# Toontrack Superior Drummer 3 Announced



## catsass (Aug 15, 2017)

This could get interesting. EZDrummer 2 has served me well, but the implementation of features once exclusive to EZD2, and the sheer number of NEW features...wow. 

Regular price: $419
Upgrade from Superior Drummer 2: $209
Crossgrade from EZDrummer 2: $319

https://www.toontrack.com/superior-drummer-3-announcement/


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## holywilly (Aug 15, 2017)

You can import your own sample, yeah~~


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## thereus (Aug 15, 2017)

holywilly said:


> You can import your own sample, yeah~~


If you happen to recorded a drum kit in 11.1 surround sound...


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## pderbidge (Aug 15, 2017)

The real gem of this upgrade wasn't touched upon much in the video which is that it now has the great songwriting features of EZD2 but with the great unprocessed drum kits and tweak ability that you expect from superior drummer. I often used EZD2 for these features but then used Addictive Drums for the kits (or Battery 4 and Breaktweaker for electronic drums) cause I liked them better (and I have a lot of expansion kits for ezd2) - The feature upgrades of SD3 will likely make me buy it. I think this is a very worthy upgrade indeed. Not to mention the re-sizable window! Here we are in 2017 and most companies still aren't doing this? Here's looking at you Kontakt.


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## EvilDragon (Aug 15, 2017)

thereus said:


> If you happen to recorded a drum kit in 11.1 surround sound...



No, not really. Mainly for layering with what's there, and processing with its effects, I would assume.


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## Brendon Williams (Aug 15, 2017)

So excited about this! Surprised there's not more buzz on here about it.


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## Soundhound (Aug 15, 2017)

Looks like the SD2 libraries are not associated with this, and they'll be releasing additional SD3 libraries as they go along? Though this set of 6 kits is massive, 230 gigs.


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## Emmanuel Rousseau (Aug 15, 2017)

Damned. I just spent two days tweaking the sound of my good old BFD3.


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## jtnyc (Aug 15, 2017)

The UI improvements look really great! The new mixer looks 1000 times better than it's dizzying tedious predecessor. The audio to midi looks killer and is most welcome. I'm not so keen on the whole loop player thingy, but it doesn't take up that much of the UI so no big deal.

I see on the site that they break up the download into packages like basic sound library, room, bleed, and surround 1 and 2. Surround 1 and 2 are almost 100gb. I'm assuming that if your not working in a surround environment they would be of no use, or maybe they would act as alternative mics....? 

I look forward to actually hearing the new drum kits. Hopefully they will post some audio examples soon.


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## skythemusic (Aug 15, 2017)

I wonder if you can import your BFD and Addictive kits and just work in one software program.


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## Zhao Shen (Aug 15, 2017)

Brendon Williams said:


> So excited about this! Surprised there's not more buzz on here about it.


Rule of thumb around here is that you aren't allowed to get excited unless it's a product by Spitfire Audio.


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## catsass (Aug 15, 2017)




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## catsass (Aug 15, 2017)

pderbidge said:


> Not to mention the re-sizable window!


That in itself is huge. (Or small)


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## EvilDragon (Aug 15, 2017)

Soundhound said:


> Looks like the SD2 libraries are not associated with this



Yes they are, all previous EZX and SDX load in SD3 as well.



skythemusic said:


> I wonder if you can import your BFD and Addictive kits and just work in one software program.



That would be a "no", at least for Addictive Drums, which uses a proprietary monolith format. I didn't use BFD much but I seem to recall they used raw WAVs? So that might be possible. But first let's see to what extent you can load user samples. Multi-velocity, multi-mic, round-robin? Or just oneshots? Time will tell.



jtnyc said:


> I'm assuming that if your not working in a surround environment they would be of no use, or maybe they would act as alternative mics....?



You could consider them as alternative ambience mics if you're working in stereo.


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## synthpunk (Aug 15, 2017)

When crossgrading do they let you keep your EZ2 license?


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## Saxer (Aug 15, 2017)

Until now every try to choose a drum plugin for acoustic drums ended for the benefit of BFD or Addictive over Superior2. Might be a matter of taste. But it might also change the game with this big update. I'll give it a try.


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## Emmanuel Rousseau (Aug 15, 2017)

catsass said:


>




The MIDI programming is quite awful on this review, hard to have an opinion :/


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## EvilDragon (Aug 15, 2017)

Don't know why you'd expect a full-blown DAW MIDI editor in it. It's just for quick edits here and there, IF you want. You don't have to use it - you can still drag out all the MIDI files into your DAW and do the editing there if you want.


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## Soundhound (Aug 15, 2017)

Excellent!



EvilDragon said:


> Yes they are, all previous EZX and SDX load in SD3 as well.


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## Geoff Grace (Aug 15, 2017)

Saxer said:


> Until now every try to choose a drum plugin for acoustic drums ended for the benefit of BFD or Addictive over Superior2. Might be a matter of taste. But it might also change the game with this big update. I'll give it a try.


I'm a BFD 3 user, but the fact that Superior Drummer 3 was recorded by George Massenburg has raised my interest. Too bad there's no crossgrade price for owners of competing products (at least none that I can find).

Best,

Geoff


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## Emmanuel Rousseau (Aug 15, 2017)

EvilDragon said:


> Don't know why you'd expect a full-blown DAW MIDI editor in it. It's just for quick edits here and there, IF you want. You don't have to use it - you can still drag out all the MIDI files into your DAW and do the editing there if you want.



Hi @EvilDragon, wasn't talking about the MIDI editor but the reviewer's programming itself, which sounded very mechanical to me for the most parts. I'm waiting for more "artistic" audio demos !


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## MarcusD (Aug 15, 2017)

As an owner of both EZD2 and SD2 I hope they do a combined upgrade license.


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## jtnyc (Aug 15, 2017)

whitewasteland said:


> The MIDI programming is quite awful on this review, hard to have an opinion :/



Agreed. As far as demonstrating what SD3 sounds like, that was awful. I know it sounds better than that and I'm sure it's as deep or deeper than SD2 as far as velocity layers and mic positions. It a shame Sweetwater couldn't manage to demonstrate that properly. In that vid it sounds more like EZD 1. Just use a midi controller and play some dynamic bits, crank up a few room mics etc... instead he loops the same non dynamic flat loop for all the kits. Not a good idea.

It was nice to get a closer look at the UI and other functions. It looks really slick. I do hope I can import my midi mappings from SD2. If I can't I will be sad.... I wouldn't want to have to re-do all of my SDX's again for SD3.

Bring on some proper sound demos and walkthroughs -


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## jtnyc (Aug 15, 2017)

whitewasteland said:


> Hi @EvilDragon, wasn't talking about the MIDI editor but the reviewer's programming itself, which sounded very mechanical to me for the most parts. I'm waiting for more "artistic" audio demos !



That wasn't the reviewers programming. He just dragged in a midi loop from the stock library and ran it for all the kits.


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## Emmanuel Rousseau (Aug 15, 2017)

jtnyc said:


> That wasn't the reviewers programming. He just dragged in a midi loop from the stock library and ran it for all the kits.



Yes, you're right, I didn't realize it was a loop from the stock library. I never use them in my BFD3, precisely because it almost always sounds terrible without additional tweaking to adapt it to the current drumkit.


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## mc_deli (Aug 15, 2017)

MarcusD said:


> As an owner of both EZD2 and SD2 I hope they do a combined upgrade license.


