Hey, Pete!  I must have missed the reply earlier, sorry!

If I did not already have EZD, then I probably would not go the route of EZD + SD2.0 because of the low cost of SD2.0 now.  when I bought it originally, EZD was $149 and SD2.0 was $299! and there was no crossgrade available!  but I ended up getting the crossgrade for $165.

anyway - what you would be missing if you got SD2.0 and didn't get EZD:
* an additional drum kit
* a kit that has already processed samples which makes it easy to throw a quick project together without much tweaking.
* the MIDI loops that come with EZD (you still get a LOT) 

edited - found that info. 

that's the way I see it.  so if those things in particular aren't important to you, then I'd just go straight to SD2.0!

just to add - I said that the MIDI loops that come with EZD won't be with SD2.0, but I'm not sure that's the case, either.  I can't tell from the website if the MIDI loops are exactly the same or if the ones that come with EZD are a subset of the ones that come with SD2.0 or what.  so that one might not even be an issue.

I think the main things that you'd be missing would be the additional drum kit and the ability to throw together a drum track that's already processed in a much quicker time than you can with SD2.0 by using EZD.  that's the only thing I really use EZD for now, is when I need to throw something together and don't feel like tweaking SD2.0 for the best sound.

 
Thanks Beag,
 
I think I may just get the Superior Drummer 2.0
 
Toontrack also has three extra Midi Packs available for additional midi drum loops for 20 bucks each.
 
But I remember a thread in this forum a few months ago where someone was giving advice about purchasing packs of drum loops but I don't think it was the packs from Toontrack. I think it was a different company that had a large and very nice collection of drum loops but I can't remember the name of the company/product.
 
Do you remember what that might be? If I heard the name I think I'd probably remember.
 
Thanks,
 
Pete

before you buy all 3 packs - one of the "monster paks" came WITH SD2.0 when I bought it for free (it was available to me as a download after I registered SD2.0), so check to make sure before buying all of them.  and I don't know which one it was, either.

there are midi loops available for puchase from a few other companies, maybe one of these is the one you remember:
http://www.smartloops.com
http://www.groovemonkee.com
http://www.betamonkey.com

 
Yes! Thanks Reece!
 
It was groovemonkee that I was trying to remember.
 
However it looks like Smartloops is having a pretty good deal. Buy all 5 volumes of their midi loops for only 59 bucks.
It looks pretty good to me and better than the price for the 3 packs from Toontrack. What do you think?
 
Here's the link.
http://www.smartloops.com/products/mididrumloops/
 
Pete

yeah, that does look like a great deal!  but you know what?  I don't even use the MIDI loops I have!  I might start trying to use them some day, but right now I take the easy way out!  I let Band in a Box create the drum tracks for me and I'll edit that if necessary, but it's much easier than picking out MIDI loops, IMO.

Are most of you guys using the drum loops or are you playing the drums via a midi drumkit or something? I tend to grab the loops as I'm mapping out the song and then play them myself to get the fills in and stuff. Usually takes me about 40 friggin' takes, but it's nice to be able to say I played the drums on the track... no matter how lame they are.
:)

 
Well..BIAB is definately an option but I'm already used to working with midi loops. I currently have a limited amount of midi drum loops and I find myself having to modify them manually to fit my projects. I'm hoping that with more available loops that I'll find myself having to modify less.
 
I think I'll get Superior Drummer 2.0 for the nice quality drum samples for 149.00 and the 5 Pack special of Smartloops for 59.00, which totals 208.00
 
Wow, this is gonna be a good Christmas present! I love new toys!
 
Thanks again Reece,
 
Pete

Have fun!

Are most of you guys using the drum loops....

 
I've been using Session Drummer 1 and Session Drummer 2 in all of my projects. Session Drummer 2 uses drum samples that are really not too bad but it has very limited amount of available midi drum loops.
 
The first song I ever created I actually sat down in front of my Yamaha keyboard and used my fingers to manually pound out the drums because I hadn't yet learned about midi drum loops.
 
Some folks in this forum like Jamstix, others like BIAB. It all depends on your own personal taste. The great thing about creating music in a DAW program is that there's a number of available options at your fingertips.
 
Pete