XLN Audio Addictive Drums Reviews

Shunsho
from
May 12, 2013Music Background:
Amateur

Perfect sound for perfect price

Is fast, easy, and sound very good. There is not better choices for this price. Could be very complex because you have a lot of settings in AD.
Also...is cheper in Sweetwater than in the xln audio web site!!!

Robert Wade
from South Eastern Idaho
April 23, 2013Music Background:
Artist/Engineer

Excellent

I've been programming drums for decades and this program is the best and easiest drum mixes I've had as of yet.
Excellent

from
March 29, 2013

Great tool!

I have used it for the first professional song of my band. It sounds really good for rock. If you don't have a drums player in your band or the set that has your drums player is not professional, I recommend you Addictive Drums. You can try the demo before purchasing.

Bill
from Long Island, NY
February 22, 2013Music Background:
Recording Hobbyist/Refugee from a 60's R&R Band

Addictive Drums

Easy to download and very user friendly. The drum sounds are vary real and lifelike sounding

Christopher Brockway
from
February 18, 2013Music Background:
pro musician/ recording engineer

Indispensable...

I'm constantly amazed at the realism this plug in provides for my drum tracks. I purchased the base program initially from Sweetwater and as time went on, continued to add several more of the ad packs as my budget allowed. Really for the cost of this plug in the returns far exceed the minor investment and I'm guaranteed amazing sounding drum and percussion tracks every single time, no matter what the musical style or genre. Thanks Sweetwater and thank you Addictive Drums!

Larry C
from Michigan
February 1, 2013Music Background:
'Very' long time musician

Addictive is the key word

You can tell why they call it Addictive Drums. This plug-in may not be the most comprehensive sound selection or configuration options, but what is there is definitely excellent quality. Nice layout and some slick controls over modifying the setup. Great value at this price.

Alfredo
from brookfield, CT
January 16, 2013

Addictive Drums with e-Drums

I like the super natural sounds of this package and its ability to be twicked to taste. The best for my Roland E-Drum. The sounds can be as raw or processed as you want. Better than EZDrums or BFD2 in my opinion.

from New Orleans, LA
July 8, 2012

I finally got addicted.

Had briefly used Adddictive Drums at a friend's. I love the ease of use and the great sounding drum samples. I have BFD & the Maschine, but AD is up there with both programs. AD is built very intuitively. Set it up and you will be recording day one. It has becker my go-to drum program. The price was right too.

Raykibb
from New Orleans, LA
June 15, 2012Music Background:
Recording engineer and semi-pro musician

I'm Addicted

Great sounds and rythems. Ease of use is intuitive, if you've ever worked with any Drum program, you will find AD the simplest lay out of all. I own BFD and AD blows BFD away as far as sound and ease of use. Buy now while promotional free AD Pack is available, you won't be sorry

Chris Lester
from NH
May 22, 2012Music Background:
Professional musician

Awesome!

I heard about AD from a friend and he was right. This is an incredible product. I had some issues installing it and Sweetwater (as well as XLN) was amazing at resolving it (as always). I have been buying from Sweetwater for years and they continue to impress me over and over again.
The ability to control the parameters of the drums (tuning, room mic placement, drum selection,etc) is outstanding. Very easy to use and the sounds sit in the mix much better than my other software (which will remain nameless). Highly recommend!

David
from Oxford, UK
April 8, 2012Music Background:
Songwriter/vocalist/guitarist with Dead Lights, UK

Superb, professional-sounding drum software.

First note: if you are doing modern metal, you owe it to yourself to get the Metal ADpak. Don't be put off by Ross Robinson; this is everything you need.

Being able to download it immediately certainly helps the instant-gratification personality, and you can buy this much more cheaply from Sweetwater than you can in the EU.

I can't vouch for the accuracy of the drum samples, not being a drummer, but I can vouch for the difference Addictive Drums makes to my tracks. I'm comparing with keyboard drums (actually the SRX drum expansion), and the difference is astounding, particularly once you start tuning the drumkit for your music. It's nice to be able to pitch the snare or dampen the kick, for example. The separate outputs are nice and intelligible for your mix engineer, too! Highly recommended.