Get over to: https://www.toontrack.com/forum/sup...rade-license-for-sd2-and-ezd2-owners/#p172177
and add your voice


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## jtnyc (Aug 15, 2017)

whitewasteland said:


> Yes, you're right, I didn't realize it was a loop from the stock library. I never use them in my BFD3, precisely because it almost always sounds terrible without additional tweaking to adapt it to the current drumkit.



Yes, I agree, which I why I was kinda bummed to see EZ midi loop thing implemented into SD3. There is a midi loop player in SD2, but it lives on it's own page, so I never have to see it. In SD3 it seems to be present on all pages. Oh well...


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## Smikes77 (Aug 15, 2017)

Am I seeing this right? If I record my drummer from his place with, for eg, a practise kit, the update will transfer that one audio wave into a groove in SD3?


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## MarcusD (Aug 15, 2017)

mc_deli said:


> Get over to: https://www.toontrack.com/forum/sup...rade-license-for-sd2-and-ezd2-owners/#p172177
> and add your voice



Already did by starting that thread :D


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## EvilDragon (Aug 15, 2017)

Smikes77 said:


> Am I seeing this right? If I record my drummer from his place with, for eg, a practise kit, the update will transfer that one audio wave into a groove in SD3?



Depends on how clean the recording is, I suppose. But yeah, you should be able to detect most of the stuff in.


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## Smikes77 (Aug 15, 2017)

EvilDragon said:


> Depends on how clean the recording is, I suppose. But yeah, you should be able to detect most of the stuff in.



Even intricate hi hats? That`s insane.


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## VinRice (Aug 15, 2017)

"No brainer!" - somebody had to say it... Finally a user interface that doesn't look some teenager's fantasy metal 'art'. I'm in. Being able to use EZ libraries is a very smart move.


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## jtnyc (Aug 15, 2017)

Smikes77 said:


> Even intricate hi hats? That`s insane.



Audio to midi has been around for years. Usually used on individual mics/kit pieces. Pulling parts out of overheads or stereo mixes is something I've never seen. I'm curious as to how effective this will work. Like Evil said, it will depend on how clean the recording is, but if it isn't it looks like SD3 lets you go in and fix any discrepancies. Pretty cool stuff


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## Geoff Grace (Aug 15, 2017)

jtnyc said:


> Audio to midi has been around for years.


First appearing in Opcode's Studio Vision, if I recall correctly.

Best,

Geoff


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## mc_deli (Aug 15, 2017)

MarcusD said:


> Already did by starting that thread :D


HA! Touche! I see what you did there AND I LIKE IT!


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## mc_deli (Aug 15, 2017)

woah... so theoretically, use SD3 to audition a breakbeat sample... and it will convert to midi... that would be soooooo cool...


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## mc_deli (Aug 15, 2017)

...if they have made the midi groove browser more intuitive that would be great...


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## rrichard63 (Aug 15, 2017)

jtnyc said:


> ... Pulling parts out of overheads or stereo mixes is something I've never seen ...



Accusonus Regroover Essential and Regroover Pro.


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## EvilDragon (Aug 15, 2017)

Smikes77 said:


> Even intricate hi hats? That`s insane.



We'll see how well it all works once it's out in the wide world. Your guess is as good as mine. With clean enough recordings it could do pretty well, for sure.


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## catsass (Aug 15, 2017)

AskAudio review:
https://ask.audio/articles/review-toontrack-superior-drummer-3


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## Astronaut FX (Aug 15, 2017)

Didn't they just have like a month long sale pushing SD2? I seem to recall that they did, but I can't recall how much it was. I sure hope it was not more than the difference between the upgrade price and the full price. If I had just bought SD2 as part of that sale only to learn about this, and the upgrade price plus what I had spent was more than the full price, I'd be pissed.


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## ohernie (Aug 15, 2017)

IIRR, crossgrade from EZD purchased from Toon was $105. Sweetwater had it for $99.


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## jtnyc (Aug 15, 2017)

catsass said:


> AskAudio review:
> https://ask.audio/articles/review-toontrack-superior-drummer-3



The audio examples here as well are so underwhelming. Wow...

Toontrack should really get some good audio examples out there because these third party examples sound flat, plain and nothing special. From what I've heard I would prefer to just get the software for my existing libraries and skip the new kits. Is that what 230gb sounds like? Again, I'm pretty confident that it's all a lot better than what has been shown, but I need to be convinced now.

Edit - I'm so tired of reviews/walkthroughs that show you the interface, repeat what they are reading from the products website and either can't or don't bother trying to demonstrate what a product can actually sound like. It must drive developers crazy. If I was Toontrack and the AskAudio and Sweetwater videos were the only examples of this long awaited release, I'd be pulling my hair out. I'm sure they will release better audio examples and walkthroughs soon, but yikes... those 2 really turned me off


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## kitekrazy (Aug 15, 2017)

This wont help me with any Trance tunes.


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## George Bellas (Aug 15, 2017)

I'm a bit perplexed about the new MIDI mapping and what appears to be a disorienting piano roll with no key indicators such as C1, C2, etc...


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## Geoff Grace (Aug 15, 2017)

kitekrazy said:


> This wont help me with any Trance tunes.


FWIW, the new version will have "Approx. 350 vintage and classic drum machine sounds." (Source)

Best,

Geoff


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## jtnyc (Aug 15, 2017)

George Bellas said:


> I'm a bit perplexed about the new MIDI mapping and what appears to be a disorienting piano roll with no key indicators such as C1, C2, etc...



That does look odd...


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## Brendon Williams (Aug 15, 2017)

Wow, so much griping on here! Relax guys, it hasn't even been 24 hours yet. XD

Here's another Sweetwater with lots more audio examples, played by a drummer live:


Personally, I'm really excited to hear that they've pre-mapped just about every drum module out there! That will make it really easy to work with different drummers/e-kits.


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## pderbidge (Aug 15, 2017)

skythemusic said:


> I wonder if you can import your BFD and Addictive kits and just work in one software program.



Toontrack sells this program https://www.toontrack.com/product/ezplayer-pro/ that should technically help you convert all your midi packs to work with sd2/3 and I own it but haven't used it yet so I don't know how easy or hard it is to use. I imagine you would have to do some remapping of the kits before exporting so it could take some time. A lot of time


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## pderbidge (Aug 15, 2017)

George Bellas said:


> I'm a bit perplexed about the new MIDI mapping and what appears to be a disorienting piano roll with no key indicators such as C1, C2, etc...


That looks like the song creator to me. Basically drag your verse chorus verse etc.. in order and then drag from the song creator to your midi editor in your daw when ready. Take a look at some ezd2 videos to get an idea of this feature.


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## jtnyc (Aug 15, 2017)

pderbidge said:


> That looks like the song creator to me. Basically drag your verse chorus verse etc.. in order and then drag from the song creator to your midi editor in your daw when ready. Take a look at some ezd2 videos to get an idea of this feature.




He's referring to the midi mapping on the right of screen (see pic he posted), not the song creator at the bottom


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## pderbidge (Aug 15, 2017)

jtnyc said:


> He's referring to the midi mapping on the right of screen (see pic he posted), not the song creator at the bottom


My bad, I see it now. That is confusing. Hopefully there is another way to change that to standard c1, c2... type mapping.


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## pderbidge (Aug 15, 2017)

pderbidge said:


> My bad, I see it now. That is confusing. Hopefully there is another way to change that to standard c1, c2... type mapping.


