# Addictive Drums 2, EZDrummer or Groove Agent 4? And Why



## midiman (Nov 21, 2017)

I have not done much with drums in recent years, as mostly I focus on Orchestral writing. But recently I have been asked to work on some pop music projects, so I would like to get a good drum library with an easy learning curve. Would love to hear the forum's thoughts about what may be my best choice, between the ones mentioned on the title, or others.

Thank you!!


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## essay (Nov 21, 2017)

Try looking at realidrum of realitone too... was eyeing ezdrummer and superior drummer, but purchased realidrum instead... Not only because it’s 50% off right now... but because it has good sound, playability and variation based on the videos on their website. Haven’t actually messed with it yet since I’m still downloading the samples.


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## sostenuto (Nov 21, 2017)

Whadabout DrumCore 4 Prime ?? BlkFri deal @ -$100. I'm already hangin in with StylusRMX and AddDrums2, but this is still interesting due to pro performers.

https://www.ilio.com/products/sonoma-instruments


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## Saxer (Nov 22, 2017)

Superior Drummer 3 is my favorite at the moment for acoustic pop/rock drums with natural room. I also often used the NI drummers (60s/70s/80s/Studio/Modern etc) as they sound good out of the box. And they have one key hit snare rolls sampled. That's what I miss in a lot of other libraries. For jazz drums I like the Jazz-Sticks/Jazz-Brush libraries for Addictive Drums. BFD has the most unprocessed samples. Ideal if you want to sculpt your own mix from scratch. For everything non band related pop stuff I use simple samplers (Logics EXS) with one drum sample per track.


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## SchnookyPants (Nov 22, 2017)

Anyone know if XLN will be doing a Black Friday deal? 'Looking at AD2 w/ the brushes.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Nov 22, 2017)

I have Addictive Drums 2 and EZDrummer. I far prefer the sound of the drums in Addictive Drums, so it has become my go to. But EZDrummer has a much better interface for searching for beats and assembling songs. 

They're just different. There's a lot to be said for both. 

Addictive Drums often have a 50% off sale. I'm hoping they do one soon because I'm interested in their new mallet set.


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## bap_la_so_1 (Nov 22, 2017)

AD2 has great sounding rooms and drums, the sound is very versatile
EZ2 is great to work with, but it sounds too modern, too tight for my liking, so it fits modern type of music more


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## VinRice (Nov 23, 2017)

Superior Drummer 3 if you can stretch to it - extraordinarily good.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Nov 23, 2017)

Another difference between Addictive Drums and EZDrummer:
EZDrummer sound expansions include MIDI patterns and Addictive Drums do not.
During their current sale, Toontrack is discounting all their EZX sound expansions, but none of their MIDI expansions. Usually they discount some of the MIDI packs, but unless I'm mistaken, not all. If I'm wrong, somebody correct me.

On the other hand, Addictive Drums does a 50% off sale on their entire store a few times a year. As their MIDI libraries list for $20, you can pick them up for $10 now. 

They also sell drums a la carte ($10, $5 today) as "Kit Pieces," including a Cajon, Bongos, Djembe, Brazilian Pandeiro and Timbau, Mandinka Sangban, etc. EZDrummer has a Latin Percussion EZX, and although I don't own it, I am going to go out on a limb and say that the EZX is more of an ensemble instrument where you're intended to play many at the same time, and these instruments are quality enough, with multiple articulations, so you can build a track just with one of them. But you get far more instruments with the EZX. 

@midiman FYI, you can download a free demo of Addictive Drums.
https://www.xlnaudio.com/demos


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## T-Funk (Nov 23, 2017)

I prefer Addictive Drums 2. IMO, it has a straight-forward workflow and sounds great.


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## sostenuto (Nov 23, 2017)

T-Funk said:


> I prefer Addictive Drums 2. IMO, it has a straight-forward workflow and sounds great.



+++ Just ordered Boutique Mallets AD_Pak, Mallet Grooves MIDI Pak, Box Cajon Kitpiece Pak. Super Cool @ BF promo !! 

Has been a great Library to work with for long time ...


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## woafmann (Dec 11, 2017)

I was in the same boat. After scouring the web for reviews, walkthroughs, and examples, I chose *Realidrums 2*. 

It's on sale at *half-price right now*.

Do yourself a favor and check out the walkthrough videos at:

realitone.com

The *work-flow is ingenious* and will allow you to lay down *naturally human sounding*, complex and interesting beats super fast with ease.

All the other libs require some hefty outlay of cash for the expansions. Although Realidrums doesn't have add-on expansions per se (that I'm aware of), it does have a lot of drums at your disposal. It has like 42 snares alone. More of a variety than I'll ever need.

