Middleman


Controversial response here but I am finding that plugins under the RTAS umbrella sound significantly better than their VST counterparts. I don't know why but I have run tests in VST and RTAS for the same plugin and there is a clarity and depth on RTAS side of things that I am not getting from VST. Also for the engineering crowd, files don't sum when you compare VST to RTAS although its very challenging getting the same settings accurately which could contribute some of the differences. The drum tracks I get in Superior 2 in RTAS are very realistic under VST same track, duller and not as 3D sounding. I just wonder if developers have to make compromises when porting to the VST framework.

Interesting and weird as well as possibly controversial.
RTAS is just for mac is it not?


Steve 

RTAS can work in Windows depends on the program.

Middleman


RTAS can work in Windows depends on the program.

Sonar not being one of them what programs do support RTAS?


Steve

It is the program which should not be named on this forum.

Middleman


It is the program which should not be named on this forum.

hat's all of them surely ? 

Steve

Just give me the first letter at least

PT

Question for you SSD users...I'm looking at the current audiomidi no-brainer, SSD Essential (same engine, but only one kit) for twenty bucks. The demos don't blow me away, except for the kick sound, which is enormous. I'm thinking about spending the $20 just for that.

Oddly, there are few technical details on the SS website; hence my question(s). Can anybody comment on things such as velocity layers and round-robin? Listen to the "dry 'n fat" demo (here) - the hats and snare sound very machine-gunnish. 

Bit - 

I don't use SSD too often, and then mostly just to fatten other tracks. 

One thing I've noticed is that SSD didn't seem to play well w/ Toontracks loops - the hats and snare often seem to lose diversity in terms of velocity, so when you have lots of soft hits on the snare for example, SSD can sound machine-gunish because it doesn't seem to have the same velocity range as EZ/SD or BFD.

That's my experience w/ it. I tried to use it on 2 drums tracks I had put together w/ EZ and it just didn't work the way I wanted, so I didn't insist or investigate any further. 


EDIT - IIRC, I did my tests using SSD EX. I don't know if things are different w/ the full version, which I have but just didn't find the energy to test. And the uselessly big clunky GUI puts me off big time. It's like the opposite of SampleTank. :P

Thanks for that insight, Rain. I have friends who use SSD and they get excellent results with it, but they're doing a different style of music that favors simple drum parts. I find that Superior Drummer really shines when you start getting fast and fancy with lots of dynamics and subtlety. My only complaint is that I've never been enthused about the kick sounds I get from SD. That's why the SSD Essentials no-brainer caught my eye. The kick in the demos sounds very good.

I guess they do sound great which is why I keep SSD and update it. And honestly I've never experienced something as bad as what we can ear in the demo you've linked above.

It's hard to explain exactly, but they sounded a bit more rigid, there seems to have a bit less nuance, so machine-gunnish in my post above may be a bit excessive, but still... Now I'm talking about some pretty groovy 70-ish drum parts w/ lots of action on the snare. For something different, no doubt they'd work.

I think I know what you mean about the kick in SD - which is why I pretty much always end up using SSD to work out a kick sound I like. My drums toolbox wouldn't be complete w/o it.