Drums VSTi plugins: quick comparison

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Santo
EZDrummer by Toontrack
EZDrummer by Toontrack
By now is real: writing songs with a good drums track is easier than some times ago. You don’t have to find a drummer, give him the songs to prepare, rent a studio, record everything with the right mic in the right place and then clean the tracks before mixing. Not anymore. You just need to have a good VSTi.

Please note: Drummers, I’m on you side. The rule is: if you can record a REAL drumkit, played with the right emphasys by a good drummer, there’s nothing better, no VSTi in the world could be better than this. But it’s true that not everybody can afford it. That’s why Drums VSTis exist, and in this case, it’s worth to have one.

There are three companies that shine fot that kind of plugins: Toontrack (with EZDrummer and Superior), XLN Audio (with Addicitive Drums) and Steven Slate Drums. I don’t know very much Steven Slate Drums, I’ve never used it so I can’t give you my opinion, anyway I listened to its sample and I think it’s really interesting.

I found that EZDrummer is the simpliest one, easy to use during songwriting, quick and simple. Equally simple (if you use the basic kit with no tweaks) is Addictive Drums, but it’s for sure more complete, to be honset, I think that it can’t be compared to EZDrummer, it’s more like Superior (which I don’t use), moreover it has better drumkit samples.

If we talk about Hevy metal songwriting, something changes: the Metal Machine EZX pack for EZDrummer has some KILLER samples (it was created by Andy Sneap!). In my opinion, its sample are really better than the ones in METAL ADpak for Addictive Drums, even if it’s more customizable, but quite too much for me.

I few words, if you need just a plugin to program quick drums loop, with an affordable price, you should go with EZDrummer, basic kit, it won’t let you down. If you need something more, if you like to tweaks your kit, and you can spend something more, Addictive Drums is the way. Fan of that Heavy Metal drum sound? EZDrummer + Metal Machine is the answer.

Here’s a quick price comparison, the choice is yours!

EZdrummer 119€ + Metal Machine 69€ = 188€

Addictive Drums 179€ + Metal ADPak 59€ = 238€

Steven Slate Drums (Platinum edition) 249$

2 responses to “Drums VSTi plugins: quick comparison”

  1. Eddie Paul Naples Avatar
    Eddie Paul Naples

    Ciao, ho avuto modo di provare un po’ Steven Slate Drums, dal mio punto di vista posso dire che sì, i campioni sono veramente qualitativi, ma bisogna armarsi di batteria elettronica per conferire un feeling realistico alle tracce: infatti creando le proprie drumtracks usando ad esempio lo Step Editor di Cubase se non si è veramente armati di pazienza e di dovizia nei particolari si rischia di creare un effetto drum machine poco gradito. D’altro canto Superior Drummer fornisce un maggiore realismo per quanto riguarda tocco e feeling, risulta un po’ più macchinoso dare un’identità  ai suoni, vale a dire che bisogna lavorare un po’ d’ingegno (magari lavorando sui pitch dei singoli pezzi del drumkit) per conferire originalità  al proprio lavoro. Della serie:”Minchia, hai usato Superior Drummer?” è una frase che si sente dire troppo spesso. Non amo particolarmente il set di Addictive Drums, il rullante ad esempio è veramente difficile da gestire, suona un po’ finto a mio avviso… Ottimo invece è Metal Machine, con alcuni accorgimenti già  un prodotto così buono si eleva ai massimi conoscibili! Con simpatia, Eddie!

  2. Santo Avatar
    Santo

    Ciao Eddie! E’ vero che capita molto spesso di “riconoscere” i campioni di batteria (per esempio ormai mi accorgo al volo del kit standard di EZDrummer e soprattutto del NON esaltante Drumkit From Hell…), alcuni sembrano davvero fintissimi. Addictive Drums mi piace molto devo dire, ma anche lì dipende dai gusti per quanto riguarda i campioni. Metal Machine credo sia tra i migliori prodotti al momento sul mercato, oltretutto ha dei suoni pressochà© “mix ready” per cui alla fine si devono fare pochissimi accorgimenti, mi piace molto!

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