Steven Slate Drums?

symbolofmylife

Hi guys,

I am currently messing about with some VST drumming plugs.

Anyone familiar with Steven Slate and if the basic version SSD 4 EX and if it's any good?

At present I am working with EZ Drummer and I am pretty happy with what I can achieve...was just wondering about the Slate products?

Any pointers?

majestikc

It's worth it, ESPECIALLY the new SSD V4 which has it's own player and doesn't use Kontakt like V3.5 (which is what I got), it has some more organic/unprocessed kits plus all the rest.

I'm sure you'll find it a HUGE step up from EZ Drummer.

AlanRatcliffe

I've been using Superior Drummer and EZ Drummer for a few years, but I must try the Slate drums. How are they better than EZ?

majestikc

Much better sounding drums, EZ Drummer (default blue kit) to me has a distinct sound you can hear immediately, which is not the best sound, got this kind of plastic/fake thing to it (same as Addictive Drums), with the Slate stuff they sound more like good generic "album" drums straight out the box (still needs tweaking etc).

AlanRatcliffe

...and compared to the EZ expansion kits? I'll admit the the default rock/pop kit is a bit "blah" (still has it's uses though). Most of the EZX kits are excellent, particularly the Classic Rock, Nashville, Jazz and Funk Masters kits. I'm also often triggering from an electronic kit and the response is good.

majestikc

I haven't had much experience with any of the expansion kits, but If you get the Slate drums it will make a nice addition, especially when you start combining them with Superior/EZ Drummer, they fill in each others gaps quite nicely.

What e-drums do you have, I'm looking at getting the new Alesis DM10 Pro kit:

http://www.alesis.com/dm10prokit

symbolofmylife

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: ...and compared to the EZ expansion kits? I'll admit the the default rock/pop kit is a bit "blah" (still has it's uses though). Most of the EZX kits are excellent, particularly the Classic Rock, Nashville, Jazz and Funk Masters kits.

Stellar example of what the user prefers.

I have a number of kits for EZ, but the one I like most is the pop one...lol...for metal....I have the Metalheads and Drumkit from Hell also but they lack loads of clarity IMO. But I do want to start running selected parts of different sets on different tracks to see I can really build a frankenstein kit.

AlanRatcliffe

majestikc wrote: What e-drums do you have

Roland TD-12K.

symbolofmylife wrote: I have a number of kits for EZ, but the one I like most is the pop one...lol...for metal....

? Not surprising - DKFH is probably the worst sounding kit of the lot. The Nashville is awesome for pop and rock.

Mo-Facta

Ja, EX user here. If you do rock stuff, it's all you need but other styles may need other packages.

They sound best when you blend the sample in with live drums, imo.

Cheers ?

sharonzaz

the EX is great for actual drum replacements, but real pain in the ass
as for programming in a song.

superior and BFD2 are the closest you'll get to the best, however i dont know
the new SSD4, some say it is good.
mind you, after a re-format I havent even bothered installing the EX again
due to me mostly doing programmed drums.

EZ is cool but lack many features that superior offers, and in fact just
running an EZX through superior sounds better for some reason, perhaps
an improved sound engine.

method1

SSD4 deluxe is probably the best sounding drum software on the market at the moment. Software is a little buggy but they're ironing out the kinks.