SonicExplorer Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 Hi, Superior Drummer 2 was a popular drum synth with Sonar/Cakewalk users so I wanted to see if I might get some insight from the forum as to whether users felt the stock kick drums cut it for hard rock or classic metal. I cannot find a way so far to get any of the kicks to have a good solid thud to them. They are fine for lighter styles or even Metal (where the beater can be made to reach into more of a clicky smack attack). But for that late 70's and 80's big, solid thud/whack type of tone I simply cannot get there after trying a number of methods, parallel processing, compression, tape sims, EQ, you name it. Has anybody else struggled with this in the past with Superior 2 stock kicks? I have an old BlueJay soundfont that actually has a few good 16-bit kick fonts that blow away the ones in Superior 2, which is rather frustrating frankly since that is super old technology. The rest of Superior 2 stock tones are pretty good, however the kicks....uh not cutting it for me..... Help....??? Sonic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney Earl Goodroe Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 I agree that the drums that came with Superior 2 are not the best for metal. I don't do many metal projects myself but I do a lot of hard rock. I invested in many of the addons. I would imagine you would want to check out the metal kits available at Toontrack. New York Vol. 3 was my goto for a long time for hard rock. Also, Allaire and Rock! I moved to Superior 3 when it was released. I don't think I've even opened 2 since. Toontrack drums do need a lot of massaging to get what you need but I have Addictive and BFD as well. Superior 2 and 3 have always beat them, IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeringAmps Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 Sidney, you have moved to the kicks that came with SD3? T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wibbles Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 8 hours ago, SonicExplorer said: Help....??? I note that you have tried tape sims, but have you tried the humble old Cakewalk FX2 Tape Sim? It can add some real beef to kicks. Or, how about "cheating" and layer your kick with an electronic kick such as a TR909. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davet Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 If you're still using the stock Avitar drum kit ( I agree the kics are flabby) you need to look into some expansions. I bought the Music City expansion kit and have been using the Chuck Ainley kits. They are better. FWIW, I bought my Music City kit used off EBay for half retail from a responsible seller that transferred the licence to me. Process worked fine and you don't even need to have the disks shipped to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney Earl Goodroe Posted October 31, 2019 Share Posted October 31, 2019 DeeringAmps, I use the 3 drums only now. While the FX capabilities are overwhelming the dry kits were rather unimpressive at first. They didn't seem to have the punch until you loaded one of the many presets that is chockful of processing.I still find myself occasionally pulling up some older 2 kits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicExplorer Posted October 31, 2019 Author Share Posted October 31, 2019 (edited) Thanks for replies so far guys. Seems I'm not hearing things then, the kicks in the Avatar kit are indeed lacking what I need. I have a bit of a limitation I'm sure to get beat up over......I'm still on XP. I like it there and no reason for me to change besides this one kick issue (which I can live with if I absolutely must). I'm not sure if any Superior 2 expansions will work on XP since they "install" rather than a manual copy process onto the hard drive as with Superior Drummer 1.0. I'm not sure how I'd locate or ascertain which expansion kit would work for me, both in sound and XP compatibility...? I should also mention I have Superior 1.0 kit installed as well which I can access from within 2.0. But again, the kicks are about the same dilemma as in 2.0. Round and punchy but not that solid thud with a good beater thwack. I tried layering different kicks using XDrum feature and still can't get where I want to be. Sonic Edited October 31, 2019 by SonicExplorer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Arwood Posted November 1, 2019 Share Posted November 1, 2019 (edited) I usually Layer Kick2 with SD3 Avatar. I just the thump-bottom - I use the slap/beater sound from SD3 https://www.sonicacademy.com/products/kick-2 I love the TR808 01 preset - then I tweak it a little Shorten the length a little and turn of all three beater attacks. I mix it so it is barely there, but just enough to pump up the bass guitar low end. You could still add a little extra to the beater with Cakewalk FX2 Tape Sim, SDRR2, Kramer Tape, True Iron. My Favorites are - U-HE Presswork and PSP Vintage Warmer, SSLComp. These could be parallel or straight thru - each way sounds different. Watch out for straight through - Sometimes you can loose that low bottom that TR808 has. Max Arwood Edited November 1, 2019 by Max Arwood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Shapiro Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 I have SD3 and EZ Drummer, and I actually like more of the kick drum sounds better on EZ Drummer. But SD3 has better toms, snares and cymbals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeringAmps Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 I’ve been building a custom kit in SD3 since its release. I’m using some of my favorite EZD pieces in that kit. Sidney hit the nail on the head, EZD sounds are processed, SD3 are not. SD3 can be a bit daunting. T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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