TMI is a TD20. The last piece I am ugrading on my kit is the hi-hat. Which setup do you recommend with Superior 2.0? Should I assume the Hart since that is what Nir was playing in the demo video?
I’ve used both the Hart EPedal II and the Roland VH-11 (similar, if not hte same as the VH-12). I prefer the VH-11 both in feel and usability. The EPedal was good, but the stand controller was a little stiff, and the playing on the pad was not as smooth as hitting the VH-11 pad. As yet I have found no hi hat controller that comes close to the feel of real hats, but the Roland VH series is pretty good for an electronic controller. I am using a Hart Pro kit with a TD-8 controller, by the way.
Both your questions are hardware related and I’m not sure whether it would be in Toontracks interest to recommend one manufacturers hardware over anothers….unfortunately I’m still waiting for my VH-12
I PMed Joe on vdrums who represents Toontracks. It was a software related question with the expansion packs and Superior. It went unanswered as well. They are a software company and they don’t endorse any hardware manufacturer. All I asked was which high hat setup they have found to work best with their product.
Probably not the most reasoned way to choose your drum sampler. There many more important factors to consider than whether the support staff returns your PM regarding an issue they probably shouldn’t comment on in the first place (as per granddady’s post, above). Toontracks is generally very responsive.
BTW, I have neither pedal so I can’t help you there.
Tom
iMac Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8 GHz, 4 GB RAM
Logic Pro 9.1.5; GarageBand '11 6.0.4
Superior 2.2.3; SDXs (N.Y. Allaire, Avatar, Hit Factory, C&V, Metal Foundry, Evil Drums); Latin Percussion EZX; dfh Superior
Actually it is the high-hat the usually makes or breaks the product when it comes to edrums, so I do think it is a reasoned choice by which to base a purchase decision on. I dont record, I don’t make music, I play drums so the high-hat is very important. I built a new computer and was in the process of buying a new high-hat and was just looking for some direction. They could have PMed me with a response or posted they prefer to not recommend one vendor or the other.
Being a drummer myself, I certainly agree that the hi hat is an important choice. But I think most people would also agree that the software itself will affect the hi hat performance more than anything else. Also, the physical hi hat, while not a negligible investment, is a lot easier to change if you make a bad choice than learning a whole new drum sampler.
But that was not really my point, which was: choosing FXpansion because they PM’d you faster is probably not the best critieria on which to buy their product. There’s plenty of information on this forum and on the internet to help make your choice of hi hats. Though that’s my just my opinion.
Tom
iMac Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8 GHz, 4 GB RAM
Logic Pro 9.1.5; GarageBand '11 6.0.4
Superior 2.2.3; SDXs (N.Y. Allaire, Avatar, Hit Factory, C&V, Metal Foundry, Evil Drums); Latin Percussion EZX; dfh Superior
I understand what you are saying but the high-hat hardware is 25% to 30% more than the software. If I wasn’t at a point where I was building a new setup, then it really wouldn’t matter. The demo video is what made me curious since they demoed their new flagship product on Hart hardware. Hart has a small fraction of the edrum market compared to Roland. From a marketing perspective, it would make a lot more sense to demo your product on the industry leader but they didn’t. I was just curious if one vendor was working better than another vendor. Considering the the first patch primarily fixed a problem with the Roland high-hat (VH11) hardware is important.
I have not bought either product yet but not having PMs replied too or multiple posts (not just ones I started) going ignored is not the way to run a forum. The fact this thread was viewed 170 times should tip off the support folks that others are interested in the topic. If you are going to have a support forum then answer threads. Good posts, bad posts….whatever. It is not like there are hundreds of post daily that support folks have to sort through. I am sure they are busy, and I realize I am a small fish in a big pond but I was a potential customer with questions.
It is the lack of response that upsets me. The post was simply ignored as was my PM.
Hi – I feel compelled to reply to clarify some aspect of this topic.
First of all we do indeed have a special relationship with Hart and we do indeed use their kits quite often. We do however use whatever is best suited to showcase our product at any time and are therefore typically mixing brands as required, at shows and in the studio. So we are very much hardware neutral and wish to remain so.
In respect to receiving an answer via PM on a 3rd party forum, first of all Joe as well as all our technical advisers are members of communities that they are free to interact with on their own time and at their discretion. Many forums require us (and I totally support this) that we advertise our affiliation to Toontrack clearly. I do not know if that’s the case with vdrums.co but regardless we attend these forums in our spare time and it is definitely not our duty to reply to customers enquiries anywhere but on these forums.
So, in addition to what I stated in my first paragraph, the situation is such that all well built controllers with a half decent response, meaning linear as much as possible and capable to send the full range of MIDI values, is adequate. Our pool of testers encompass Roland, Yamaha, Clavia, Alternate Mode and Hart (as well as others) and if testers did not succeed to obtain a good response from their kit during development we simply would not have released Superior 2.0.
In summary, hihats response is one area where Toontrack is leading the field and restricting compatibility to a shortlist of controllers would make little sense. That said some controllers are poorly designed and will require more tweaking than others and I’m happy to go on record to say a FD-7 is well worth the extra money compared to an FD-8. I’m sure there are low cost controllers that are particularly good value for money but generally speaking you get what you paid for… it certainly is not our role to recommend any particular piece of equipment however so VH-11/12 or Hart epedal II (or any other brand’s equivalent), the choice is yours 😉
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