Mike of Realitone is also a composer and contributor here, so he's integrated into the community and listens to user feedback. That means A LOT to me. 

He also stands behind his libraries with *an unheard of money-back guarantee*. If you don't like it within 30 days, just shoot him an email and he'll give you a FULL REFUND. No one else in the industry does that. 

Anyone contemplating a drum software purchase should check it out. With a money-back guarantee, you have nothing to lose.


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## robgb (Dec 11, 2017)

EZDrummer is dead simple to use. Sounds great. Has a ton of basic beats out of the box, and the price can't be beat. Assembling a track takes about a minute. Best drummer I've used. Including the live ones...


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## Prockamanisc (Dec 11, 2017)

Why is there an "or" in your question?


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## dariusofwest (Dec 11, 2017)

I use EZdrummer2 anytime when I can't afford to hire a live drummer- sounds great (especially with additional EZX's) and easy to use.


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## keepitsimple (Dec 11, 2017)

From your title options i would go for EZdrummer 2 hence you want something quick, fast and sounding great out of the box. Also take a look at Nashville EZX, might be exactly what you need.

With that aside, my personal choice would be Realidrums.


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## chrisphan (Dec 11, 2017)

+1 EZdrummer. Don't let the "EZ" name fool you, it sounds really good


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## musicalweather (Dec 11, 2017)

TigerTheFrog said:


> Another difference between Addictive Drums and EZDrummer:
> EZDrummer sound expansions include MIDI patterns and Addictive Drums do not.
> During their current sale, Toontrack is discounting all their EZX sound expansions, but none of their MIDI expansions. Usually they discount some of the MIDI packs, but unless I'm mistaken, not all. If I'm wrong, somebody correct me.


 
I don't believe that's entirely accurate. Both companies include a small number of midi patterns with their expansion packs. But both have now made the move to exclude most of the midi patterns and sell them as a separate product, basically charging extra for something which they used to include in the price of the expansion packs. I find this quite annoying. But I'm still a fan of both companies and have lots of kits from both of them.


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## R. Soul (Dec 12, 2017)

After all the rave reviews I've read about EZ Drummer 2, I was surprised to find that I much prefer Addictive Drums 2.

It have to be said I'm more of an Stylus RMX guy, so the 419 velocity layers and 821 RR doesn't impress me as much as having all the presets in Addictive which sounds completely different to each other. Even to a point where I find it astonishing that they are based on the same drum kit. On top of that I find their beats much more unique and interesting. EZ Drummer seems to have a lot of really basic kick...snare....kick...kick...snare, with hihat on 8th type of beats, which I could make in 10 sec myself. I mean, what's the point of a beat played by a drummer if it's incredibly boring and basic?

In the same vein, I think the tap-to-find feature is vastly overrated. The whole point for me is to find beats that I wouldn't come up with myself or wouldn't be able to play myself. Besides, Addictive have a similar feature, it's just based on a step sequencer instead. 
Perhaps it's the fact that EZ drummer is very easy to use that makes it so popular. I don't really see a point of the song creator for example, when I can do the exact same thing in my sequencer.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Dec 12, 2017)

R. Soul said:


> After all the rave reviews I've read about EZ Drummer 2, I was surprised to find that I much prefer Addictive Drums 2.
> 
> It have to be said I'm more of an Stylus RMX guy, so the 419 velocity layers and 821 RR doesn't impress me as much as having all the presets in Addictive which sounds completely different to each other. Even to a point where I find it astonishing that they are based on the same drum kit. On top of that I find their beats much more unique and interesting. EZ Drummer seems to have a lot of really basic kick...snare....kick...kick...snare, with hihat on 8th type of beats, which I could make in 10 sec myself. I mean, what's the point of a beat played by a drummer if it's incredibly boring and basic?
> 
> ...


For me it's really simple. I first owned EZ Drummer 2 and used it a lot. Then I got Addictive Drums and I liked the way the drums sounded a LOT more. This is a personal thing. I recognize that others prefer EZ Drummer. But the demo is free. Anybody can try it out.

I like all the traditional kits I've since purchased, but also appreciate Reel Machines (nothing like this in EZDrummer, and very useful), Session Percussion, The Boutique Mallets, and World Music kit pieces.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Dec 12, 2017)

musicalweather said:


> I don't believe that's entirely accurate. Both companies include a small number of midi patterns with their expansion packs. But both have now made the move to exclude most of the midi patterns and sell them as a separate product, basically charging extra for something which they used to include in the price of the expansion packs. I find this quite annoying. But I'm still a fan of both companies and have lots of kits from both of them.


Thanks for clarifying that.


