Author Topic: First use of Superior Drummer in anger and I'm stoked!  (Read 2214 times)

Offline Failed Muso

First use of Superior Drummer in anger and I'm stoked!
« on: November 28, 2016, 05:04:24 AM »
So I picked up a copy of Superior Drummer 2 the other day in the Black Friday sales and used it for the first time in anger yesterday as I laid down a couple of drum parts to a friends compositions. I've been blown away by the audio quality and depth of the samples and how relatively easy it is to get up and running. I've barely scratched the surface though in terms of adjusting the vast array of settings to personalise my sounds. And the Alesis mapping preset is pretty much 100% accurate! I only had to reassign one trigger (crash 2) on my Crimson unit.

I was also very impressed with how well it runs on my slightly ageing laptop. I've got an old Dell Latitude that I inherited from a previous job about 4 and a half years ago. It's an i5 with 4GB RAM running Windows 10 and SD ran for hours on end with absolutely zero issues. I'm using a Propellerhead Balance audio interface at its lowest latency (buffer of 64 samples, giving me 2ms of output latency) and it behaved impeccably. This gives me a lot of confidence for using it in a live environment although I'm going to have to refine my rig hardware into something a bit more rugged and portable. Im currently looking at potential solutions involving a 1U rack mixer and 1U audio interface and maybe even a rack mounted amp that can be routed directly into the sound desk or PA.

SD is one of the most authentic e-drum sound sources I've ever heard. Suffice to say, my friend was very impressed with my contribution and how the tracks sounded.

Next up, I'm going to be delving into Propellerhead's Reason Drum Kits 2.0 ReFill as I am a heavy Reason user, so it will be nice to work with my Crimson Mesh kit in my favourite DAW environment.

And if you've been thinking about getting SD 2, now is the time as it is currently 70% off until November 30th :)
Alesis Crimson Mesh Kit, Alesis DM10 Module, Alesis PercPad, Yamaha DTXpress Kit, Mattel Synsonics, Toontrack Superior Drummer 2

Re: First use of Superior Drummer in anger and I'm stoked!
« Reply #1 on: November 29, 2016, 03:25:01 AM »
I'm in the same boat.  I bought it last week, and I went back and bought the Custom & Vintage SDX as well.  I was going to get an EZX pack for half the price, but the SDX pack came with more than twice the kits, so many snares, and so many more cymbals it made financial sense.  That's what I convinced myself anyway...

I'm using my work PC (lucky enough to work from home with my kit in my office!) it has an i7 processor and 14GB of RAM. The latency is actually really low with no extra audio interface but I think I'll add a Focusrite Scarlett to get it a little better when funds allow.

My only gripe is that I can't play along to an ipod or similar with the current set up.  I may have to add a mini mixer before the headphones.

I'm using Toontrack's own player, is there any advantage to using a DAW? I'm not recording at present, just playing.

Offline Failed Muso

Re: First use of Superior Drummer in anger and I'm stoked!
« Reply #2 on: November 29, 2016, 05:02:02 AM »
I'm in the same boat.  I bought it last week, and I went back and bought the Custom & Vintage SDX as well.  I was going to get an EZX pack for half the price, but the SDX pack came with more than twice the kits, so many snares, and so many more cymbals it made financial sense.  That's what I convinced myself anyway...

Yeah, it's hard not to grab a lot of that stuff at these prices. Especially when they're this high quality!

I'm using my work PC (lucky enough to work from home with my kit in my office!) it has an i7 processor and 14GB of RAM. The latency is actually really low with no extra audio interface but I think I'll add a Focusrite Scarlett to get it a little better when funds allow.

I've got SD installed on my iMac in my office upstairs (I'm a home worker too) but there's not enough room up there to set up the whole kit, so I have it in my conservatory downstairs (much to my wife's annoyance!). So the iMac handles SD with aplomb, as expected (3.4 quad core i5, 32GB RAM) but I was concerned that the laptop might struggle, given the size and quality of the SD library. I'm not a massive Windows fan, although I use it every day, and this laptop is a bit creaky by today's standards, so I was pleasantly surprised by how well SD ran on it, particularly as I'm considering using it for live work. I'd rather not have to buy a new laptop just for this task and an iMac isn't designed for gigging ;) I'm actually considering buying a dedicated audio interface though. Annoyingly, I have a lovely little Firewire interface that doesn't do much at the moment, and my laptop actually has a firewire port, but sadly, there are no Windows 10 drivers for the interface anymore. There's not even any for Windows 7 so retrograding the OS isn't an option either, unless I want to suffer the trauma that was Vista :O So I'm on the lookout for an affordable 1U 19" rack mount interface.

My only gripe is that I can't play along to an ipod or similar with the current set up.  I may have to add a mini mixer before the headphones.

That would be one option. You should be able to mix audio in your PC using a software mixer, depending on your audio card. I run everything through a mixing desk here, so it's all handled in hardware.

I'm using Toontrack's own player, is there any advantage to using a DAW? I'm not recording at present, just playing.

The only advantage really would be when you want to record and multi-track. It might also help with mixing multiple audio sources (as discussed above). If you're looking to dip your toe in the water, you can try Reaper. It's shareware with an indefinite and unrestricted evaluation period. It has a bit of a steep learning curve but that's easily handled by loads of helpful online advice and tips. Most DAW's have demos or trials. I'd never recommend one over another as different DAWs suit different peoples way of working. I used to be a heavy Cubase guy, but moved to Reason many years ago. Been there ever since. When I need another tool, I use Reaper or Mixbus.
Alesis Crimson Mesh Kit, Alesis DM10 Module, Alesis PercPad, Yamaha DTXpress Kit, Mattel Synsonics, Toontrack Superior Drummer 2