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Death Metal EXZ vs Death & Darkness SDX

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I've heard great things about the Death & Darkness SDX. I rarely do metal but I know a few users use the D&D SDX as their new default SD3 library for other genres. I'm only interested in the Death drums and the Yamaha kit. Has anyone compared the Death Metal EXZ vs the Death SDX? I know the SDX give you raw samples and a lot more mic'ing options. I'm just curious if the basic / original mix would be good enough as a default cross-genre kit.

Any and all feedback is welcomed.
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The death kit called "Black" is my favorite SD3 kit. I believe it's the drum kit that was used on Metallica's Black album. You can hear it prominently in my Westworld entry, and I put a short section of it in this video. I don't have the Death Metal EZX so I can't compare.

 
Hi David, thanks for the reply - appreciate your time. Great video. Yes, you are right it was on the Black album and I think it is the same kit that was rented by Metallica via Drum Doctors. It really cuts through well in your score. And congratulations by the way.
 
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The Death part in Death & Darkness SDX is head and shoulders above pretty much everything Toontrack has done in my opinion. They raised the bar with their lastest 3 SDX (Hansa, D&D and Decades).

The default Yamaha and DW kits in the 'Death" library are so versatile and you can use them in pretty much every genre, except maybe bebop or swing which is a job Decades SDX arguably does better.
 
keepitsimple said:
Here's the default Yamaha kit in a solo fusion context. All i did was add a tube amp, some EQ and a touch of reverb to the drum bus.
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Just had a listen - mate, thank you so much for exporting it. The Yamaha kit is my favourite of the bunch to be honest. All the YouTube reviews focus on metal and rock. That sounds pretty amazing and I like your treatment.

For me it is between D&D and Hansa - I manly do pop / indie / rock. I'm just worried that the main kit I like in Hansa is pretty resonate in the marble room where D&D seems tighter and more controlled (of course there is the live room and vocal room with smaller kits).

Going to be a very hard decision. And then we have Eddie Kramer later this week. Haha.
 
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Wait until Tuesday and then decide.
Alll the default kits in Death library are A+ in terms of details and versatility.

The marble room in Hansa is pretty “roomy” by default but you can lower the ambiance mics in the mixer....but then you’ll lose body on the cymbals.

BUT: Hansa has many rooms and one room in specific called “the vocal booth” is perfect for pop and rock. The kits in it are so tight and sound absolutely incredible.
 
That is good advise. Curious to see what we have in the Eddie Kramer SDX beyond the acrylic kit. =)
 
keepitsimple said:
Here's the default Yamaha kit in a solo fusion context. All i did was add a tube amp, some EQ and a touch of reverb to the drum bus.
Click to expand...
Hey, digging this up to ask if you'd be willing to please share how you made those drums sound so damn good! I'm new to SD3 and just got D&D SDX, but mine don't sound anything like yours!!! Are you doing the processing only using FX within SD3? Amazing demo, I keep shaking my head thinking that this was made with samples. Did you perform that using V-drums? Thank you!
 
newbreednet said:
Hey, digging this up to ask if you'd be willing to please share how you made those drums sound so damn good! I'm new to SD3 and just got D&D SDX, but mine don't sound anything like yours!!! Are you doing the processing only using FX within SD3? Amazing demo, I keep shaking my head thinking that this was made with samples. Did you perform that using V-drums? Thank you!
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Hey thanks. Oh boy that was a while ago and i didn't even bother to have the project saved.... but i had to do some memory digging and i think i got it right:

- This was not me playing, it's midi from the "Progressive Fusion" midi pack. I used the 5/4 grooves.
- Processing wise, I'm pretty sure i used "Analog Obsession TuPRE" because i still use it today on drums. It has a sweet sounding passive EQ built in so that's what i used for EQ as well. Reverb is probably one of the Pro-R plates (sounds like it!).

And pretty much that's about it. One thing i like to do though when playing this library in real-time (no midi) is that i like to layer the center of the snare with the rimshot. It makes a huge difference in bringing those snares alive and make them "pop" a little more.

Also, make sure when you're using midi packs is to turn off your custom midi mapping profiles or use the "default". Otherwise you won't hear the correct articulations from the midi packs.
 
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keepitsimple said:
And pretty much that's about it.
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Thank you so much! I'm so grateful! SD3 has opened me up to a whole new concept of drum production so I've much to learn, and your tips are much appreciated.

I've now acquired TuPRE, and although I don't have Pro-R, I do have the Arturia Rev PLATE-140 which hopefully can get me somewhere near. Maybe. If I'm lucky :)

In my limited playing-around-with-it so far, I'd only thought of layering more center snares on top of each other, so, yes, that sounds like a great idea to layer rimshots, and I think that is more likely to get me the sound I was chasing! Why didn't I think of that?! Options overload I guess. SD3 is bonkers, it really is a drum DAW - and I'm more than a little bit in love with it :)

Re: MIDI mapping, hmm, yes, I haven't used any MIDI that wasn't Toontrack so far, in fact I only just realised that I have the choice to use third-party grooves. At the same time as getting SD3 I also got GetGood Drums Invasion (yep...BF drums madness) and GGD invited me to use a remapping service to convert my SD3 MIDI to GGD format. So I take your point that it's something to watch out for!

Thanks so much again for your help! =)
 
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