Yolchie
from West Virginia
March 28, 2012Music Background:
Home Studio Addict, Songwriter, Active Musician

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!?!

I was going to write a review the very first few days I used Addictive, but I've been SPEECHLESS!!! I did A LOT of research on all the different drum software and even after I settled on AD I was skeptical. I mean... could I REALLY get epic drum sounds without a bunch of headaches? Could I REALLY use my Roland drums to trigger this thing? My skepticism was squelched within mere minutes. AD is so simple and incredibly powerful that I just can't get over it. Endlessly editable and the drums "sit in the mix" beautifully! This is HANDS DOWN the ultimate drum software and it costs practically nothing for what you get. You don't own it yet? Are you kidding me?!?!

Ian
from pittsburgh, pa
February 27, 2012

addictive drums us awesome

This software is awesome. Easy to use. Sounds great.

Rafael Nery
from SP, Brazil
February 18, 2012Music Background:
Musician

Awesome...

I`ve used this software for years and now I`m sure it`s probably one of the best drum software available... real great sound drum kits. it`s worth the shot!

Rocky
from
January 22, 2012

Addictive Drums Rock!!!

I am used to recording real drums. I have Slate trigger for drum replacement when needed. After extensive online research, I purchased Addictive Drums for those inspired times when I don't have a drummer around.
I gotta say that I'm completely blown away. This plug is untuitive as it gets, I was up and running in no time. The beat browser is easy to use, the effects are useable and the kit page makes complete sense.
The kit sounds rock and the factory presets are handy. I bought AD under a promotion that added two AD paks or Retro Drums for free. I chose Retro Drums and was not disappointed. I'll probably splurge for some more AD Paks soon.
Way to go XLN!!! Addictive Drums are a no Brainer for me!!!

Daniel Kasnitz
from Vermont
January 15, 2012Music Background:
Pro Musician/Engineer/Consultant

My first-call drumkit

Very playable and nicely flexible kit. Very economical, highly tweakable. I get great results and use it more than all of my other drum software & sample sets combined. When you consider the low price, this has to be a 5-star product, even in a category full of other great products.

Rob Richards
from Raleigh, NC
December 8, 2011

LOVE IT!

I keep trying other drum plugins but I find myself coming back to AD every time! Interface it amazingly easy to use and extremely flexible. Sounds are top notch for production. Best $150 I have spent in a long time.

Blair
from Memphis
November 1, 2011Music Background:
Pro musician, recording engineer

AWESOME!!

this is such a great tool for home recording and doing demo's to take to the band. I can come up with beats based on the loops by going into the track in my software and come up with different kick patterns that sync with the the instruments. but the loops alone are great!

E. Scott Frazier
from N. Wilkesboro, NC
October 30, 2011Music Background:
Musician, Producer

Very Pleased!

This is an awesome product! I have EZ Drums, and I'm not going to stop using those all together, but these drums just sound good to me. I love the editing potential, and the built-in efx are very usable. It's not an insult when I say this is very easy to use. I'm glad it's not so complicated...this way I can get to it when I feel inspired. You WON'T be sorry you got this!

from
October 16, 2011Music Background:
Guitarist, Engineer

Amazing!!!

This thing is amazing!!. Especially since I have a TD-20 Drumkit. This thing works great with it. VH-12 triggers well, Cymbal chokes all work nicely. I wish it had more selection of drums but the editing features are very easy to use and the latency is very low if your computer is fast enough. I think there's only a slight delayed because of midi. I hope XLN adds more samples in the future.

Imani Zubeh
from United States
October 11, 2011Music Background:
Pro Musician, Engineer, Educator

XLN Audio Addictive Drums

Love the choices! Love the sound! Samples are great and inspire creativity. These drums are VERY musical! Aslo, the effects are smooth and workable. Over all, I LOVE IT! Highly Recommended!