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## Sparqee (Dec 16, 2017)

TigerTheFrog said:


> I have Addictive Drums 2 and EZDrummer. I far prefer the sound of the drums in Addictive Drums, so it has become my go to. But EZDrummer has a much better interface for searching for beats and assembling songs.
> 
> They're just different. There's a lot to be said for both.
> 
> Addictive Drums often have a 50% off sale. I'm hoping they do one soon because I'm interested in their new mallet set.



I use the Toontrack EZPlayer to drive Addictive drums when I’m looking to quickly build a drum bed. The best of both worlds!


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## Reid Rosefelt (Dec 16, 2017)

XLN Audio currently has a 50% off sale on Adpaks. It ends on Tuesday, Dec 19th. it's not as good as the Black Friday sale, which was half off for the whole store (ie MidiPaks, kit pieces) and also was available off the site at stores like AudioDeluxe, where it was further discounted. 
You need to use this code at checkout: HOLIDAY2017


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## Gerry (Dec 17, 2017)

TigerTheFrog said:


> XLN Audio currently has a 50% off sale on Adpaks. It ends on Tuesday, Dec 19th. it's not as good as the Black Friday sale, which was half off for the whole store (ie MidiPaks, kit pieces) and also was available off the site at stores like AudioDeluxe, where it was further discounted.
> You need to use this code at checkout: HOLIDAY2017



Yeah, I just want to thank you once again, TTF, for hipping me to the BF deal at AudioDeluxe. What a great deal I got there. For my music, I've got all the AdPaks I'll need for quite a long time. But I'll look forward to the next sale on MidiPaks.

Any sense on how often they add new MidiPaks? It'd be great to see Vol. 2 on several of their MidiPaks to add more depth to their selections.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Dec 17, 2017)

Gerry said:


> Yeah, I just want to thank you once again, TTF, for hipping me to the BF deal at AudioDeluxe. What a great deal I got there. For my music, I've got all the AdPaks I'll need for quite a long time. But I'll look forward to the next sale on MidiPaks.
> 
> Any sense on how often they add new MidiPaks? It'd be great to see Vol. 2 on several of their MidiPaks to add more depth to their selections.


I don't have any knowledge about how often, maybe somebody else does. My impression is they don't come out with them as often as Toontrack does. 

FYI, GrooveMonkee MIDI drum files are designed to work in Addictive Drums and pretty much any other drum format. There's information here:

https://groovemonkee.com/blogs/blog/51987204-midi-loops-for-addictive-drums

They have a sale on now, so they're all about 11 bucks.


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## Gerry (Dec 17, 2017)

TigerTheFrog said:


> I don't have any knowledge about how often, maybe somebody else does. My impression is they don't come out with them as often as Toontrack does.
> 
> FYI, GrooveMonkee MIDI drum files are designed to work in Addictive Drums and pretty much any other drum format. There's information here:
> 
> ...



And once again you come through with good information. I had no idea about this company. Thanks for the tip, TTF!

Now you have me wondering whether other midi-based products (like from The Loop Loft or heck, even from EZ Drummer or wherever) would also work with AD. Maybe with some remapping help? Not that I need it yet. I've yet to really start playing with AD to the fullest. Just thinking about the future...


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## Reid Rosefelt (Dec 17, 2017)

Gerry said:


> And once again you come through with good information. I had no idea about this company. Thanks for the tip, TTF!
> 
> Now you have me wondering whether other midi-based products (like from The Loop Loft or heck, even from EZ Drummer or wherever) would also work with AD. Maybe with some remapping help? Not that I need it yet. I've yet to really start playing with AD to the fullest. Just thinking about the future...


Yes, you can use any MIDI file with AD, but you may have to remap them to make them work properly. You can learn about that in the manual. But you can make things easier on yourself if you buy from a company that outputs files in formats that work in AD.


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## Daniel (Jan 1, 2019)

EZDrummer2 has a nice feature "half time" just click, and make my rhythm 16 beats just like what I want. Is that feature also in Addictive Drums 2?
Both I have download the trial, but I cannot find it in AD2.
And it is strange AD2 starter pack, between "basic" and "custom", with the same price -- will get more bonus from "custom" rather than "basic"?.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Jan 1, 2019)

Daniel said:


> EZDrummer2 has a nice feature "half time" just click, and make my rhythm 16 beats just like what I want. Is that feature also in Addictive Drums 2?
> Both I have download the trial, but I cannot find it in AD2.
> And it is strange AD2 starter pack, between "basic" and "custom", with the same price -- will get more bonus from "custom" rather than "basic"?.


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## Daniel (Jan 1, 2019)

TigerTheFrog said:


>


Wow,,. thank you, TigerTheFrog!


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