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Still looking for that Surf Rock EZX and MIDIpaks.  Will keep checking in every year or two!

Mac Mini M1 | Studio One 6 | PreSonus 68c | EZD3

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2021 and still requesting this.  Need some surf drums and especially a comprehensive MIDI pack covering modern and classic surf drumming.   It’s a unique bombastic style that can be quite challenging to manually program.

Mac Mini M1 | Studio One 6 | PreSonus 68c | EZD3

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Bumping this about 4 years later.

Mac Mini M1 | Studio One 6 | PreSonus 68c | EZD3

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Same situation here.  I’ve been considering getting EZbass for a while, but no demo/trial is killing it for me.  I have no idea if it’ll work for me, and I’ve watched all the demo videos.  Toontrack has a pretty good chance for a sale if they release a trial version, very little chance of a sale without one.

Mac Mini M1 | Studio One 6 | PreSonus 68c | EZD3

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I’m am seriously waiting for a Superior Drummer 3.0 “take-my-money-now” moment.

I hate being torn between EZD2 and SD2. My intention on a new song, every time, is…

1.) Start with EZD2, choosing whatever EZX I find feels the best, switching them up as I go, build the basic pieces for the song in the song creator. Drag it in, tweak some stuff in my DAW.

2.) Then started laying down the rest of the band.

3.) Swap out EZD2 for SD2, and start by loading up the EZX I was working with, or perhaps trying an alternate SDX that translates well (Indie Folk to Indiependent is great for this).

The problem is, most times, I’m so content with how the drums are sounding in EZD2, I don’t bother switching to Superior. If I want to layer up the drum sounds, instead of using X-Drums, I’ll just duplicate the MIDI to a new track and put a different EZX on it and unload the kit pieces I don’t want in the 2nd instance. For example, I’ll load up a different kick and snare to layer with the kick and snare of the original EZX I was using.

I like the idea of using Superior 2 more than I actually like using it. Superior Drummer 3 with a better, clearer interface (my eyes aren’t getting any younger), and a songwriting tool like EZD, would be fantastic.

They like to market it as if Superior is for one type of person and EZD is for another type of person, but I think that’s flawed thinking. I’d say a good majority of us blur the lines between the “serious producer” niche of Superior and the songwriter niche of EZD2. We all want to have a creative tool, but when it’s mix time, we all want to put on our producer hat and make the song the best it can be.

Specifically, what I’d like to see in a future version of SD….

– Larger interface. It’s very busy, especially the mixer page. I don’t want them to remove anything, but it needs to be clearer and easier to see.
– Allow swapping of kit pieces between expansions right on the main drum layout area. EZD2 can do this. X-Drums are great, but sometimes I don’t want to add a drum, I want to replace one. X-drums are pretty clunky compared to the way EZD2 handles things for swapping kit pieces.
– Make mapping same-piece X-drums a default Join. Meaning, when I add an X-drum snare, don’t make me go in and map all the articulations, and tell it to join them. This should be the default behavior, or at least a toggle in the settings to make it the default behavior. Perhaps in the X-drum window, just have a mirror-mapping button so a snare will automatically get trigger on D1 and that sort of thing. If unchecked, it needs to be mapped manually like it is now.
– Make the X-drum mic page a little clearer. I have no real issues with the way it is now, but I remember the first time I looked at it, taking a bit to get my head around it. It’s ultimately pretty simple, but it could be clearer.
– Spectrum analysis of some sort on the EQ plugin. Maybe I’m just spoiled, but I’ve gotten very accustomed to (and like very much) the visual feedback I get in Fabfilter Pro-Q, Logic’s EQ, Studio One Pro EQ, etc. It really helps in confirming decisions and zeroing in on undesirable frequencies when you’re unsure where to look.
– Larger, Clearer Plugin interfaces for same reasons.
– Saturation and Reverb modules. I know you can route out to the DAW for this, but there is something really tidy and comforting about doing all my drum mixing right inside the drum plugin. I often intend to route out EZdrummer2, and then never do when things are sounding really good. I’ll just end up adding some overall Drum bus plugins on my DAW. If done, they’ll need to make sure that when not being used, it’s not adding to the CPU hit. I love the stability of SD2. I’m not willing to give that up for some fancy stuff.
– Add the same song creation and groove search tools from EZD2. There’s really no argument for why they can’t or shouldn’t do it. Make it collapsible so it’s out of the way if you don’t want to see it. The fact that Superior has the Groove tab available is so you can use those grooves to build a song, so the intention is the same as the original EZD1. EZD2 improved on that. The same should absolutely be done in SD3.
– Pretty up the drum layout. I know the nature of Superior doesn’t lend itself to the full on gorgeousness of the kit graphics in EZD, but it’s a long leap from the aesthetic feel between SD and EZD. It might just be psychological (and perhaps a bit silly) but I love working with EZD because of the look. These little aesthetic things matter, and I swear that it influences my decisions, if only in little ways. You seriously have to hand it to the Toontrack graphics team for those EZX interfaces. They are absolutely killer, and I dare say functional, because of the vibe they impart on the whole experience.

Mac Mini M1 | Studio One 6 | PreSonus 68c | EZD3

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I took a screen shot when it happened…. here it is… (Excuse the language but wanted you all to be aware).

Mac Mini M1 | Studio One 6 | PreSonus 68c | EZD3

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I’d like to add my voice to this. I’ve been recording DAW-style since ’99/2000 when I started with Pro Tools, moving from ADAT, and tape before that. When EZdrummer came along it was a godsend for working on a computer DAW. Years have passed and I’m appreciating recording on the iPad more and more. Auria is a wonderful DAW platform, JamUp is a tremendously great sounding guitar sim. I’ve come to appreciate a minimalist setup. I now have a Blue Yeti and an Apogee Jam, and between those two tools along with the iPad and Auria, I’ve having a great time putting together demos.

The only missing piece is drums. I’m using Drum Loops HD, which is actually really good, but EZdrummer is obviously a different animal.

Some flavor of EZDrummer for iOS would be an incredible tool. I do understand the limitations that come along with using iOS vs Mac OSX or Windows, but a version for iOS that is somewhat stripped down and simpler would actually be welcomed. Toontrack already has a mother-load of samples and grooves already decked out. So it would basically be porting a smaller portion of that content to the new platform and interface.

As someone else mentioned, Apple’s in-app purchase scheme does seem like a good fit for Toontrack. Toontrack is the king of add-ons and expansions, all while keeping everything top-notch quality (not an easy task).

I’m hoping a Toontrack iOS drum app is being worked on as I type this, or at least being actively discussed/planned.

Mac Mini M1 | Studio One 6 | PreSonus 68c | EZD3

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I just posted something similar, then found this thread. This is really disappointing, as my most favorite MIDI is in fact 3rd party. I don’t see how 3rd party MIDI couldn’t be easily analyzed mathematically for note positions. I understand about tags and style type stuff, but for basic pattern matching I don’t see how it should be hard to implement. It may not be as accurate as Toontrack branded MIDI, but at least it’ll give us access to the tool when using the 3rd party MIDI.

Mac Mini M1 | Studio One 6 | PreSonus 68c | EZD3

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I’d definitely be interested in a Hammond B3 library. The last EZkeys expansion didn’t interest me at all.

Mac Mini M1 | Studio One 6 | PreSonus 68c | EZD3

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