Steven Slate Drums 4.0 EX (download) Reviews

Frees up the creative process entirely for non-drummers. Level of manipulation is just what I was looking for. You can build drum parts hit by hit, or select grooves a plenty from the library, edit or add to them as needed. About a 30 minute set up, but once everything is loaded, you're good to go. The drum kit samples sound awesome, and you can build and meld from all different kits to get the perfect sound for you. A great value for what it does.

Even though I'm some what new to this whole sample and virtual instrument think. Slate Digital has an awesome product with SSD 4.0 EX. Great sounding samples and an interface that is very intuitive.
I do see places that could be enhanced. I'm sure verson 5 will have them.

The sound and performance of the EX 4.0 is astounding.
For my home projects, and mixes I use to practice and experiment, I don't have the time or the need to record live drums. A sampler will never replace a live set however, this is the closest I've come to doing that.
There are a variety of premade kits, and quite a few of them. The ability to mix and match drums to make you own kits works well.
the sound is far beyond anything I've used previously, and having the adjustable envelope really let's you dial in your drums for any mix.
Steven Slate has earned a loyal customer
I'm not just giving 5 stars because it's good. There really isn't anything I would change. For me, this is as good as it gets.

This product was recommended to my by a close friend, and he was right. The drums sounds are absolutely phenomenal. I contacted Steven Slate Drums the next day after receiving this to see if there was an upgrade path so I could get the Platinum. If I had known how sweet these would be I would have bought the Platinum straight off. Highly recommend - but get Platinum if you can afford. You won't be sorry.

I use SSD4 for song writing basically and I'm impressed with the sound quality and ease-of-use that this software provides! I can only recommend it. Soon I'll be upgrading to the Platinum version for sure.

Its an excellent drum program. Best sounding program I've heard, easy to use and at a great value. Would recommend to everyone.

Once I figured out that I needed a newer DAW than what I had (just some free thing that came with my Line 6 interface) I found this program to be absolutely awesome!!!! Download took a little bit on my 3mbs ISP but once I got to start playing with it I was absolutely blown away. You literally cannot tell these aren't real drums. There are so many variations with the supplied grooves you can make it sound like you had a drummer there with you. The Old Zep kit alone is worth this purchase but the other 24 sets sound just as amazing!!! I was a bit sceptical of this purchase at first but the need for a drum program drove me to it. Glad I got it!!

i have had issues with vst's opening in logic. this is what i do. set up your basic tracks ect. in garage band then save and reopen in logic. it works.

The sounds and ease of use, once you get the darned thing installed, get past the learning curve and the bugs worked out, are out are insanely good. I can't believe that for a hundred or two hundred and fifty bucks (which ever version you get, I have the cheaper one) that you can get drum sounds of this quality. This was unheard of, just a few years ago, even at much greater cost. I would give it 5 stars, but I had to deduct a little bit because of the hassle getting it up and running. In my humble opinion, no one should have to go through such a hassle getting a plugin to function correctly, no matter how good it is, in this day and age. Nonetheless, I'll stop whining because my nightmares of getting drum sounds that I can be happy with are over and then some. I also believe that some of the issues that I have complaint with have been resolved since I dealt with them.

I needed a drum sampling software for a gig that I had recording a band that had an electronic drum set, and I needed one fast. I don't do a lot of MIDI drum stuff on my own, it was really just for this session, so I didn't need a huge selection of drums. SSD 4 EX is fast and easy to use, and it let me get a very usable sound at a great price for my needs.

I'm a convert from Superior Drummer and though Superior offers a million samples per drum with full tails on them, you really need to know how to mix drums to make it work in a mix (IE adding effects and filters to each tack and then EQing). With SSD4, everything is pre mixed and sits perfectly in any mix with one or two volume tweaks for your main group volumes such as toms, cymbals, kick and snare. With layering different kicks and snares you can also achieve almost any sound you can think of with the software, and thanks to it's small install footprint you'll have plenty of HD space left to actually record.

The only (very) minor negatives I can think of are that as of right now, the midi groove library is still a little on the small side, cymbal chokes need a little work and they could have a slightly larger selection of cymbals.

All and all; the price is fantastic, the samples sit perfectly in a mix, the interface is really user friendly and you'll be hard pressed to find a music type that this software will not work with.

This product is really amazing,I love it,it sounds like a real drumkit.Downloading was really easy,directions were simple
Product is worth the purchase

I researched drum plugins for a while before purchasing this and I am super happy with it. The samples are great, it's easy to edit parameters, and I like how it incorporates with Logic.

My one negative would be the fact that overhead and room mics don't seem to be able to be put on their own separate output in the DAW. If there is a way to do it, it is unlike every other drum mic in the software.

The Steven Slate samples are great, definitely some of the best sounding drums samples out there. I gave it a 4 because the sampler isn't the most intuitive interface I've ever used. Overall tho, once you use it for a while you get used to it. But in reality it about the sounds you can get and they are outstanding!

I was having major issues after more than a week of repeated downloads and installs, wherein I could not get the software to appear in Logic 9. For the record, I tried every user forum and the mfr.'s tech support, to no avail! I am a successful user of Superior 2, SSD 3.5, and Addicitive Drums, as well as several other plug-ins and virtual instruments, so I have no idea why I had such an issue with this install. Judging from all the posts on the various forums and websites, etc. I can conclude that I was most definitely NOT the only one having issues. Steven Slate himself also acknowledged in an e-mail to all SSD4 purchasers that there were installation issues.

The good news, however, is that it did appear (quite spontaneously) on its own one day, a few hours after I decided to give up! I literally walked away from the computer for several hours, and when I came back it was listed in the AU manager!

And I must say that the drums sound great! User interface is better than SSD 3.5 (no more Kontakt Player - great news), and the program works flawlessly now.

In summary, it sounds great, but was so aggravating to install that I can't necessarily recommend it over the other programs. Therefore, I have deducted one star.

possibly among the cheesiest virtual drums out there. Did Steven Slate never hear of BFD? Heck, I can far superior drums from ReFx 'Nexus'. The kits don't sound ANYTHING like their analogue counterparts and with only a dozen or so 'looped' drumsets that cannot be be stretched or shrunk in a timeline . . . it's basically a complete washout. Therfore, if anyone who asks - I'll let them know not to waste their money.

No amount of sales pitching can change the fact that the SSD-4.0 is just simply 'garbage'.

The drum sounds are just "ok." The midi mapping setup is terrible. If there was a demo version of this product no one would buy it.