Ok, I get why they use note numbers instead of c1 etc... Different developers may use different mappings. ie; one developers c1 might actually be on c-1(or is it c0?) in your daw so if they use note numbers instead then it's clear where those mappings go. Here's a little article on the different note naming conventions https://www.thoughtco.com/pitch-notation-and-octave-naming-2701389 . The good news is that I've found developers to mostly use one of two types, I just can't remember what they are right now but I do believe Ample Sounds standard is different than Orange Tree's for example.


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## jtnyc (Aug 15, 2017)

pderbidge said:


> Ok, I get why they use note numbers instead of c1 etc... Different developers may use different mappings. ie; one developers c1 might actually be on c-1(or is it c0?) in your daw so if they use note numbers instead then it's clear where those mappings go. Here's a little article on the different note naming conventions https://www.thoughtco.com/pitch-notation-and-octave-naming-2701389 . The good news is that I've found developers to mostly use one of two types, I just can't remember what they are right now but I do believe Ample Sounds standard is different than Orange Tree's for example.



I never use other developers mapping. I make my own. The mapping in SD2 was perfectly clear and dragging and dropping articulations to specific keys was a breeze. This looks a bit chaotic, but I haven't seen it in action yet so we'll see


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## pderbidge (Aug 15, 2017)

jtnyc said:


> I never use other developers mapping. I make my own. The mapping in SD2 was perfectly clear and dragging and dropping articulations to specific keys was a breeze. This looks a bit chaotic, but I haven't seen it in action yet so we'll see


I can't comment on SD2 since I don't own it but I would hope that they made this feature better rather than worse compared to SD2. Nevertheless, that audio to midi is a very cool feature. So far, in the drum realm, I've only seen Toontrack really coming out with breakthrough features ever since EZD2 rather than just sitting on the sidelines with yesterdays technology. I hope to see the competition do the same sooner than later.


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## jamwerks (Aug 16, 2017)

Man that "find a groove like this one" feature in EZ Drummer 2 would have saved me hours! If that's in SD3 I'll upgrade from SD2 right away!


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## Thorsten Meyer (Aug 16, 2017)

jamwerks said:


> Man that "find a groove like this one" feature in EZ Drummer 2 would have saved me hours! If that's in SD3 I'll upgrade from SD2 right away!


You can use the Tap2Find feature to find your groove.


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## kavinsky (Aug 16, 2017)

so much fuss and not a single word on RR/randomisation settings which always were the achiless' heel of SD2.
if they are the same as before (mindless random playback of round robins and limited velocity layer count) it would be a huge dissapointment for me.


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## jcrosby (Aug 16, 2017)

Ez Drummer and Addictive Drums 2 user here. Almost jumped on SD2 this past year when they were blowing it out, but finding that it didn't have the song creator I skipped it... Could be useful but so far Additive Drums 2 is my go to... The midi browser is well organized and I find the patterns feel much more like they were played by a human than any of Ez Drummers patterns do... Would love to hear how others get on with the update though for sure...


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## GtrString (Aug 16, 2017)

Oh wow, SD3 looks like the best from Toontrack yet! Almost an all-in-one type of solution for acoustic drums. I wish they had orchestral type kits for it as well. Maybe someday?

I can't not upgrade from SD2. Depending on the cpu load, SD3 also looks like it could make EZD2 and SD2 obsolete for me.


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## kitekrazy (Aug 16, 2017)

Geoff Grace said:


> FWIW, the new version will have "Approx. 350 vintage and classic drum machine sounds." (Source)
> 
> Best,
> 
> Geoff



I probably have a 100 times that much. BTW that is no bragging unless it's a testament to impulse buying.


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## jononotbono (Aug 17, 2017)

Absolutely can't wait for this! I love SD2 so this is a very welcome Library!


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## mc_deli (Aug 17, 2017)

GtrString said:


> I wish they had orchestral type kits for it as well.



I have pondered this. I know it's a smaller market but I would have thought they'd sell a boat load of orchestral hybrid perc EZXs/SDXs...


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## synthpunk (Aug 17, 2017)

When you cross grade from EZ2 to do they let you keep your EZ2 license as well?


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## Ryan99 (Aug 17, 2017)

synthpunk said:


> When you cross grade from EZ2 to do they let you keep your EZ2 license as well?


Yes.


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## Soundhound (Aug 17, 2017)

Hoping this could be the best of EZ Drummer2 and SD2 in one package? Ease of use but you can dig in and control things more if you want to? Or is the set it and forget it aspect not really part of what's going on here?


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## jtnyc (Aug 17, 2017)

I wonder what the SD2 SDX's will look like in SD3. Will they update artwork for them or will they continue having a generic look?

Also wondering if we will be able to port our presets and midi mapping from SD2 to SD3.


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## skythemusic (Aug 17, 2017)

jtnyc said:


> I wonder what the SD2 SDX's will look like in SD3. Will they update artwork for them or will they continue having a generic look?
> 
> Also wondering if we will be able to port our presets and midi mapping from SD2 to SD3.



I was wondering the same thing...


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## zvenx (Aug 17, 2017)

skythemusic said:


> I was wondering the same thing...


from: https://www.toontrack.com/faq/1311697-2/


> *WILL MY PREVIOUS SDXs WORK IN SUPERIOR DRUMMER 3?*
> Yes! All SDX libraries will function as usual in Superior Drummer 3. Additionally, they have all been updated with new graphics for the Superior Drummer 3 format. After Superior Drummer 3 has been launched, you will find relevant updates in the Toontrack Product Manager.
> 
> The only exception is the original DFH Superior 1 library. This library is incompatible with Superior Drummer 3.


rsp


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## jtnyc (Aug 17, 2017)

zvenx said:


> from: https://www.toontrack.com/faq/1311697-2/
> 
> rsp


Sweet!


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## skythemusic (Aug 17, 2017)

Nice! Hopefully Evil Drums will work?


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## jtnyc (Aug 18, 2017)

I've been thinking about the 5.1 and 11.1 part of this, and I'm finding it a bit of a head scratcher. I could be wrong, but what percentage of users will actually be mixing drums in 5.1 or 11.1? It seems targeted to a very small amount of users, no?

With that, I wonder how I will feel or deal with all of those extra mic positions. My instinct tells me it's too much. I'm not a fan of too many choices. Some developers have been going nuts with mic positions lately (a piano with 16 mic positions?) I love having 2 or 3 room choices and a spot mic or 2 and most SDX's have a good balance, although some are borderline with too many IMO. I seem to remember that Roots had an excess of mics. I don't own that one.

I wonder what the mixer will look like if you don't install the surround samples. Will it be possible to hide channels in the mixer? I'm also curious as to what samples I'm hearing in all of the walkthroughs...


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## kgdrum (Aug 18, 2017)

skythemusic said:


> Nice! Hopefully Evil Drums will work?


 
+1
I have many SDX expansions but Evil Drums is by far my favorite! please,please work in SD3.


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## DSmolken (Aug 19, 2017)

Does it do anything new or revolutionary with brushed stirs?


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## Brian2112 (Aug 19, 2017)

Nice to hear a little ring. I've got ez and sd2 and almost all the expansions. My one complaint was always that almost every kit was tuned low and they muffled the shit out of them. I understand that is what is most used and good technique for getting the drums to sit in a mix, but it's nice to have a popping, ringing, snare once in a while along with toms that don't sound like they are stuffed with pillows. 
Looks like a must buy for me as I'm planning on getting back to drumming soon and plan to purchase a Roland TD25 kit.


