# Stylus RMX alternatives in 2016



## hendyb (Aug 30, 2016)

What do people here use for drums/percussion samplers as an alternative of Stylus RMX?


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## chillbot (Aug 30, 2016)

Get more libraries for Stylus. Get all the libraries for Stylus. Import libraries into Stylus. Think I have about 150+ user libraries in there.

Otherwise I use DM307 and all the other Heavyocity stuff, some of the Sample Logic stuff, a lot of Big Fish Audio loops in acid/wav... but nothing beats Stylus (to me). Hopefully someone else has a better answer.


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## muziksculp (Aug 30, 2016)

Did you check out FxPansion's *Geist 2 *? 

_Geist 2_ is currently my favorite tool for beats/rhythm creation. 

https://www.fxpansion.com/products/geist2/


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## chillbot (Aug 30, 2016)

muziksculp said:


> _Geist 2_ is currently my favorite tool for beats/rhythm creation



Downloading it now.


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## synthpunk (Aug 30, 2016)

Ableton, Reaktor


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## chillbot (Aug 30, 2016)

muziksculp said:


> Did you check out FxPansion's *Geist 2 *?


Not to hijack but do you know offhand if I need to install the audio content for both Geist 1 & 2 or will Geist 2 cover everything? The installation is significantly more confusing than it need be (in my opinion)...

EDIT: Also... vaguely annoying, if you decide to purchase Geist 2 be aware that the "2 free expansion packs" does not include all of their expansion packs. I went back afterwards and realized if you click through and read the fine print it will say this, but on the main page there is nothing to make you believe otherwise. I justified the price solely because I thought I would be getting "cinematic drums" and "cinematic percussion" which are not among the choices. Oh well.


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## muziksculp (Aug 30, 2016)

I upgraded from Geist to Geist 2. Geist 2 can access, and load Geist's Library, but I think if you just purchased Geist 2, you get the two free expansions (which you can choose from a few options), you can purchase more libraries, or make your own if you like doing that.

I purchased a few additional libraries for Geist 2 from some of the third-party developers. i.e. http://www.goldbaby.co.nz/geist.html , also purchased FxPansion Cinematic Percussion for Geist 2.


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## Andrew Aversa (Aug 30, 2016)

We're working on a big.. BIG... library. With any luck it will be ready by end of 2016. 5,000+ ultra useful + unique acoustic drum/percussion grooves with non-standard instruments from bass freqs to mid, high, noise, full, different root tempos, the works. Badass Kontakt engine included, along with WAV/REX2. So... something to look forward to!


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## macmac (Aug 31, 2016)

zircon_st said:


> We're working on a big.. BIG... library. With any luck it will be ready by end of 2016. 5,000+ ultra useful + unique acoustic drum/percussion grooves with non-standard instruments from bass freqs to mid, high, noise, full, different root tempos, the works. Badass Kontakt engine included, along with WAV/REX2. So... something to look forward to!



Sounds interesting...will watch out for this.  Soft would be welcome, along with more epic.


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## Baron Greuner (Aug 31, 2016)

DM-307 I've had for years. Very handy piece of kit. Not what you would call standard drums but so useful for a load of track types.

Other obvious drum libraries would be Slate and EZ Drummer. Have EZ drummer and it's got a great sound. Stylus is still one of the best.


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## gmon (Aug 31, 2016)

Just bought DM-307 for just $125 at JRR Shop! Use the coupon code "Group" to get this discount.

So far, I'm really impressed with this product. I can see a lot of potential uses for it. Looks to be well worth the cost.


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## Guy Rowland (Aug 31, 2016)

zircon_st said:


> We're working on a big.. BIG... library. With any luck it will be ready by end of 2016. 5,000+ ultra useful + unique acoustic drum/percussion grooves with non-standard instruments from bass freqs to mid, high, noise, full, different root tempos, the works. Badass Kontakt engine included, along with WAV/REX2. So... something to look forward to!



Interesting...

FWIW (and please feel absolutely free to disregard this), I think Kontakt is a poor engine for grooves. I have a lot of libraries with grooves in Kontakt, and I don't tend to use them nearly as much as ones in Stylus, though it's not absolutely hard and fast a rule. Sometimes you have to make do.

Where Stylus really scores is the ability to combine grooves and easily modify (groove lock, simplify, time designer etc). So essentially, this is a plea - do consider making a Stylus RMX version of your product. While Stylus' core library now needs carbon dating, the engine itself is still vastly superior to everything else out there imo.