S. Flores
from CA
October 5, 2011Music Background:
Hobbyist

Great Product

For the price, this product goes above and beyond my expectations. 3 complete kits are included, along with multiple snares, cymbals, etc. and between them all, you can truly conjure up any sound/style imaginable. There are a lot of presets, but none were completely to my liking, so expect to spend some time getting that perfect mix for your track. That being said though, the functionality of the software is where it makes it's money. As I said before, there truly is a lot of room to get that perfect sound.

Drawbacks: There are only so many pre-designated kit pieces you can use at a time (look at the screenshot). If you want more cymbals or more toms it's not going to happen, unless you make a new track with a second (duplicate) kit with more pieces. But I digress...

The only other complaint I have is that it does not have a humanize function (when utilized with imported midi files). Whatever the velocity levels are at in the midi file, that's where they stay. However, multiple hits are assigned to each kit piece, so even if you have the same velocity for two snare hits in a row, two different sounds will be played. This helps combat that robotic sound, but in some specific cases you will probably have to go in and make some fine adjustments (not that big of a deal in my opinion).

All in all, I wouldn't say this is a WOW! product. It does it's job as advertised, and it does it very very well. As I said before, for the price you are getting great software. It's not going to blow your mind when you first startup, but over time, and as you build up your sound bank, you will be very happy you made the purchase.

from
September 25, 2011

Review The XLN Audio Addictive Drums

very professional site and amazing products, like it

Dan
from Cracow
August 23, 2011Music Background:
Electronic Musician

Wow! Blown Away :)

I can truly recommend Addictive Drums. This is awesome sounding plugin for drums. It enhanced my creativity. Whether you play drums or draw midi it just impossible to sound wrong with it. Tons of midi grooves give you starting point for your track and later you can start modifying them for your own different variations. You get pro results in minutes! And with the july deal it was no brainer for me.

shay
from NC
August 21, 2011Music Background:
producer

best acoustic drum VST out there

simple but flexible, phenomenal-sounding and very fun to use. has been my go-to for acoustic drum sounds for years and i don't see that changing anytime soon. get your hands on a demo and you'll be convinced.

Caleb Quaye
from Los Angeles, CA
August 7, 2011Music Background:
Pro Musician, Producer

Addictive Drums

i am totally in love with Addictive Drums, i've been waiting for something like this for a long time! I especially like the way it is so easy to set up multi-output drum kit templates so that you can have a good stereo layout with separate kick and snare etc. Sonically the quality is great and the separate room and overhead stereo channels are a dream for production ideas. The sky's the limit!

D. Gutierrez
from Port Huron, MI
August 2, 2011Music Background:
Musician, Composer, Studio Engineer

Finally!!!!!

Absolutely blown away by this plugin!!! I've done the EZ thing, (not enough control.) I've done the BFD thing, (WAAAAY too confusing.) I've even done the Drumcore thing, (just not 'enough' to offer on several planes.) But this one.... oh man, does it ever hit a sweet spot. Set aside the fact that it sounds excellent, it also offers just the right mix of control and ease of use. Multiple outs send the raw waves to separate channels of your DAW to allow use of your more sophisticated plugins for processing, or use AD's presets which also sound great. Love the drag and drop feature for putting MIDI files into your DAW. Building a drum track is so easy. Excellent expansion options with XLN's ADpaks, I picked up the Funk right out of the shoot and plan on the Metal and Retro this week.

This plugin does what it's suppose to do, and it's easy like it's suppose to be. Honestly folks.... this is the one you want!

Brandon M.
from Georgia
July 26, 2011Music Background:
Engineer, Producer, Guitarist

Most realistic sounding drum software

Over the years Ive tried several drum software apps. By far this is the easiest and most realistic sounding, hands down. Some other software may be ever so slightly easier to use, by no means is AD difficult.

I love how you can just drag and drop the MIDI grooves from the "Beats" section directly into your DAW as well as sync the DAW tempo to play those grooves at the same tempo so you'll know how it sounds before you drop it in.

Also one of the coolest things is all the onboard effects (compressors, EQ, verbs, Tube saturation emulation etc...) You can get some REALLY detailed sounds.