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## EvilDragon (Aug 19, 2017)

kgdrum said:


> +1
> I have many SDX expansions but Evil Drums is by far my favorite! please,please work in SD3.



All SDXes will work in SD3.

https://www.toontrack.com/faq/1311697-2/


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## JPQ (Aug 21, 2017)

Even money income limits (i must buy something earlier or buy anything what i dont prethinked) i i do this or not i does anyone know how these drum machine soudns sound any more info about them.


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## playz123 (Aug 21, 2017)

catsass said:


> So many unanswered questions. And the lack of a pre-order price break offers no incentive to commit ahead of the Sept. 12th release date.


After watching all the videos and reading the online information, I'm not left with many important questions, but concur re. the lack of incentive to pay now. I guess the only good thing about knowing the release date is that one can plan ahead of time and try to ensure funds are available for purchase by then. Many will also argue as well that no pre-order incentive means there's no urgency to buy, even on or after the release date.


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## EvilDragon (Aug 21, 2017)

catsass said:


> So many unanswered questions.



Like which questions? The FAQ was pretty informative.


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## spyder (Aug 21, 2017)

I have SD2 and am very happy with it. I am sure SD3 is great, but does it really need such a large sample bank? 230GB? 10 times larger than SD2! I wonder if Toontrack may consider a "lite" version that has the new software but a smaller sample bank?


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## Geoff Grace (Aug 21, 2017)

I think this is going to be a no-brainer for those who use drums in surround. If I were in that group, I'd have ordered a copy already. 

I suspect that a lot of the rest of us will balk at both the price and the drive space hit. I agree that a lite stereo-only version—at say a 50-60% price point—would be just the thing to get a good many of us to hit the buy button.

Best,

Geoff


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## erica-grace (Aug 21, 2017)

Geoff Grace said:


> I think this is going to be a no-brainer for those who use drums in surround. If I were in that group, I'd have ordered a copy already.
> 
> I suspect that a lot of the rest of us will balk at both the price and the drive space hit. I agree that a lite stereo-only version—at say a 50-60% price point—would be just the thing to get a good many of us to hit the buy button.



Agreed! Sort of what VSL has done with the Synchron percussion. Here is what they should do: stereo mixes only, and instead of six kits, make it four kits - allowing each user to choose his/her own, for say, $259 as opposed to $419. That would be an insta-buy for me.

And in case anyone is wondering.... no, there is no relation!


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## jtnyc (Aug 21, 2017)

Geoff Grace said:


> I think this is going to be a no-brainer for those who use drums in surround. If I were in that group, I'd have ordered a copy already.
> 
> I suspect that a lot of the rest of us will balk at both the price and the drive space hit. I agree that a lite stereo-only version—at say a 50-60% price point—would be just the thing to get a good many of us to hit the buy button.
> 
> ...



You don't have to download the surround 1 and surround 2 mics. That with cut 100 gb's off the footprint. I don't mix in surround and will definitely be upgrading. The difference in the size is because SD2 came with 1 kit, SD3 comes with 6. That's the first advantage to SD3. The improved mixer UI and the addition of 35 effect plugins (that look why better than the ones in SD2) means way better mixing within SD3. Tracker is huge if you deal with real drums. As far as drive space goes, if you don't use the surrounds, it's like 135 gb's for 6 kits. Not bad at all. 

The upgrade price seems more than fair to me. I suppose if your buying SD3 at the full price it might feel like a lot, but if you need and will use all of the functionality that SD3 offers, I think it's worth it. If not, then there's EZD.


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## Robo Rivard (Aug 21, 2017)

I can't believe people are complaining about the specs of SD3!... Move to Afghanistan for Allah's sake!


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## Geoff Grace (Aug 21, 2017)

The upgrade price isn't so bad, but the full price is unlikely to lure me away from BFD3.

Superior Drummer 3 has some features I'd like BFD to have, but it doesn't offer me over $400 worth of improvement. YMMV.

Man, I miss competitive upgrades...

Best,

Geoff


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## Geoff Grace (Aug 21, 2017)

erica-grace said:


> And in case anyone is wondering.... no, there is no relation!


It's a funny coincidence though. It's not like there's a lot of us Graces running around. I've seen our last name elsewhere in print, but I think I've only met one other Grace in person who wasn't related to me.

Best,

Geoff


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## EvilDragon (Aug 22, 2017)

spyder said:


> I have SD2 and am very happy with it. I am sure SD3 is great, but does it really need such a large sample bank? 230GB? 10 times larger than SD2! I wonder if Toontrack may consider a "lite" version that has the new software but a smaller sample bank?



It's like people are not reading FAQs at all.

It's a 5-stage download, if you don't download the surround mics, you shave off 100 GB off the install, which is just fine.


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## spyder (Aug 22, 2017)

Sure I have read the FAQ's. But why would/should I pay for 230GB if I only intended to use 130GB? 

As for the kits, I appreciate it has six kits as opposed to SD2's one kit, but with SD2 you were able start with the first default kit and add your own choice of a number of others that would suit your own particular needs.

To some extent it is like Cubase Pro 9. I like all of the facilities but I use none of the contained vst's - which of course cost money and take disc space. All I am saying is that an unbundled base offer with optional add-ons for these programs would, in my opinion, be a welcome way to go.


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## jtnyc (Aug 28, 2017)

Here's a decent walk through of the different room mics.

-


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## jtnyc (Aug 31, 2017)

I asked Toontrack if midi maps can be ported from SD2 to SD3, and the answer is yes. That's great news!

Also, the song creator timeline can be completely hidden.

I can't wait to get my hands on this update -


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## jtnyc (Aug 31, 2017)

Another decent video walkthrough with the guy triggering the sounds from his keyboard -


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## JC_ (Aug 31, 2017)

^ So many cool features! I'm genuinely excited about this and extra glad I bought Superior Drummer 2 in one of the crazy sales last year.


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## mc_deli (Sep 11, 2017)

Who's gonna get this tomorrow and report in?


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## George Bellas (Sep 12, 2017)

*Superior Drummer 3 is Now Available!*
Although the Toontrack servers are apparently bogged down as I can't access the site. Looking forward to diving into this after the hefty download.


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## catsass (Sep 12, 2017)




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## wbacer (Sep 12, 2017)

I bought this at JRR shop for $199 and already received my serial number but can't access the Toontrack site to download their product manager. Ah the joys of rolling out a new product...


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## George Bellas (Sep 12, 2017)

If you already have the Toontrack Download Manager app installed (which I did), the downloads indeed go fairly quick and don't seem to be affected by heavy traffic. Just this morning, and prior to the release of Superior Drummer 3, I opened the Download Manager and it updated itself, most likely to support the new product.

Superior Drummer 3 does not replace Superior Drummer 2. I was concerned about that due to numerous projects I am currently working on that incorporate SD2. So if all goes smoothly, I'll begin the process of updating the SD2 projects.

Looking forward to all those room mic's!

Still downloading...


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## George Bellas (Sep 12, 2017)

Best Service has the Superior Drummer 3 *Upgrade for $170.83* (which fluctuates daily due to the exchange rate).


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## catsass (Sep 12, 2017)

George Bellas said:


> Best Service has the Superior Drummer 3 *Upgrade for $170.83* (which fluctuates daily due to the exchange rate).


Nice!
Crossgrade from EZD2 = $253.01
Thanks for the heads up!


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## Ian Dorsch (Sep 12, 2017)

I'll look forward to hearing some impressions on this. I'm sure I will upgrade at some point, but I'm probably not in a hurry unless it is really knocking everyone's socks off.