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## Andrew Aversa (Aug 31, 2016)

Well, as mentioned, we'll be providing REX2 also so you can absolutely import into Stylus  We'll pre-prepare the SAGE version to make it even easier. OR you can import the WAVs directly into your DAW. 

That said, believe me I've used many groove libraries for Kontakt and most of them aren't useful. We're shooting to set a high bar for this one.

As for the nature of the grooves: it's actually not very much "epic" stuff. In that sense it's not really competing with stuff like Damage or Stormdrum loops. It's a lot of really cool, unique solo instruments played with a huge variety of rhythms. Things like washers, peace bowls, unusual shakers, brushed djembe, etc. You know when you're working on a score and you need to add "rhythm" somehow? Drive, motion, pulsing... But not just standard synth/drum machine/taiko stuff? This is to fill that gap.


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## chillbot (Aug 31, 2016)

Can I pay you now?


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## Baron Greuner (Aug 31, 2016)

Guy the grooves with the DM-307 and Damage work pretty well as far as I can tell. I can't think of too many other inclusive groove libraries tbh that I have in Kontakt.

What about the drum library that came out a while ago from the makers of LASS? Forget the name.


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## chillbot (Aug 31, 2016)

Baron Greuner said:


> What about the drum library that came out a while ago from the makers of LASS? Forget the name.


Cleverly titled LADD. Bought it and never used it, not once. Not for lack of trying.


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## Baron Greuner (Aug 31, 2016)

It was a loaded question and you stepped up to the plate.  Good man. I wasn't sure about it at the time either, but that said it probably suits a lot of users.


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## Guy Rowland (Aug 31, 2016)

Andrew - good news, thanks  Just a simple menu hierarchy and it sounds like it could come in very handy.

Baron - I really do like LADD and I have used it, but have to say mostly for one-shot stuff, in common with most of my Kontakt loop libs. LADD is really clever, but I think one issue is that its UI for the sequencer is soooo tiny it's off-putting.


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## X-Bassist (Aug 31, 2016)

Some decent Kontakt groove-makers:

-As mentioned DM307 has some great grooves and gui for playing, building grooves. And patches with specific groups (all kicks, all snares, ect). Half off ($127 from Audio deluxe) but today is the last day (edit: extended 24hrs). (Discount in cart)
http://audiodeluxe.com/products/heavyocity-dm-307

- Indiginous Brio - great percussion sounds for the price ($42!) and the pattern player can record as well. Very cool for extra perc and patterns for single instruments.
http://www.indiginus.com/Brio.html

- Realitone Realidrums - The new version 2 has a lot more beats with many odd time signatures, plus brushes.
http://realitone.com/realidrums/
Every beat is adjustable for each piece to be more or less complex AND it all can be controlled live. Version 1 had issues when changing tempos or beats while playing, but this version seems less cpu intensive and is much better at handling the crazy change I put it through. Great live performance machine and very natural sounding loops- sounds more like a real player than anything else I own. I even like the new fill triggers and layout, you can custom assign any sound to any key (and save/load setups) and use multi outputs- between that and the great sound selectors, I'm loving this thing.


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## hendyb (Sep 1, 2016)

Brio looks great for percussion library and reasonably priced as well!
Thanks for that.

Wonder what is the new spectrasonics product that will be announced today as well..


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## Vastman (Sep 1, 2016)

I have most mentioned above but I'm really enjoying the super deal I recently got at KVR on "Strike2"...it's playability, realtime midi triggering of grooves/riffs/hits/rolls/intros/breaks/outros/
etc is very intuitive vs the more analytical approach necessary for bfd, dm307, and the like. I've started just setting up a basic groove in one of a zillion machines, while in songwriting/creating mode and then going back and overlaying a customized strike triggering of various loops to the idea I happen to be working on.

seems 60% deals are pretty common or if you own ANY of the AIR products, the insane everything bundle is just foolish to ignore.


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## jcrosby (Dec 18, 2016)

chillbot said:


> Cleverly titled LADD. Bought it and never used it, not once. Not for lack of trying.


Couldn't agree more... The sound? Killer. The UI? A claustrophobic nightmare that can be summarized in one word - Killjoy.


