SSD Drums 5.5 - Sale - Thoughts

[lokeyfly]

Hey, I was wondering if any of ya'll use the Steven Slate Drums 5 5 and how it fares with Studio One. I d'loaded the free 5.5 SSD version and it's quite nice, and looks to be a flexible alternative. Its also on sale until June 30th at $59 which is about half off. Let me know your experience with it, or to talk shop about it.
No Superior Drummer, or other recommendations please, (thanks, though). I know them enough to know they are a good viable alternative but no need as to save you time. I just want to add a good rudimentary quick drum kit to my exiting collection. The Slate SSD 5.5 would be the addition at this time.

What I currently have for Drums and percussion.
Battery 4
Studio Drummer
Abbey Road Drums,
Impact (Presonus library)
Various percussive instruments such as:
Cuba, Drum Lab, and Kompkete 12 Ultimate drum collection.
FXpansion BFD2.

Thanks ahead for your take on this.

 

[Skijumptoes]

It's pretty good, and I was all over it when I first got it. But fast forward several years late, and I never use it.

BFD3.5 has been my go to for the past year, and for quick drum go-to's I seem to always reach for the UJam stuff
You get UJam "Legend" with Studio Pro so check your account and see what you think of that. It's similar to the NI stuff but it's super quick to load and much more instant.

Being able to trigger/drag drop patterns makes it super easy to get a vibe going, which you can replace at a later date - if that's kinda your goal.

 

[Vocalpoint]

For me it's :

Acoustic Drums

EZ Drummer v3 (Toontrack)

Electronic Drums

Triaz (Wave Alchemy)
XO (XLN Audio)
and good ole Impact - loaded with whatever mayhem I can muster up via my sample collection.

Nuff Said.

VP

 

[lokeyfly]

It's pretty good, and I was all over it when I first got it. But fast forward several years late, and I never use it.

BFD3.5 has been my go to for the past year, and for quick drum go-to's I seem to always reach for the UJam stuff
You get UJam "Legend" with Studio Pro so check your account and see what you think of that. It's similar to the NI stuff but it's super quick to load and much more instant.

I forgot about Ujam.hadt that around 2016. The samples were great. Very clean and punchy. I may dig that up again.

Being able to trigger/drag drop patterns makes it super easy to get a vibe going, which you can replace at a later date - if that's kinda your goal.

Exactly, my intention. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[Midiboy]

I have been using SSD 5.5 for quite a while. It's a GREAT set as long as you send each drum to their own channel in Studio One / Pro where you can place various effects on them. It has NO built in effects at all, and it doesn't cut thru the mix really well if you don't do that. BUT, as opposed to NI drum kits, it's MUCH easier to do that. (I love my NI kits as well, but they do take more work).

I actually forgot about the UJAM stuff you get with Studio One / Pro. It's not bad. It's great for a quick recording project!

 

[lokeyfly]

......and good ole Impact - loaded with whatever mayhem I can muster up via my sample collection.

Yep, I really like a few of the alternative quick access of samples from the library, dragged into Impact for quick and Interesting add-ons. Even adds to the realism with accentuating cymbals.

I think the one criticism of Slate Drums was there is little real-time varying control such as HH changes, where the competition have more instant control towards such things. Makes sense.

Cool beens, guys. Enjoyed the feedback.

 

[lokeyfly]

I have been using SSD 5.5 for quite a while. It's a GREAT set as long as you send each drum to their own channel in Studio One / Pro where you can place various effects on them. It has NO built in effects at all, and it doesn't cut thru the mix really well if you don't do that. BUT, as opposed to NI drum kits, it's MUCH easier to do that. (I love my NI kits as well, but they do take more work).

Yep, I'm all about the work. : ) Good point that it's just a little easier to tweak than the NI stuff. Seems that way with the free version. And yes, I'll run the tracks independently. Sometimes partially grouped such as Tom's sent to a stereo channel, but panned separately from the source. Or, bussed.

I actually forgot about the UJAM stuff you get with Studio One / Pro. It's not bad. It's great for a quick recording project!

Indeedy.

 

[Midiboy]

One thing that I like, if you are so inclined, at least on the paid version, some of the drums come with more than one mic. For example, the snare might have a top mic, a ring mic and a bottom mic. They can all be sent to different channels if you want. (I tend to group them, like you said about the toms).