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## jtnyc (Sep 12, 2017)

George Bellas said:


> Best Service has the Superior Drummer 3 *Upgrade for $170.83* (which fluctuates daily due to the exchange rate).



Nice. Thanks for posting. Downloading now


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## VinRice (Sep 12, 2017)

Got the cross grade from EZdrummer. I haven't even started downloading the content yet - I'm having much fun playing my existing EZ kits in the new interface - its a joy.


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## mc_deli (Sep 12, 2017)

169 eurons at Best Service...

I use Ez2, Sd2, Komplete, Logic drummer... Is this gonna change my world?

Are there compelling reasons to run all my Ez expansions in Sd3, rather than Ez2 or Sd2?


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## StillLife (Sep 13, 2017)

mc_deli said:


> Are there compelling reasons to run all my Ez expansions in Sd3, rather than Ez2 or Sd2?



Yes, that's what I'd like to know too, from the users. I know SD3 offers a lot more on the 'sound'-department, but do you also experience workflow enhancement, better options in SD3 compared to EZD2?


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## Wibben (Sep 13, 2017)

Toontrack uploaded a lot of walkthroughs of the new features and workflows yestarday. The new pitch algo they have blew my mind a bit.. sounds like they just downtune the drum.. Also the new stacking feature and custom samples.. maaaan.... Can't wait to get home and test this stuff!


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## StillLife (Sep 13, 2017)

Wibben said:


> Toontrack uploaded a lot of walkthroughs of the new features and workflows yestarday. The new pitch algo they have blew my mind a bit.. sounds like they just downtune the drum.. Also the new stacking feature and custom samples.. maaaan.... Can't wait to get home and test this stuff!


Yes, all those new features seem amazing! But I can't find a whole lot of info on how well it works within a daw. For instance, in EZD2 you have a button in the songline-section 'sync to daw' so you can choose whether EZD plays in unison with your daw tracks here. Maybe I missed it, but I do not see it in the SD3 gui. 
Also: workflow enhancements within a daw and keyboard commands are mentioned, but I can't find a video yet were I see these in action.
Then again, there's so much info about this beast out there, that I could easily have missed it.


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## catsass (Sep 13, 2017)

StillLife said:


> Yes, all those new features seem amazing! But I can't find a whole lot of info on how well it works within a daw. For instance, in EZD2 you have a button in the songline-section 'sync to daw' so you can choose whether EZD plays in unison with your daw tracks here. Maybe I missed it, but I do not see it in the SD3 gui


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## StillLife (Sep 13, 2017)

catsass said:


>


Thank you!
How could I have missed that? All those new shining features must have blinded me.


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## catsass (Sep 13, 2017)

StillLife said:


> Thank you!
> How could I have missed that? All those new shining features must have blinded me.


For obvious reasons, it doesn't exist in standalone mode. There are quiet a few standalone mode screenshots floating about.


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## jtnyc (Sep 13, 2017)

Ok, so far I'm loving a lot about SD 3. The new drums sound really great. The new mixer is awesome and will allow me to now mix my drums within SD as opposed to SD 2 where I had to route everything out to Logic. The SD 2 mixer was tiny and very difficult to look at, and the effects were not so great (they also had tiny cumbersome UI's). The 35 new effects sound great and seem easy to work with, so a huge improvement there. I haven't had a chance to try the tracker function, but if it works well, that will also make things much easier than how I would accomplish sound replace/layering of drums in Logic. Very clunky and complicated in Logic, so looking forward to tracker.

So far the midi mapping looks to be a bit of a nightmare compared to SD2. I could be wrong. I've sent Toontrack a bunch of questions regarding mapping. The manual doesn't cover much there. So far, getting my old maps from SD2 doesn't really work, and creating new maps is a PITA compared to SD2. I'm very disappointed they decided to re invent a system that was so easy to use...


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## mc_deli (Sep 13, 2017)

jtnyc said:


> Ok, so far I'm loving a lot about SD 3. The new drums sound really great. The new mixer is awesome and will allow me to now mix my drums within SD as opposed to SD 2 where I had to route everything out to Logic. The SD 2 mixer was tiny and very difficult to look at, and the effects were not so great (they also had tiny cumbersome UI's). The 35 new effects sound great and seem easy to work with, so a huge improvement there. I haven't had a chance to try the tracker function, but if it works well, that will also make things much easier than how I would accomplish sound replace/layering of drums in Logic. Very clunky and complicated in Logic, so looking forward to tracker.
> 
> So far the midi mapping looks to be a bit of a nightmare compared to SD2. I could be wrong. I've sent Toontrack a bunch of questions regarding mapping. The manual doesn't cover much there. So far, getting my old maps from SD2 doesn't really work, and creating new maps is a PITA compared to SD2. I'm very disappointed they decided to re invent a system that was so easy to use...


I was mixing in SD2 today and it was horrid... so big plus there! Thanks.


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## jtnyc (Sep 13, 2017)

mc_deli said:


> I was mixing in SD2 today and it was horrid... so big plus there! Thanks.



If you spend a lot of time with the mixer, you will love SD3. The overall feel of the UI is 1000 times better than 2. I opened up 2 today to check something and I recoiled...haha, it looked tiny and antiquated...


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## rrichard63 (Sep 13, 2017)

StillLife said:


> Yes, that's what I'd like to know too, from the users. I know SD3 offers a lot more on the 'sound'-department, but do you also experience workflow enhancement, better options in SD3 compared to EZD2?


It turns out that SD3 will load EZX libraries, but without the graphics. The graphics in all but one of the SDX libraries are being upgraded to display in SD3, but EZX graphics are not.

When SD2 came out, all of the EZX libraries were updated to display correctly.


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## jtnyc (Sep 13, 2017)

After a few back and forths with Toontrack about the midi mapping and using SD2 maps, I'm more confused than ever. It looks like an absolute clusterf*#! so far. I'm so bummed they changed what worked so flawlessly in SD2... It's looking like I'll have to do all of my maps over from scratch which is a nightmare, but once I get a hang of the new system and get it all done, that will be that, until then it's a thorn in my side and holding me up from enjoying all the great improvements...


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## EvilDragon (Sep 13, 2017)

Yeah, EZX for now use generic looking black shells. But I would assume GUI updates will come in due time.


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## rrichard63 (Sep 13, 2017)

holywilly said:


> You can import your own sample, yeah~~



My reading of the manual (under "Add instrument") is that you can import one .wav file per instrument -- no velocity layers and no round robins. I could be reading this wrong, or the manual could be incomplete.


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## rrichard63 (Sep 13, 2017)

EvilDragon said:


> Yeah, EZX for now use generic looking black shells. But I would assume GUI updates will come in due time.


Someone on Gearslutz contacted Toontrack about this and they responded that they have no plans to update the EZX GUI's.


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## EvilDragon (Sep 13, 2017)

I absolutely love the way MIDI mapping is done in S3, it was pretty hellish in S2 to be honest...


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## mc_deli (Sep 13, 2017)

rrichard63 said:


> It turns out that SD3 will load EZX libraries, but without the graphics. The graphics in all but one of the SDX libraries are being upgraded to display in SD3, but EZX graphics are not.
> 
> When SD2 came out, all of the EZX libraries were updated to display correctly.


What do the "generic" graphics look like?


