SD3 vs AD2

[Corporal Hicks]

So, I been using my Roland Td50X with AD2 for a while, and I was pretty happy with it, but It has limitations on the number of sounds, it’s realism and specially, how it triggers the V-Drums, so I wanted and upgrade and SD3 is indeed one. But, because I am new and also an idiot, I can’t figure out how to make the drums, as nice as they sound, feel integrated on a song. I explain:

With AD2, when I play along a song on youtube, regardless of the quality of the drum samples (or my playing) the drums sound integrated on the song. (even with songs that already have drums in it). But with SD3 I don’t get that feeling at all. it does not mater what preset I use, they feel detached. Does not matter how loud I set the drums, they still feel distant, appart and bellow the music. Does it make sense? Is there anything supper simple I am doing wrong? What I am missing?

The drums, when played without music, sound great, realistic, full, vibrant, but for the life of me I can’t make them feel part of the song.

HELP!

Superior Drummer 3 version: 3.3.6
Operating system: macOS Sonoma (14)

Corporal Hicks
Roland TD-50X
SD3
AD2
MacBook Pro 16" 36GB

Topic

[acoker]

Just real quick… when you are using SD3 what kind of music are you playing to? Also what libraries do you own?

[Corporal Hicks]

Mostly metal

i own death and darkness, progressive foundry, and Metal machine so i dont think that’s the issue 😀

Corporal Hicks
Roland TD-50X
SD3
AD2
MacBook Pro 16" 36GB

[Mark King]

Are you using presets or default kits? The kits without any processing are like real drums without processing. The presets h e processing to different degrees. AD drums and a lot of other drum libraries are already pre processed which means if it is not how you want it you can’t remove the processing. SD3 gives you real sounding drums but you will have to do some work yourself to have them sit in a mix.

SD3 with older sdx,s plus Rooms of Hansa and Death & Darkness. Cubase and wavelab current versions. Roland TD50x using all trigger inputs for triggering SD3 only. Windows 11 computer. Various keyboards and outboard gear as well as VST instruments. Acoustic drums: Yamaha 9000 natural wood and Pearl masters. Various snare drums. RME BabyFace Pro FS and Adam A7X monitors

1

Thanked by: Corporal Hicks

[Bear-Faced Cow]

And to expand on what Mark is saying, based on your previous post, it is very likely that the drums in the metal songs you are listening to are probably processed to the point of sounding unnatural. Death &  Darkness is a most excellent SDX, but like Mark stated, the drums are meant to sound more natural. You would have to push them a lot harder to get them to sound the way they are in some of the songs. You also need to account for the fact that the compression on YouTube does not help in this case.

However, if you do feel that we are off base in our assumptions, please feel free to enlighten us as to what you are looking for.

 

jord

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Jordan L. Chilcott

Web Site: https://jordanchilcottmusic.com/

1

Thanked by: Corporal Hicks

[Corporal Hicks]

I use both processed and not processed and both sound ¨dettached¨in a way AD2 does not. I guess this software needs much more toying around than AD2..that´s fine, I will learn. Just wanted to make sure I was not doing something wrong. thx

Corporal Hicks
Roland TD-50X
SD3
AD2
MacBook Pro 16" 36GB

[Corporal Hicks]

I don´t necessarily want to emulate the original sound of the drums on the song. I want them to sit well on the song and this happens naturally with AD2, but with SD3 I don´t have that feeling. thx

Corporal Hicks
Roland TD-50X
SD3
AD2
MacBook Pro 16" 36GB

[Mark King]

AD2 is processed sounding. I personally don’t like it as playing it with an electronic drum kit doesn’t feel natural. SD3 is the most natural sounding drums there are but if you want them to fit in a mix then you need to do a bit of work. Why not stick with AD2 if that works for you? There are also others that offer a more processed sound. Ezdrummer expansions also tend to fit a mix better. For pro producers they will want to create their own sound rather than one out of the box (maybe not all the time though) . There are a lot of presets which may meet your needs. I rarely use them though and tend to use dry drums as they feel better to play. I’ll then do processing afterwards.

SD3 with older sdx,s plus Rooms of Hansa and Death & Darkness. Cubase and wavelab current versions. Roland TD50x using all trigger inputs for triggering SD3 only. Windows 11 computer. Various keyboards and outboard gear as well as VST instruments. Acoustic drums: Yamaha 9000 natural wood and Pearl masters. Various snare drums. RME BabyFace Pro FS and Adam A7X monitors

[Corporal Hicks]

After a lot of toying with the program I found that is all a matter of mixing volumes. With AD2 the range of difference between the volume of the music and the drums can be big and it still sounds integrated. With SD, this gap narrows, but once you learn to fit the drum volume in this sweet spot, it all clicks. And then, it is a matter of toying mixing, processing etc that I am finding really fun and fascinating. I managed to create a setting for a song that it is way way superior than what I had in AD.

Lot´s of learning still tho, but I am hooked now. Thx!

Corporal Hicks
Roland TD-50X
SD3
AD2
MacBook Pro 16" 36GB

[acoker]

8 Essential Presets for Death & Darkness SDX

Try this guys presets… so much better than the SD3 presets. I always use my e kit through his presets and they are so much more present and cut through so well. Hope you find something!!

[Author]

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