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## Vastman (Dec 18, 2016)

Would offer to pick up LADD from you but unfortunately, no reselling! Darn... been thinking bout that from time to time... 

maybe they'll update/add an alternate gui if enough folks complain... as ur stuck with it, COMPLAIN!!!


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## GtrString (Aug 17, 2017)

While still using Stylus RMX and waiting for the update, of course, maybe Heavyocity Aeon is a contender for loopin duties? 

Toontrack just came with Superior 3, but that's not really a loopin thing and a completely different ball game.


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## Harry (Aug 17, 2017)

zircon_st said:


> We're working on a big.. BIG... library. With any luck it will be ready by end of 2016. 5,000+ ultra useful + unique acoustic drum/percussion grooves with non-standard instruments from bass freqs to mid, high, noise, full, different root tempos, the works. Badass Kontakt engine included, along with WAV/REX2. So... something to look forward to!


What was this library?


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## Andrew Aversa (Aug 17, 2017)

Still in the works - we're taking our time to make sure it's premium quality.


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## sostenuto (Aug 17, 2017)

GtrString said:


> While still using Stylus RMX and waiting for the update, of course, maybe Heavyocity Aeon is a contender for loopin duties?
> 
> Toontrack just came with Superior 3, but that's not really a loopin thing and a completely different ball game.



Hmmmm ..... AEON Collection @ $339. over to AudioDeluxe now.
Dunno how old this is now, but trust their quality ..

Longtime StylusRMX User/fan ....

THX !


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## chillbot (Aug 17, 2017)

sostenuto said:


> Hmmmm ..... AEON Collection @ $339. over to AudioDeluxe now.


AEON is synth not drums/percussion. Cool-ish library (seems to be very polarizing... I like it, a lot of people hate it) but no substitute for Stylus.

Hey @zircon_st HURRY UP.


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## kurtvanzo (Aug 17, 2017)

chillbot said:


> AEON is synth not drums/percussion. Cool-ish library (seems to be very polarizing... I like it, a lot of people hate it) but no substitute for Stylus.
> 
> Hey @zircon_st HURRY UP.



Chillbot, don't you have Rythmology? (or are you holding off on SL stuff?) How does that stack up after some use as an alternative?

Personally I'm still liking addictive drums for realistic drum parts, but I own a lot of loop packs for it that were well played by a real drummer and not quantized. Between the many funk packs, Studio Percussion AD pack, any other usable extras (including many drum kits), the loop editing capabilities buit in (mute/solo parts, adjust velocity range, Swing and other controls that can all be dragged and dropped into the DAW) I get most of the basic parts I need. 

For Ethnic drums I usually end up using LADD or CinePerc, but for electronic or hybrid sounds Heaviocity DM307 is full of some great stuff.


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## chillbot (Aug 17, 2017)

kurtvanzo said:


> Chillbot, don't you have Rythmology? (or are you holding off on SL stuff?) How does that stack up after some use as an alternative?


Rhythmology is my least favorite thing I've ever purchased. Don't really want to get into it. I don't pay much attention to Sample Logic anymore.


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## GtrString (Aug 17, 2017)

chillbot said:


> AEON is synth not drums/percussion. Cool-ish library (seems to be very polarizing... I like it, a lot of people hate it) but no substitute for Stylus.
> 
> Hey @zircon_st HURRY UP.



Yes, but Aeon Rhythmic is loops, Stylus RMX is loops, no? https://www.heavyocity.com/product/aeon-rhythmic/

Maybe not similar, but both libs in the same genre and useful for similar things?

I dont know, as I only have Stylus. Also use the kits in Stylus more than the loops, though.


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## chillbot (Aug 17, 2017)

GtrString said:


> Maybe not similar, but both libs in the same genre and useful for similar things?


No... AEON is synth loops. AEON is closer to Zebra than it is to Stylus. There are literally 1,000s of ways to do loops out there but there is nothing really comparable to Stylus at the moment, in terms of approach and flexibility.


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## cacophonix (Jun 24, 2021)

Hello,

Bumping this quite old thread, I was wondering if:
- Stylus RMX is still a tool to consider nowadays (in term of ergonomy for mangling/create loops) (beside the fact that the sound library have been overused everywhere since its creation)
- Is there more powerfull and recent tools to consider? (still focusing on the ergonomy, not the sounds such tool come with)

As a classically trained composer, when trying to work with loops (even rythmic only ones), I've always felt like a chicken trying to use a fork and a knive 🙃

Thanks in advance for your advices!


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