One other thing is how amazing all the presets sound. And there are a good bit as well.

For the money I think everyone should pick this one up.

Lance
from Ebina, Japan
July 26, 2011Music Background:
Hobbyist

Kicks 13 kinds of lucky bootay

I also have Toontrack Solo and BFD Eco, and had the original full versions BFD and Groove Agent back in the day. I always thought BFD had the best sounds and flexibility of mic/eq/FX on each kit piece, plus their drag and drop groove interface was preferable to Toontrack's in my opinion. But with Addictive Drums and the Metal ADpack, I doubt I will ever open either of those two other programs again. The preset kits sounds incredible right out of the box and the interface is the easiest of the three. I was quickly able to map my cruddy electronic kit to a killer metal kit and I went nuts on the drums for a couple of hours straight. I'm not primarily a drummer, which is why I buy drum software, but the kit sounded so good, I was inspired and really had a blast. The "groove" tracks also are easy to work with, come in pieces and also full "songs" and provide free midi versions in addition to the proprietary track, so there is no need to export them to work them into other programs (not that I want to with the kits AD has). Very highly recommended.

Brent
from Atlanta, GA
July 19, 2011Music Background:
Worship Leader, Songwriter, Producer

Kickin'.....Literally

I was have been using another Virtual Drum program for quite a while (won't mention the one, but it is supposedly the most used), and then saw Addictive Drums on special.

Bought it.....

I have been blown away by the sound!!! It's such an improvement over what I was using. The depth of sound from the samples, and the deep ability to manipulate the sonic characters, is just outstanding.

I have used many of the grooves that are included, however it is really easy to get a natural sound with a controller. I suppose the velocity layers were really intelligently stacked.....

Mattsynth
from PA
January 11, 2011Music Background:
Professional musician (keyboards & guitar)

AD Kicks (you know what)

As a retired EZ Drummer user I have switched to Addictive Drums and have never looked back. I was looking for more control over the tone of the drums and AD does that with ease. I just downloaded the Reel Drums electronic kit and it sounds fantastic. 808 heaven in a box.

Crash
from Winston-Salem, NC
July 9, 2009Music Background:
Worship Leader/Writer/Producer/Engineer

Everything I asked

Stylus RMX has been my go to drum software for around 3 years. RMX is full featured and I love it, but it doesn't have acoustic drum samples that satisfy me. So I made a decision to buy AD based on reviews from major audio mags, and I am absolutely blown away. This is the easiest, best sounding and most versatile, drum software I have ever owned. You can recreate quality drums, select different output options, manage mic location, eq, ad warmth, and so on. I had to write this review because everyone should have this software.

I've been preparing backing-trax for live worship, and I just got back a while ago from the first live test. I replaced the drums for "Hosanna" two nights ago and couldn't wait to hear the results. AMAZING!!!!!!! The drums sit perfectly in the mix and you feel their power and warmth. If you close your eyes you would think the drummer was playing. This review is legit. If you are a cave-dweller / tweakhead like me, you want a drum sampler that does it all, and Addictive Drums does it.

One final word about my favorite feature: The drums are laid out across the keyboard in a way that makes it easy to play and replicate real drums. Each of the 5 snare keys presents a different strike zone or style of play, and each of those possess multiple velocity samples. The same goes for hats and toms. I'm so psyched to not have to deal with static samples anymore. These drums react just like a real kit.

THIS IS A STEAL FOR AROUND $200. I never expected this quality for that price.

David Rosario
from Staten Island, NY
February 25, 2008Music Background:
Recording engineer, producer, composer

Nothing less than amazing

I recently bought EZDrummer and was dissatisfied that I was not able to adjust the amount of overheads bleed of each instrument. For example, just when the cymbals sounded right, the hi hat bled too much, and you can only toggle bleed on/off for ALL instruments, requiring me to route each instrument through Cubase and then create my own room ambiance. With Addictive, I was shocked by the ability to tweak everything, even the envelope, obviating the need for a transient designer (which I was going to get for my U-Audio card).

