Low levels compared to EZ Drummer

[ChristopherDuncan]

Hey, guys.

I own both EZ and Superior. I’m going through projects converting to Superior, but in all cases the same midi track pointing to Superior results in much lower volume of the kit. The drums would sit in a nice, punchy place in the mix with EZ, but after pointing the midi to Superior, the drums are low enough to be just barely audible under everything else.

I’m using standard, untweaked kits in each product. The output levels for the vst plugins are the same. It makes no difference if Superior is a simple stereo output or multichannel.

Is this level difference between the two products by design, or is there something I need to tweak in my Superior setup so that the two plugins deliver comparable volume levels when using the same midi source?

Would be grateful for any insights you might have.

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.0.2
Operating system: Windows 10

Topic

[Scott]

The philosophy behind both products are quite different.

EZD2: preprocessed sounds. EQ, effects, compression, limiting (the big one in apparent loudness).

S3: raw samples. No or little eq, no built into the samples compression or limiting.

You can, of course, mix the S3 sounds using the built in plugins to achieve similar loudness, but it won’t happen using the raw, basic kits without mixing. But that’s the idea behind S3 in the first place.

Scott Sibley - Toontrack
Technical Advisor

[ChristopherDuncan]

Hey, Scott.

Appreciate the perspective. That’s pretty much the conclusion I’d come to, but I was guessing. It’s nice to know that it’s a matter of design.

When I need great sounds quick and easy, then EZD does exactly what it says on the tin. When I reach a point where I want to do my own mixes with S3, I’m sure it’ll perform just as well in that context.

Thanks, man.

[Author]

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