I compared both before purchasing and personally, I preferred BFD2 - the acoustic tone just sounded bigger and more detailed. 

As others have said above, both are great products and the sound may come down to personal taste.  I believe BFD2's price was just drastically reduced, which makes it increasingly attractive.  Bottom line, I think you need to spend some time looking at the functionality of both products and listen to the samples to determine what you prefer.  For me, BFD2 just sounded better.

Hope that helps
Russ

Any potential UK customers here?

http://www.nevadamusic.co...tm_campaign=googlebase

http://www.soundslive.co....sion-BFD-2~ID~7937.asp

https://www.theacademyofs...on_BFD_2_Drum_Software

Hi PTheory,
I actually own both along with several expansions for each. I also own NI's multi-out kits and a few other titles. From a purely functional standpoint I think BFD and Superior are very similar and both have good, usable sounds. In my view the differences are largely a matter of taste. I find that I'll go with SD over BFD most of the time, but again, that's a matter of taste.

Some functional differences:
BFD ships with a larger library of drums (IIRC), so you have more choices out of the box.

SD has a larger mic selection. Most of the SD libs have the usual mics, but also multiple room/ambient mics as well as special effect mics like trash mics or mic's that were run through classic compressers. These mic choices are mostly helpful if you're getting really into super-unique artistic creation with your drum sounds. If, like me, you're going more for usable acoustic kits in a reasonably short time frame these will see less use.

SD has a Multihit control that changes the way drum hits that occur during the ring period of of a previous hit on the same drum occur. That is, if I hit a cymbal, and while it's still ringing, hit it again this control changes the attack on the second hit. I've found this VERY useful in cymbal rolls.

Both BFD and SD have minor UI differences that I prefer. Sometimes I find myself saying "damn, I wish SD did <x> the say BFD does" and sometimes it's just the opposite.


These practical differences are really minor though. It's an aesthetic preference for me. I just like the sounds better in SD. Others like BFD. For me the BFD snare drums are almost all too tonal and ringy and the cymbals are somehow different. Some folks will disagree with me....and that's really OK, they like different stuff than me. Best bet: listen to both.

Also, as long as your shopping for good multi-mic acoustic drum libs, you should really have a look at NI's Abbey Road and Studio drummer kits. I like those a ton. And be sure to check out our own Jim Roseberry's Jet City kit if you own NI's Kontakt. It has a sound that none of the others do and he handles hit position on the snare drum in a way that no one else does and everyone else should steal. It's a super cool product with a great price point.


Good luck
Dean

Razorwit


Hi PTheory,
I actually own both along with several expansions for each. I also own NI's multi-out kits and a few other titles. From a purely functional standpoint I think BFD and Superior are very similar and both have good, usable sounds. In my view the differences are largely a matter of taste. I find that I'll go with SD over BFD most of the time, but again, that's a matter of taste.

Some functional differences:
BFD ships with a larger library of drums (IIRC), so you have more choices out of the box.

SD has a larger mic selection. Most of the SD libs have the usual mics, but also multiple room/ambient mics as well as special effect mics like trash mics or mic's that were run through classic compressers. These mic choices are mostly helpful if you're getting really into super-unique artistic creation with your drum sounds. If, like me, you're going more for usable acoustic kits in a reasonably short time frame these will see less use.

SD has a Multihit control that changes the way drum hits that occur during the ring period of of a previous hit on the same drum occur. That is, if I hit a cymbal, and while it's still ringing, hit it again this control changes the attack on the second hit. I've found this VERY useful in cymbal rolls.

Both BFD and SD have minor UI differences that I prefer. Sometimes I find myself saying "damn, I wish SD did <x> the say BFD does" and sometimes it's just the opposite.


These practical differences are really minor though. It's an aesthetic preference for me. I just like the sounds better in SD. Others like BFD. For me the BFD snare drums are almost all too tonal and ringy and the cymbals are somehow different. Some folks will disagree with me....and that's really OK, they like different stuff than me. Best bet: listen to both.

