Topic: Are 16-bit kits better for laptop drumming? (and related questions)

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)

Replied July 20, 2020 at 01:19 #2604506

monospace
Participant

According to the manual, 16 bit samples need to be “upsampled” before use, that’s why they take (a lot!) longer to load.

You are right that in terms of playability or dynamics on an e-kit, the difference in sound quality is negligible. I used to do this all the time in SD2 to save RAM. But with the new sound engine in SD3, doing this is no longer worthwhile, unless you feel like you need a sh*tton of room mics etc. and are willing to wait.

E-drummer. eDrumIn trigger interface with various Roland trigger pads. MacBook Pro (mid-2015); MacOS High Sierra; Logic Pro X 10.4.8. Superior Drummer user since 2009.

Replied July 20, 2020 at 01:24 #2604510

metrosuperstar
Participant

16-bit samples need to be upsampled??? Wow, why? Upsampled back to 24-bit? I don’t get the logic but it definitely explains why it takes more time but it sounds like it’s not a necessity for most people. Why do you mention that the exception would be if someone wants a ton of mics?

I’ve got the full mic installation… and use that. Do you play your Roland kit with SD3 on a full mic install?

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.1.7
Operating system: Windows 10

Replied July 20, 2020 at 01:32 #2604513

monospace
Participant

If you’re not playing live, but mixing a drum track inside SD3, you will more often than not want to experiment with the different ambient microphones and bleeds. In that case, switching to 16 bit gives you more RAM headroom before your computer inevitably keels over. When I’m just jamming by myself, I’m fine with just one ambient mic and minimal bleed — in fact, I think it sounds more natural that way from a drummer’s perspective than turning on all the room mics.

Also, I have a (perfectly functional) Macbook Pro from 2009 with 8G of RAM, and there’s no way it can handle the full SD3 install. 😉

E-drummer. eDrumIn trigger interface with various Roland trigger pads. MacBook Pro (mid-2015); MacOS High Sierra; Logic Pro X 10.4.8. Superior Drummer user since 2009.

Replied July 20, 2020 at 02:41 #2604538

metrosuperstar
Participant

Hmmm, interesting. I’m on a Windows 10 i7 with 16GB RAM and I’m pretty sure I have all mics installed.

I’d def be happy to do anything that could relieve any unecessary stress on the laptop when drumming (yes, I’m just playing live…or rehearsing at home).

I mean it’s not choking but, if some of those mics aren’t necessary, can I just disable them or do I have to delete the extra files from the PC?

Also, if I was to do so, which ones would you suggest I keep?

And would I notice any improvement on something? Latency? Ability to use smaller buffer size? Or is this completely unrelated?

I always thought the mics was an “if you’ve got room on your hard drive why not” sort of thing… sounds like there may be more to that?

Replied July 20, 2020 at 03:26 #2604552

monospace
Participant

In a real-life situation, when you’re sitting at the kit, you would never be able to hear what’s picked up in the far room microphones. Sure, it sounds nice, but from a drummer’s point of view, it’s not very realistic. Bleeds are different, in my opinion. You do get a more realistic vibe when individual drum sounds aren’t played back from just a single microphone. So I’d suggest keeping as much bleed as your system can handle, but only use one or maybe two ambient mics (preferably the “closest” ones.) Personally I don’t even have the others installed, but all you need to do is disable them in the Mixer. You can check the system load in the upper right corner.

All that said, it’s a matter of preference. If you like playing with the sound of EQs and compressors and ambient mics enabled, go for it. I prefer to save all that fun for the mix, not for sitting at my kit and jamming.

E-drummer. eDrumIn trigger interface with various Roland trigger pads. MacBook Pro (mid-2015); MacOS High Sierra; Logic Pro X 10.4.8. Superior Drummer user since 2009.

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Are 16-bit kits better for laptop drumming? (and related questions)

Superior Drummer 3 Help

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)