Moose Lewis
from Richmond, VA - USA
November 22, 2007Music Background:
Singer/Musician/Songwriter/Engineer/Producer for over 35 years

AD Rocks!

I have been using various samplers and samples (including my own) for years now; and have tried all the big name drum packs (yes, that one too)!
After using AD for about 8 months with chillingly realistic results on my recordings - I'm home.
Their tweakability gives me exactly the kits I hear in my head. With the addition of Groove Monkee midi files and AD's easy to use editor, I get what I want both easy and fast.
Tired of putzin' around with drum sounds - get Addictive!

Scott Mitchell
from San Antonio, TX USA
March 15, 2013Music Background:
Producer/Composer

Great sound, easy to use

I love this program! It sounds great and feels very real. When I can't afford a drummer or time doesn't permit one, this comes very close to the feel of a live drummer. Drag and drop grooves and fills, or sync a pattern to your track tempo: too easy!

Henry
from Southern Illinois
February 10, 2013Music Background:
Minister of music

Great sounding!!

These drums are really easy to use. I love the effects. Need a few more kits to make it even better. Overall great plugin.

Ryan Mowdy
from Planet Earth
May 24, 2012Music Background:
Who cares

THIS IS THE ONE YOU WANT

I wasted a lot of money on toontracks junk. Take my word - THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT. I'm not even a real "drummer" per se (unless we've had enough drinks at a late show) and I absolutely love it I'm addicted to it and I'm using an Alesis DM 10 Set with a trigger i/o module (using both the trigger i/o and the dm 10 module - kinda confusing no need to go into it) it works wonderfully. Just don't waste your money do your research, find out what you are looking for and TRY THE DEMOS but don't impulsively buy the first thing you see like I did.

Ryan Mowdy
from OKC
May 16, 2012Music Background:
Wanna Be :)

FINALLY FOUND WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR

I tried all of toontrack's ezdrummer/superior drummer, reason via rewire in PT HD, everything. Well now I have it perfectly laid out. With Addictive Drums I have my Alesis DM10 Module for my toms, snare, and kick drum sounds great for my others I use an Alesis Trigger I/O for the Hi-Hat, Ride, Crash, and an extra ride. Now as far as the software is concerned I've compared a bunch spent a lot of money GET THIS TRUST ME. It is absolutely amazing and if you have an Alesis DM 10 YOU HAVE TO BUY THIS you will know why when you hook it all up. All my drums sound like the real thing. And yes you can get ad-ons but frankly Addictive Drums alone is perfect I love it!

Curtis
from Chicago IL
March 21, 2012Music Background:
Rock

Awesome.

Thinking about selling my acoustic drums. Gives more flexibility in drum sounds than I ever imagined. Everything sounds pro studio quality.

from
February 9, 2012

Best drums program I own

This is the third drum program I have purchased, the other two being Steven Slate and BFD ECO, and I have to say this is my go-to. The user interface is the most simple and sensible of any program I've used, and I especially enjoy the ease of outputting to individual tracks (and mono output instead of stereo on mono instruments). The samples sound great and the four ADpaks I have purchased are awesome. By far my favorite drum program, and it keeps my workflow simple and easy to maintain.

Dídimo Junior
from Recife, PE Brasil
January 24, 2012Music Background:
Musician, Composer

An ultimate tool

Sounds good (really good), is very expressive, flexible, can be mapped and used with a drum machine and you can combine kit pieces from diferente drum kits.
I did not give five stars because it is not a real drum with all the possibilities of a real drummer (like any other software).
It is an ultimate tool. You just need other software if you really want something more specific or use rods or felt mallets (but the modern jazz brushes ad pack is very good).

Billy
from SoCal
January 5, 2012Music Background:
Pro Musician

Nice Drum Palette...

Good stuff...Easy to use...Sounds great!

Jamie
from Brooklyn, NY
October 21, 2011Music Background:
Pro Musician

Easy and Awesome

Great sounds and super easy to use. Deducted half a point for having only 3 kits and WAY to many ridiculous and unusable metal fills. Even with just the three kits, you can usually tweak the stock sounds for most needs. Definitely my favorite drum plug-in so far.