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## EvilDragon (Sep 13, 2017)

Like this:


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## Soundhound (Sep 13, 2017)

Anyone know if it's okay to locate SD3 sounds/midi etc. in a totally separate location (separate ssd) from EZ2/SD2 sounds/midi? I have all that stuff in one folder (in their own subfolders etc of course)


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## EvilDragon (Sep 13, 2017)

Yeah, you can install it on a completely different drive.


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## rrichard63 (Sep 13, 2017)

EvilDragon said:


> Like this: [screen shot removed from reply]



Thanks. Does the number of instruments shown vary to match the number in the kit that is loaded?


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## jtnyc (Sep 13, 2017)

EvilDragon said:


> I absolutely love the way MIDI mapping is done in S3, it was pretty hellish in S2 to be honest...




Really, wow I wish I felt the same. I must be missing something Evil. Toontrack just confirmed to me that you can't assign blank keys in SD3. This is a major bummer for me. Also, when I try and use a map that I made in SD2 it loads default sounds in all of the blank unassigned keys of that map making it a total mess. I don't use edrums or midi files at all. I re map all of the kits so that all of the kit piece articulations sit together on keyboard controller. This way when I program a high hat part all 10 or 12 HH articulations are sitting together. Same with snare, toms etc... I like to separate the groups with a few empty non assigned keys. It was so so easy to do this in SD2. From what Toontrack is telling me, not so much in 3. There are a couple of work arounds they suggested and I will work it out, but it looks to be a longer more convoluted process to accomplish what I need... Toontrack told me I could just load up an SD2 midi map preset and presto, I'd be on my way. Not the case...

They also confirmed that if you own EZX's but don't Own EZDrummer, you can't move EZX's from their default location on your system drive to a different drive. It won't allow you to redirect the path. So this has me a bit messed up. I already have 3 EZX's on my samples drive that SD3 sees under Superior kits (those ez's are listed as not installed in the product manager because they are not on my system drive) the other 2 that i just reinstalled (Electronic and Twisted) were installed on my system drive (the installer would not allow me to redirect it to my sample drive). Those 2 are listed in SD3 under EZ libraries and are listed as installed in the product manager. That all makes sense, but why can't I move those 2 to my samples drive and reset the path?

Other than those 2 issues, SD3 is awesome! I just feel like I can't really settle in and start programming until I get all this mapping stuff sorted -(


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## EvilDragon (Sep 13, 2017)

rrichard63 said:


> Thanks. Does the number of instruments shown vary to match the number in the kit that is loaded?



Naturally. This is Progressive EZX on the screenshot.


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## mc_deli (Sep 13, 2017)

OK no biggie with generic shells


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## EvilDragon (Sep 13, 2017)

jtnyc said:


> Also, when I try and use a map that I made in SD2 it loads default sounds in all of the blank unassigned keys of that map making it a total mess.



Err, yeah, those will need a bit of tweaking, but it's possible!

After you select a kitpiece, go to MIDI Mapping property pane, and in there you can see all the articulations for that kitpiece. There's a left arrow on some of them, which means they have aliased assignments (duplicates). Just right-click on the MIDI note number/note name depending on your setting, and remove assignment. There you go with your empty key. Rinse&repeat for all aliases you don't need across all kitpieces.

Perhaps, clear ALL assignments this way, then save that as a preset, then try loading your mapping presets from S2.0?


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## rrichard63 (Sep 13, 2017)

mc_deli said:


> OK no biggie with generic shells



I agree, this appears to make only a very small difference to usability.


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## jtnyc (Sep 13, 2017)

EvilDragon said:


> Err, yeah, those will need a bit of tweaking, but it's possible!
> 
> After you select a kitpiece, go to MIDI Mapping property pane, and in there you can see all the articulations for that kitpiece. There's a left arrow on some of them, which means they have aliased assignments (duplicates). Just right-click on the MIDI note number/note name depending on your setting, and remove assignment. There you go with your empty key. Rinse&repeat for all aliases you don't need across all kitpieces.
> 
> Perhaps, clear ALL assignments this way, then save that as a preset, then try loading your mapping presets from S2.0?



Yes, after several back and forths Toontrack made this recommendation as well. I will try it out, but then those tweaks in the property pane don't get saved with a map preset, so I will just have to save the whole thing as a kit preset. This will work I think, but it was so much easier in SD2.

Thanks Evil -)


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## Soundhound (Sep 13, 2017)

thanks ED.



EvilDragon said:


> Yeah, you can install it on a completely different drive.


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## Goldie Zwecker (Sep 15, 2017)

I imagine SD3, being the most new, largest and advanced - is better than what i have now, but i wonder to what extent and if it'll be worth investing in. 
Right now i have everything included in Komplete Ultimate 11 (50's drummer, 60's drummer, 70's drummer, 80's drummer, abbey road, studio drummer, session drummer, drumlab etc etc), and the acoustic kits in Maschine, battery etc. How do these stack up?


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## kavinsky (Sep 16, 2017)

Any info on Hit Variation settings?
Is it the same concept with the new engine/library as with SD2? (e.g 10 round robins on velocity 120-127, 10rr on 100-120 and so on).
It just never worked for my needs personally and I'd like to know if it has been updated or not.


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## reutunes (Sep 16, 2017)

I've been experimenting with SD3 for a couple of months now as I had the beta version. So I might be able to help with any questions, although @EvilDragon is doing a great job in this thread. Well done mate.

Also, my general review of SD3 is in this week's Samplecast show:


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## mc_deli (Sep 16, 2017)

Downloading now... just the @90 gigs to get started


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## madfloyd (Sep 16, 2017)

Speaking of gigs... so how much ram does a typical drum set take up? That's probably my biggest concern with SD3... if it's over 200GB you gotta wonder whether it's overkill for a drum set... from loading times to RAM usage etc.


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## jtnyc (Sep 16, 2017)

Goldie Zwecker said:


> I imagine SD3, being the most new, largest and advanced - is better than what i have now, but i wonder to what extent and if it'll be worth investing in.
> Right now i have everything included in Komplete Ultimate 11 (50's drummer, 60's drummer, 70's drummer, 80's drummer, abbey road, studio drummer, session drummer, drumlab etc etc), and the acoustic kits in Maschine, battery etc. How do these stack up?



The NI AR, Session Drummer stuff sounds quite good. Superior is better IMO, but I suppose it depends on your taste. To me ears, Superior is more deeply sampled and the sound is full and natural. The rooms are killer. It also has way more mic, stacking, routing options. The tracker function doesn't exist in the NI offerings either. As far as load times and cpu efficiency, Superior is clearly the winner.


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## Goldie Zwecker (Sep 16, 2017)

Co


jtnyc said:


> The NI AR, Session Drummer stuff sounds quite good. Superior is better IMO, but I suppose it depends on your taste. To me ears, Superior is more deeply sampled and the sound is full and natural. The rooms are killer. It also has way more mic, stacking, routing options. The tracker function doesn't exist in the NI offerings either. As far as load times and cpu efficiency, Superior is clearly the winner.


Concerning load times and cpu - that's a question that's been raised here. How much ram does it take when you load a kit out of the 230GB? How long does it take to load?


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## jtnyc (Sep 16, 2017)

madfloyd said:


> Speaking of gigs... so how much ram does a typical drum set take up? That's probably my biggest concern with SD3... if it's over 200GB you gotta wonder whether it's overkill for a drum set... from loading times to RAM usage etc.


