BFD ECO: $29.00

29 dollars! Yeah, ECO sounds better than BFD 1.5 and its cheap, and offers an upgrade path. 24 samples per kit piece, I believe. 1500 midi Grooves, lotsa styles ... ect. Check it out if you want some extra drum power in your arsenal. There's even talk of retrofitting for 64 bit. They've already got a retrofit for BFD 2, so its a strong possibility here, too.

Got mine at Guitar center today. 

I bought BFD Eco when it was going for $99 USD and thought it was a great deal at that price. 

I own Superior Drummer and Expansions, ezDrummer and Expansions, Addictive Drums and ADPaks, Steven Slate Drums Platinum, Drum Masters, Ocean Way Drums, Neil Peart Drums, Abbey Road 60s Drums, Waves Factory Tea Towel Drums and more and I still think there's not really a good reason to pass up BFD Eco for twenty nine bucks (or whatever it comes to in your country's currency).  My top favorite drum VST is Superior Drummer, but I know of a lot of discriminating musicians whose favorite is BFD. That said, I absolutely think both are top notch VSTs and I'm glad I bought BFD Eco (although I wish I got it for 29 bucks!).  One thing about BFD samples I can't help but notice is that there seems like whoever recorded it had a strong preference against ring in the snares. So, when I DON'T want a snare drum with a ring to it for a tune, I often think of the kits in BFD Eco.
 
Also, I hope everyone who picks of BFD Eco lets fxPansion know we want this to be 64 bit.  (They've stated that they're uncertain whether they're going to make this product 64 bit, as they've done with BFD). 

- Peter

Mesh


I saw on another thread that if you go through AudioMidi and use coupon code AM15, you can get it for $14 (also something similar going on at Sweetwater).

I just picked this up from AudioMidi, and the coupon still applies.  Heckuva deal - thanks, Mesh!

Bajan Blue


Peter
I've got a few drum packages as well, but nothing like your selection!
I was thinking of getting the new Drummix from Bluenoise (its only $30 at the moment)  - I have their Bandecho which I have extremely impressed with.

http://www.bluenoiseplugins.com/plugins/drummix


As someone with a wealth of experience, I was wondering if you had tried this yet and if yes is it worth getting?
Thanks
Nigel

No, I haven't tried it. I did stumble upon their site when they had the metal kit out and thought it sounded really good (although, I don't play metal!). I think this one sounds pretty good and you can't knock the price. That said, I would exclude it for me for a number of reasons, (1) I don't want to learn another VST. I prefer drum libraries in Super Drummer, Addictive Drums or KONTAKT formats (maybe BFD Eco; I'm undecided as that is far cut down from SD, AD and KONTAKT capabilities; (2) the copy makes clear it's not set up for V-Drums and doesn't appear to have midi learn, (3) I like having the control in the VSTs I have and would miss it (this one doesn't have any processing in the VST; (4) 5 or 10 velocity layers isn't much compared to what I get from SD or the others. BFD has up to 96 velocity layers while BFD Eco has 24, I believe; and (5) another VST means another program I have to worry about tech support, bugs, etc. 

Some questions I would have for the dev: (1) I didn't read anything about round robin. I wouldn't consider an acoustic drum library without it. (2) Does it have RR? If so, how many (e.g., 1x, 2x, 3x, etc.) and for which instruments/velocity layers. 

But that's my criteria. I've largely settled on my demands and platforms for drum sample libraries. My next purchases are probably going to be Native Instruments Studio Drummer (as part of KOMPLETE 8) and ezX The Classic expansion (going for as low as $29 USD at one retailer - who I only learned of here or KVR and whose name I can't recall, but I have opened in a browser window in another PC). 

For vintage rock drum libraries my favs are ToonTrack's C&V and Classic Drummer, NIs Abbey Road Drum series, and NI's Session Drummer (which, I don't own yet, but sounds really good in the demos; one of my friends has it and says it's very good). I'd also check into eSoundz sale right now, which has a Drum Masters kit for $33 USD (if the sale' not over) and if you own the full version of KONTAKT Analogue Drums (http://analoguedrums.com/)  -- at minimum pick up their Big Mono free kit (no, it doesn't have round robin, but their latest kits do). Check out these two for $24.95 USD each!  http://analoguedrums.com/details-buckshot.php and http://analoguedrums.com/details-grandioso.php If you have a little more money to spend, this sounds excellent: http://www.analoguedrums.com/details-plastique.php The only reason I haven't picked these libraries up is because they're not pre-mapped for V-Drums and I've put a freeze (mostly) on sample spending. 

- Peter

@Steve I've owned BFD Eco for around 1 yr. I was stating questions for the Blue Noise VST dev that Mesh asked me my opinion on. You're confusing those Blue Noise dev questions with my own opinion on other VSTs and libraries I own. 

Go back and read my previous posts. I recommended buying Eco -- I'm a fan -- and stated I was glad I bought it when it was on sale for $99 USD. Feature-wise, it offers more flexibility and kits than ezDrummer. It's a great little drum VST. However, with regards to "cut down," beyond both being drum VSTs, there's absolutely no comparison between the capabilities of BFD Eco and Superior Drummer. BFD Eco was clearly aimed at ezDrummer's and Addictive Drums' audience.  And it fairs very well in that space; not against Superior Drummer or its big brother BFD. So, yes, absolutely, BFD Eco is a cut down version of BFD and if you check fxPansion's board, you can see they state as much. It's limited to less than 1/3rd the velocity layers, less drums you can load in at once than BFD, a smaller selection of drum libraries that come with it than with BFD ...I wouldn't expect it to have positional sensing anytime soon... fxPansion made the differentiation between BFD Eco very clear in their original communications and with the product name itself -- appending Eco to BFD. Eco is the economy version of BFD, their flagship product. It's basically what ezDrummer is to Superior Drummer, although BFD Eco has more kits and more flexibility.  

That said, I think BFD Eco, as is, has enough functionality to completely please a lot of users. But not the most discriminating users and demanding V-Drums users who expect the kind of detail available in BFD and Superior Drummer and capabilities like positional sensing, several x round robins, extensive velocity layers, etc. As far as machine gunning, it's been one of the key reasons users like me avoided BFD and chose Superior Drummer in the first place (plus I think the kits that come with Superior Drummer are more detailed and just sound better). fxPansion has been making strides with BFD in that area recently and there's no doubt, anyone now in the market, who might have previously felt BFD had machine gunning issues and it not being 64 bit in the past, things that were once deal breakers for some, should warrant giving it a second look for those currently in the market. As for me, I made my choice when BFD still did not have round robin and suffered from a machine gunning problem I just didn't find acceptable when Superior Drummer did not have the same issues.  But I'm happy to see fxPansion catch up. I'm a customer from way back, with their DR0008 and I very well could find myself upgrading to BFD during the year ahead. 

- Peter

@Kreative Hello, my name is Peter and I am a sample hoarder. ;)