Also, as long as your shopping for good multi-mic acoustic drum libs, you should really have a look at NI's Abbey Road and Studio drummer kits. I like those a ton. And be sure to check out our own Jim Roseberry's Jet City kit if you own NI's Kontakt. It has a sound that none of the others do and he handles hit position on the snare drum in a way that no one else does and everyone else should steal. It's a super cool product with a great price point.


Good luck
Dean

+1

These practical differences are really minor though. It's an aesthetic preference for me. I just like the sounds better in SD. Others like BFD. For me the BFD snare drums are almost all too tonal and ringy and the cymbals are somehow different. Some folks will disagree with me....and that's really OK, they like different stuff than me. Best bet: listen to both. 


Just a quick comment about this...this "ringy" tonal thing....is UNPROCESSED...

If you hit a snare...it RINGS....based on the spring setting...
It is an Engineering TASK to remove that using a "gate" usually to tighten it up...which would be considered PROCESSED.

Just sayin'....

I LOVE THEM BOTH!!!  (ALL) for what they do...and pick based on WHAT I'm trying to do...

Whenever Ringo stops by my house, I ask him to lay down a few tracks for me.  Oh, gotta go.  Kate Upton got drunk and fell in the pool again.

konradh


Whenever Ringo stops by my house, I ask him to lay down a few tracks for me.  Oh, gotta go.  Kate Upton got drunk and fell in the pool again.

Gotta luv it!!  D**n drunks...

Does the BFD demo do it justice?
 
I downloaded it last night and can't say I was impressed.  Am I missing something?  The Toontrack stuff I have just sounded SO much more realistic.  The included BFD snare and  toms sound dreadful.
 
Is it just that the demo doesn't sound anywhere near as good as the full product?  If so, it's not a very good demo.
 
I was thinking about purchasing Eco or the full version (thanks Bristol J for the links) as so many people here rate it so highly, but this demo has not sold it to me.

jb101


Does the BFD demo do it justice?
 
I downloaded it last night and can't say I was impressed.  Am I missing something?  The Toontrack stuff I have just sounded SO much more realistic.  The included BFD snare and  toms sound dreadful.
 
Is it just that the demo doesn't sound anywhere near as good as the full product?  If so, it's not a very good demo.
 
I was thinking about purchasing Eco or the full version (thanks Bristol J for the links) as so many people here rate it so highly, but this demo has not sold it to me.

I believe the demo is only 16 bit...


These are COMPLETELY unprocessed samples....pristine...untouched...

It is up to you to ENGINEER them...that is what BFD, Steven Slate, Superior Drummer, and Addictive Drums are all about.

I can tell you that Eco sounds AWESOME...the Z-Pack sounds AWESOME...


I also believe that Superior Drummer, Addictive Drums, and Steven Slate Drums all sound AWESOME..


It all comes down to what YOU HEAR and what YOU want...and WHAT you are willing to go through (Engineering wise) to get the
sounds you want, and which workflow fits YOU best.   That's why there are so many options...because there are so many 
different ways to get there...

jb101


Does the BFD demo do it justice?
 
I downloaded it last night and can't say I was impressed.  Am I missing something?  The Toontrack stuff I have just sounded SO much more realistic.  The included BFD snare and  toms sound dreadful.
 
Is it just that the demo doesn't sound anywhere near as good as the full product?  If so, it's not a very good demo.
 
I was thinking about purchasing Eco or the full version (thanks Bristol J for the links) as so many people here rate it so highly, but this demo has not sold it to me.

The drum samples on both are raw and unproduced, they're just different drums and have been set up/tuned/dampened different ways. For some folks the SD drums sound more realistic because they're used to drums/drummers/rooms that sound more like the SD drums. For others the same story applies to the BFD drums. I've heard drums/drummers/rooms that sound like both...they both sound very realistic (and clearly unproduced) to me, but I've been around way too many different drums/drummers/rooms :)


Listen and the go with what you like.


Dean