Sean Dothager
from Highland, IL USA
October 6, 2008Music Background:
recording engineer, musician

the best

These drums are amazing, if you heard a song with these drums that you didn't record then you wouldn't know it wasn't a real drummer. With addictive drums you have so many options, any sound you're looking for, rap, metal, jazz, blues, you can get it with these drums. There are tons of built in beats that that are drag and drop into your daw or just make your own beats. Its really easy and quick to install and learning the program takes no time. If you're in the market for virtual drums then addictive drums is what you want

Death By Media
from Indianapolis
May 28, 2008Music Background:
Independent Artist ,Producer

Look out Battery !

I have used NI's Battery as my main source for "Acoustic"drums for years so my review is based on a compare and contrast basis .

Easy of use:
The interface makes getting the sound I want an
exponentially sorter distance than Battery ever has.
The sample editor and mixer flow reminds me of the
Roland TD10 GUI system ...except easier.
it also is pretty lite on my cpu as well as it never
peaked a "bar" in Logic .
Sound Library :
Well it falls a little short in terms of size
,however These 3 gigs of samples sound better to me
than the 15+gig library Battery came with ,but to me
that is a plus as I was put of by other samplers like
BFD 30+ gig libraries ...Who needs it with the great
sound editing ability like this .
In Conclusion :
To be fare Battery comes with a great modern
electronic ,retro electronic , World ,and cinematic
sound sets that make up a good 40% of it's
library,However its Rock ,Hard rock ,and Metal sounds
are pale in comparison right out of the box
without taxing my cpu with unnecessary extra plugins
to polish the sound .

Teacee
from USA
January 28, 2013Music Background:
Pro Musician, Sound Designer, Multimedia Productions

Realistic Sounding Drums

XLN Addictive drums are definitely in my top 5 of virtual acoustic drums. It has a ton of midi beats and grooves in a variety of styles and time signatures. The ability to change drums individually and add fx is a plus, the reason I gave it 4 out of 5 is that you can not use your own drum samples like some of the other acoustic virtual drums, you will have to buy expansions from XLN, but you can use the midi grooves with any other midi drum so their is a work around.

Mike
from Maine
January 1, 2013Music Background:
Pro musician, recording engineer.

The Best I've Tried at a Reasonable Price

Can't say anything bad about this product. Sounds fantastic, easy to customize, no crashes. and very affordable. The included beats are great but they could include more odd time signatures.

Buzz Pickens
from Vicksburg, MS
June 23, 2012Music Background:
Professional Keyboard player for 40 yrs, Music/percussion Major. Lived in and played all over Nashville for 18 yrs. Now retired and making my own music.

Excellent Product

For the money, you can't beat this package. The samples are well balanced and sound really good. the software is easy to use, The manual isn't first written in Greek and then translated to English. I recommend this package,(and any other add on packs you may need) to any casual or even semi pro producers with Pro Tools or a similar product.

jimmy
from n,j
June 18, 2012Music Background:
drummer/guirtarist/homestudio

great addon for pro tools smooth interface

smooth interface with protools no hiccups. seems limitless very stable and easy to work .must have eat noodles if you have to

Guy Cefalu
from
April 4, 2012

Easy to use, rock solid, great sounding samples!

Easy to use, rock solid, great sounding samples. Works on my 64 Bit / Win 7 / Cubase rig!

Anthony Gravley / addeybug music
from south carolina
August 23, 2007Music Background:
producer / musician

ROCKIN !!!

I've only had this software a few days, but so far I have rocked some VERY authentic sounding drum tracks with my recordings. I've used the midi patterns as well as programmed my own parts. The only thing I am not 100% thrilled with are the hi-hats / cymbals , but with a little more tweeking, that may fall into place. I wish there were a few more kit options , but definitely look forward to expansion packs and such.

