins folder ("C:\Program Files\VstPlugins" on my system) and selected that. The end result is that it dropped a file called SsdSampler.dll into that folder. Reaper picked it up no problemo, but I already had this directory added to the VST search path since that's where my other plugins live.
 
BroKen_H said:
Okay, I've been fighting this for two days. Downloads took 10 hours and two of the files were corrupt (another 4 hours). Tried to install exactly like they show. Couldn't get to work at all in my Cubase LE. Realized LE does not allow VSTi's so I downloaded Reaper and installed it. Reaper will identify all of my VSTs and my VSTi's, except SSD4. When I run the install like the video shows, I don't get any options, and I can't find where it's installed the dll. Have tried reinstalling several times. Deleted all the files and re-extracted, re-installed, re-searched and re-frustrated. Same result. Where is the file to show Reaper SSD4?
Click to expand...

I know EZDrummer is not supported in Cubase LE. Maybe it's the same for SSD4?
 
Does it not give you an option of where to install the VST? SD when it is installed there was one option of where to install the program and then another where the VST should go. I sent it to the a common VST folder I had created.
 
Xcaliber said:
I know EZDrummer is not supported in Cubase LE. Maybe it's the same for SSD4?
Click to expand...


That would be freaky news to me. Though it has been a while since I used LE. I do not recall ever having that limitation. There is no VSTi 'Rack' in LE versions, but VSTi should absolutely be useable. VSTi Rack allows you to send multiple outputs from a VSTi. In LE versions you can only create an 'Instrument Track' (stereo output from VSTi).

I am sure you are misinformed and just not downloading/installing correctly.

By the way, the actual VSTi (instrument) for SSD4 is called 'SsdSampler', not 'SSD4'.
 
BroKen_H said:
Okay, I've been fighting this for two days. Downloads took 10 hours and two of the files were corrupt (another 4 hours). Tried to install exactly like they show. Couldn't get to work at all in my Cubase LE. Realized LE does not allow VSTi's so I downloaded Reaper and installed it. Reaper will identify all of my VSTs and my VSTi's, except SSD4. When I run the install like the video shows, I don't get any options, and I can't find where it's installed the dll. Have tried reinstalling several times. Deleted all the files and re-extracted, re-installed, re-searched and re-frustrated. Same result. Where is the file to show Reaper SSD4?
Click to expand...


See my last post above. I think you are looking for the wrong thing or doing something wrong man.

10 hours? Man, I must be lucky with my internet speed because that never happened to me. Well one time something took that long and I went 'Office Space' on that modem...

It has been a while since I downloaded SSD4, but I do not recall ever having any issues. Maybe the sale on the products is overloading their download page. IDK.

Not right either way...
 
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