The default kits vary from 900mb to 2gb. Those kits usually only use 1 ambience mic. There are 4 ambience mics with the standard install so the footprints can get bigger. Even bigger if you start adding mics from the surround pack. I set up a mixer with all 4 amb mics plus 2 from the surround mics. Depending on the kit they load up around 3.5 - 5 gb. They load in about 20 seconds. Superior load times are superb. An NI Abbey Road kit that is 500mb easily takes 5 times longer. Superiors cpu efficiency is also superb.


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## Goldie Zwecker (Sep 16, 2017)

jtnyc said:


> The default kits vary from 900mb to 2gb. Those kits usually only use 1 ambience mic. There are 4 ambience mics with the standard install so the footprints can get bigger. Even bigger if you start adding mics from the surround pack. I set up a mixer with all 4 amb mics plus 2 from the surround mics. Depending on the kit they load up around 3.5 - 5 gb. They load in about 20 seconds. Superior load times are superb. An NI Abbey Road kit that is 500mb easily takes 5 times longer. Superiors cpu efficiency is also superb.


From an ssd or an HD 7200 rpm?


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## jononotbono (Sep 16, 2017)

I don't really notice the load times of any VI Drum kit when they are on an SSD.


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## jtnyc (Sep 16, 2017)

Goldie Zwecker said:


> From an ssd or an HD 7200 rpm?


HD 7200


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## John Zuker (Sep 16, 2017)

So SD3 doesn't really have to reside on an SSD since, as with most drum VIs, the kits/mics load fully into RAM? 
I don't want to use up any SSD real estate since that's where the big orchestral libs needs to reside. I can live with longer load times if there are no performance issues. 

I have a mid 2010 Mac Pro with a lot of empty HDD space, but the SSDs on my PCIe card, are already pretty full.


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## EvilDragon (Sep 16, 2017)

No, it streams from disk always, it doesn't load fully into RAM. Using SSDs will definitely be a benefit, considering how huge the libraries are this time around.


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## chapbot (Sep 16, 2017)

I've seen lots of talk about all the new features but very little to nothing about how it SOUNDS!!! I personally don't care about the features - are the new kits better sounding than S2? Or about the same? If the new samples blow you away then please elaborate


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## mc_deli (Sep 16, 2017)

While waiting for the DL I have been RTFM.

There is "cached mode" (= purge all samples), 16 bit mode and layer limits to reduce RAM, also voice limits to reduce CPU.
You can also choose if you just want bleed on e.g. snare top or every mic.

TBH this is fully featured by looks like a lot of hassle. I would rather have a big "low memory" button as an option!


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## thereus (Sep 16, 2017)

So, I've bought it and it's fantastic. One thing I am stuck on. I have collected hundreds of midi files along the way. How can import them into the 'grooves' section? I have put them in the user directory but it doesn't appear to find them.

Thanks


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## jtnyc (Sep 16, 2017)

chapbot said:


> I've seen lots of talk about all the new features but very little to nothing about how it SOUNDS!!! I personally don't care about the features - are the new kits better sounding than S2? Or about the same? If the new samples blow you away then please elaborate



If your referring to just the Avatar kit that came with SD2, then yes they are sounding much better (only my opinion of coarse as I never really liked the Avatar kit). If your referring to all of the SDX's that were released along side SD2, then it's a lot closer. I own The Hit Factory and Allaire (NYS Vol 2) and to me, they stand up right along side the new kits. But, the new kits are varied and offer a lot of drums I don't already have. Some killer kicks and snares in there. So it's not like I'm hearing a "newer better" quality, but it sounds fantastic and is more diverse (comparing what comes stock) than SD2. Also, some of the extra room mics (surround) are great. A whole new set of effects make this version better as well. All this and a nice clear mixer make getting great and diverse sounds much easier then I could in SD2.

You may say you don't care about the features, but the new UI (a sort of feature) should no doubt impress you. I think once you open it up and spend some time getting around the UI, you will smile. It feels very spacious and comfortable. I opened SD2 the other day to check something out and I was like... ahhh... so tiny and cumbersome.... get me out of here... haha. I'm loving the new mixer and the whole UI in general.

If your upgrading, I'd say it's money well spent. It's worth the full freight as well of coarse. I bought my upgrade from Best Service for $170


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## chapbot (Sep 16, 2017)

jtnyc said:


> If your referring to just the Avatar kit that came with SD2, then yes they are sounding much better (only my opinion of coarse as I never really liked the Avatar kit). If your referring to all of the SDX's that were released along side SD2, then it's a lot closer. I own The Hit Factory and Allaire (NYS Vol 2) and to me, they stand up right along side the new kits. But, the new kits are varied and offer a lot of drums I don't already have. Some killer kicks and snares in there. So it's not like I'm hearing a "newer better" quality, but it sounds fantastic and is more diverse (comparing what comes stock) than SD2. Also, some of the extra room mics (surround) are great. A whole new set of effects make this version better as well. All this and a nice clear mixer make getting great and diverse sounds much easier then I could in SD2.
> 
> You may say you don't care about the features, but the new UI (a sort of feature) should no doubt impress you. I think once you open it up and spend some time getting around the UI, you will smile. It feels very spacious and comfortable. I opened SD2 the other day to check something out and I was like... ahhh... so tiny and cumbersome.... get me out of here... haha. I'm loving the new mixer and the whole UI in general.
> 
> If your upgrading, I'd say it's money well spent. It's worth the full freight as well of coarse. I bought my upgrade from Best Service for $170


Thanks this is exactly what I wanted to know I only use Avatar so I guess it will be a good upgrade!


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## jtnyc (Sep 16, 2017)

chapbot said:


> Thanks this is exactly what I wanted to know I only use Avatar so I guess it will be a good upgrade!



Not that Avatar is bad. It just never drew me in. The overall vibe always struck me as kind of generic sounding. I got the NYS Vol 2 and was pretty knocked out. Love those. 

Going from just Avatar to SD3, you will be a kid in a candy store... tons to explore.


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## mc_deli (Sep 17, 2017)

The DL without the surround stuff has gone hassle free. Took a while. I got 5-7 mb/s. Bit of juggling with my SSDs to have enough space to compress/store back ups of everything. The Toontrack Product Manager is great. Their old web-based manager was the best-in-class, and now it is even better, faster. I realised that I do 90% of my drums with Toontrack stuff so I am very interested to see if I can use SD3 to make things sound better, faster - and use SD3 for e.g. layering that I normally do in the DAW. Happy Sunday


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## premjj (Sep 17, 2017)

pderbidge said:


> Not to mention the re-sizable window! Here we are in 2017 and most companies still aren't doing this? Here's looking at you Kontakt.


+1


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## madfloyd (Sep 18, 2017)

thereus said:


> So, I've bought it and it's fantastic. One thing I am stuck on. I have collected hundreds of midi files along the way. How can import them into the 'grooves' section? I have put them in the user directory but it doesn't appear to find them.
> 
> Thanks



Have you solved this yet? If not, I can help.


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## thereus (Sep 18, 2017)

madfloyd said:


> Have you solved this yet? If not, I can help.



No, I would very much appreciate the help.

Michael


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## madfloyd (Sep 18, 2017)

thereus said:


> No, I would very much appreciate the help.
> 
> Michael



OK, disclaimer: I do NOT have SD3 yet, but I have every other Toontrack product so unless they changed the scheme for SD3 this *should* work.

You should have a folder with the midi files (I presume you found it).






Note that there is a naming convention. Folders begin with numbers to control the sorting in the SD UI.





You don't have to put your midi files into the USER FOLDER per se, you can add as many folders as you want - up to you to organize it. You can have subfolders as well.