Will Snyder
from
January 31, 2012Music Background:
Sony Artist, Producer/Audio Engineer, Musician, Songwriter

Killer, but needs improvement

I thought the songs on the XLNAudio.com that showcased the program were really good, as far as showing what it did. I use this Program some, I think the strength in it is giving you a chance to edit the samples within the program... the presets are awesome as far as, well when you select a preset, you are able to see how the effect was created within the program, they are neat presets, and that alone gave me some ideas for how to edit some of my personal samples outside of the program that I use in songs as well. It's a great tool, but as great as it sounds soloed, I just am not satisfied with it in my mixes most of the time... certain punchy types of music that have lots of body, these drums get lost in the mix big time, it really doesn't cut through the mix very well, it's clunky and fat, but lacks something major. I love the cymbals as far as being able to add a touch of distortion or compression to them.. The cymbals seem to cut through the mix better that anything- the distortion within the program compliments them very well.. but I think this software is like EZ drummer, the stock kits that you get upon buying the program are just so so and not really the answer to all of your problems... the expansion kits are better, I never never never use this program for all my drum samples. I love programing drum tracks, and even performing tracks- so somewhere along the way, something from this software ends up in about all of my songs... but it's usually a small part. However, if you like to collect drum software just to have options, I'd say buy it.. just for the fact, some of the things I find useful when I use it in a mix, I have yet to find anything do the same thing just as good in other programs, plus you need it if you like the expansion kits. Best thing is demo it from the XLNAudio.com website, if it meets your expectations... Buy it from SWEETWATER!

Mike
from chicago
September 18, 2011Music Background:
Recording engineer, musician.

Not realistic

I could see this VI working for a dense Metal Mix... but for anything with dynamics and life, it does not cut it. The kits just do not sound real... or like they are being played by a real drummer.

That being said some of the samples are useful for layering over recorded drums....

Kyle Walker
from Golden, CO
February 23, 2013Music Background:
Songwriter, home recording enthusiast, performer

Very disappointed in MIDI grooves

Being a songwriter who doesn't play drums, I bought AD with the hopes of expanding my MIDI drum groove library. I create my drum tracks 100% by cutting and pasting from existing MIDI libraries. While I do value the quality of the sound, I see that many reviewers have already commented on that aspect of the program, so I'm going to focus specifically on the MIDI libraries. I have been using EZDrummer and Superior Drummer for the past year. The AD MIDI libraries pale in comparison. EZ and SD libraries (at least their later ones) are very generous, while AD is very skimpy. When you buy an EZ/SD MIDI pack you not only get grooves that are organized by song and song section (i.e. intro, verse, bridge, chorus, fills), but you get many, many grooves to choose from within each song section (i.e. three or four different versions of the intro, five to fifteen different versions of the verse, five to fifteen different versions of the chorus, etc.). I've purchased two of the AD MIDI packs (Ballads, Rock) and in comparison, these packs are very lacking. While there are thirty or so songs in these packs, only the Rock pack is organized into song sections. And in those song sections you only get ONE version of each groove! In other words, your second verse is going to sound EXACTLY like your first verse, and your choruses will all sound EXACTLY the same. No variety at all within song sections. Compared to SD, I find this extremely limiting. To make a song interesting, I'm going to have to go search around in other song sets to find little segments I can borrow over into the current song. I hope AD improves this in future MIDI packs.

Chris Williams
from Midland, MI USA
October 17, 2011Music Background:
Advanced Hobbyist, Semi-Pro Musician

Good raw materials, I suppose, but too hard to get good sounds.

I've done the research and read the reviews, and came to the conclusion that AD was all that and a bag of chips, so I stepped up and laid down the clams.

I got the software installed and loaded up in my Sonar 8.5PE as a replacement for my Battery 3 and Studio Drums library, expecting great things.

Didn't happen. I was underwhelmed. There are a lot of ways you can edit and mix the kits, but after three hours of messing about with compression and EQ, I gave up, frustrated, and loaded Battery 3 back into my song. Never could come up with a drum sound that would cut through the mix.

I'm a programmer, arranger, keyboardist. Not an engineer. I want drum sounds that just work, not ones I have to engineer from scratch.