Finally you put your files in the folder you want:





The actual midi files don't have to begin with a number (don't get confused by my screenshot that has files named that way - they are just the original bpm of the midi).

Let me know if works...


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## thereus (Sep 18, 2017)

Thanks for that. I will experiment and report back. I may be away from my PC for a couple of days.


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## thereus (Sep 18, 2017)

So do I understand that every folder in the path has to have the [email protected] format. Is that why I can't see the midis?


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## thereus (Sep 18, 2017)

OK. I've tried that. It still does not see the midi files. It sees all the folders, however they are named, but no files. Files are all regular .mid

Hmmm...


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## thereus (Sep 18, 2017)




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## LHall (Sep 18, 2017)

Got it the other day and I love the sounds and most of the features of S3. Very disappointed that apparently only 2 snares have brushes. *Big *void there if you're doing any jazz stuff. Also, the midi mapping feature is something where they took a slightly awkward tool in S2 and made it much much more awkward. Really counter-intuitive. I hope they change this in an update.


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## mc_deli (Sep 18, 2017)

thereus said:


> OK. I've tried that. It still does not see the midi files. It sees all the folders, however they are named, but no files. Files are all regular .mid
> 
> Hmmm...


Isn't it a bit easier than all that according to the manual? https://www.toontrack.com/manual/superior-drummer-3/4
(Apologies if I misunderstand)


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## ZenFaced (Sep 18, 2017)

I'll be ordering Superior Drummer 3 this week but I have an install question:

Looking at my specs below, am I better off installing Superior Drummer 3 on my PC Slave via VePro6 or just install it on my host computer iMac thunderbolt SSD drive. EZ Drummer 2 is on my iMac SSD drive but I know SD3 is a lot more CPU intensive.

*Here are my computer specs:

2013 iMac Late model i7 3.5 Ghz quad-core, 24 gigs ram, OSX 10.12.3

PC slave, i7 6700 4.0 Ghz quad-core, 64 gigs ram, SSD drives running VE Pro 6
Multiple external thunderbolt SSD hard drives

UAD Apollo Twin Duo with Quad Satellite Thunderbolt

Pro Tools 12.5.2*

Advice much appreciated!

- Steve


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## jtnyc (Sep 18, 2017)

A few questions/observations/gripes and possible missing functions with SD3.

I've been digging in deep with SD3 and aside from a few frustrations, I love it! I'm having so much fun setting up kits and mixer layouts. I have run into a few obstacles and I'm wonder what you all think.

In SD2 you could switch out all of the toms to another matched set of toms at once. I don't see this function in SD3.

In SD2 you could save mixer presets. From what I can tell, you can't in SD3.

While you can save midi maps in the midi in edrums page, if you do your mapping in the midi properties box, you can't. This probably won't bother most, but if you want to actually reassign articulations to notes (as opposed to just redirecting the midi, which is what you do in the midi in edrums page), you can't save presets of those maps that you do in the midi properties box. The midi in edrum page works great for edrum mapping, because there are 10 to 15 pads and you can redirect the midi from them and that's that, no other triggers like you have with a keyboard, 49 to 88 triggers (so you end up with the remapped notes plus the original assignments and the keyboard is a total mess). I realize that many don't want to change the actual assignment of the articulations in order for the midi grooves to still work properly, and that's an advantage of the midi in edrum page. I don't use midi grooves and I like to reassign the articulations in a very particular way across my 88 key controller, and the only way to do it in a clean and detailed way is to do it in the midi properties box... so no way to save and recall those maps... unfortunately. Maybe they will add it at some point.

Not such a big deal, but it would be nice if we could change the order of the channels in the mixer as well. Can we? I haven't figured it out.

I tried Tracker with some live drums today and it worked flawlessly. I actually started laughing. I dragged in the audio and boom, it immediately created the midi and assigned it to the correct drums. No need to tweak or fudge anything, it just worked. Phenomenal!!!


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## mc_deli (Sep 18, 2017)

jtnyc said:


> A few questions/observations/gripes and possible missing functions with SD3.
> 
> I've been digging in deep with SD3 and aside from a few frustrations, I love it! I'm having so much fun setting up kits and mixer layouts. I have run into a few obstacles and I'm wonder what you all think.
> 
> ...


Great points. I read most of the manual last night and I am pretty sure you can't reorder the mixer. You can hide mixer channels though.

Your Qs better answered on the TT forum methinks


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## ZenFaced (Sep 19, 2017)

EvilDragon said:


> Yeah, you can install it on a completely different drive.



EvilDragon

Do you think it would be better to install the different sections of the SD3 download on 2 or more drives for better performance or it doesn't matter with SSD drives?


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## Chris Hurst (Sep 19, 2017)

I caved and bought it. This thing is great. Best drum software I've used so far!


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## StillLife (Sep 19, 2017)

For those of you who subscribe to Groove 3: I just found out there's already a huge (almost 5 hours long) video course on Superior Drummer 3, in the 'explained' series. Highly recommended in the reviews. I am about to start a long watch...


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## Jediwario1 (Sep 19, 2017)

Quick question: In SD2 you could easily audition all the different drums/cymbals without having to load them (using the down arrow on each kit piece and then clicking preview). 

Can you do that in SD3?


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## catsass (Oct 7, 2017)

Toontrack has announced that *Superior Drummer 3.0.2* is now available to download using the Product Manager or from the 'My Products' area in your Toontrack account.

*New:*

MIDI files can now be dragged to the result area in Grooves, provided that a single path is selected within the User MIDI folder.
Tooltips have been added in the grid editor.
*Fixed:*

Selecting certain sounds from certain libraries (in Search for Instrument, for example) would cause a crash.
The Tap2Find player would crash when you changed presets that remapped the drums.
It is no longer possible to MIDI learn the pitch wheel.
Loading or saving Velocity Curve presets on a stack could cause a crash.
Choosing "Select Parts" in the library preset menu could end up selecting the wrong preset.
If 'undo' changed number of instruments and Edit Play Style was open, it would crash.
A crash and a bug in text search has been fixed.
A bug with copying notes in the grid editor has been fixed.
Changing presets while having Song Creator open with a source loop would cause a graphical glitch.
Right click in the time signature editor no longer deselects all other regions.
A change of sample rate on the sound card should now get correctly handled by the standalone.
The favorite setting (star on/off) in Grooves was not loaded properly from projects.
Browser settings in Search for Instrument (visible columns, etc.) were not saved in projects.
Bounce would never use processed pitch.
Undoing stack manipulation with inactive stacks could cause a crash.
Adding new mics or opening Search for Instrument while sounds were being loaded could cause a crash.
It was not possible to add a groove from the song track to User MIDI if it was an altered version of something already found in the browser.
The graphics of Electronic and Southern Soul EZXs have been adjusted.
Dragging a custom song block (with no file path) to Song Creator made the "Source File" unplayable and undraggable and it also incorrectly had "Show in Browser" enabled.
Dragging a User MIDI file from the browser could in some cases cause the file to be deleted from its source location.
*Fixed in Tracker:*

The playhead position in the scrollbar was not updated while playing.
Buffer and sample rate changes were not handled correctly.
Files with the extension ".midi" can now be imported as tempo maps.
The tempo map is now cleared when New Project is selected.
The sample position did not get synced when a track was added while playing.
Find Tempo did not always work with multiple time signature changes.
Some precision could be lost on found hits when loading a project.
When looping, the triggered MIDI and the original sound could become unsynced.
Selecting New Project while having the Tracker tab open could cause a crash.


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