Rayzoon Technologies LLC

[dank]

As soon as my new computer arrives, I plan to buy Jamstix. Rather than buy the bundles, I thought I'd go with BFD or EZ drummer. Any opinions? Thank you.

Dan

[andrewwright67]

BFD hands down, been a long time user and beta tester. Their drums are unprocessed so you have to know how to mix somewhat, but the quality, kits, expansions, etc... are second to none IMHO.

You may want to look at XLNAudio Addictive Drums as although there's not much kit piece wise, they sound pretty good and come with loads of grooves (but I guess you won't need them, as Jamstix rocks!).

[johnebgood]

I'd also say you can't go wrong with BFD... just sounds great, and their support is very good, almost as good as Ray's It works really well with Jamstix too. Good luck! John

[dank]

Thanks for the input thus far. I was already leaning toward BFD. Anyone using EZ Drummer?

[bigwayne56]

Hey Dank,

EZdrummer rocks as well. I have EZ, BFD and DKFHS. I like them all. I have been leaning and using EZ and DKFHS more lately though for this reason. EZ works and sounds great right out of the box. No fuss no muss. Great for getting ideas down and comes with a ton of great MIDI grooves that rock. You can also import these into JS and let it jam with those as a base and add variation off those midi files. When you get down what you want with EZ, DKFHS has a mapping in DKFHS that works for EZ again no fuss no muss. So you can than tweak and mix until your hearts content. The best of both worlds in my opinion. Lots of times you can go with very minor tweaks on EZ and be done with it. They sound that good most of the time. And their expansion packs are very cool as well. I also personally like the cymbals better in DKFHS more than BFD but that's just me....

Again you wanted another opinion and now you have it,

Wayne

[Doc]

Two more thoughts on that issue:

1. Comparing BFD and EZ drummer is like comparing oranges and lemons. If you want to compare, compare BFDS and DFHS. Both are very high-quality, multi-layered, super realistic drum libraries. What sounds better to your ear is a matter of taste really.

2. But more important, I think it would be a BIG MISTAKE to miss out on Rayzoon´s drum expansion paks. They sound awesome and complement the basic JS library very well.
And the price/quality ratio is unbeatable here.

Personally I would go for the paks first. If you find you need "more" sounds later on you can still go for another library.

[dank]

Doc: You may have a point: My initial thought was to buy Jamstix for the sole purpose of fleshing out ideas on the fly before inspiration goes south. For more serious work, I use Drums on Demand; I have all nine volumes. Am I missing the whole point here? I may be opening up a can of worms, but is midi-oriented drumming a better way to create drumming for a song over loops?

Dan

[Doc]

[pikey]

for their cost nothing comes close to the expansion packs in jamstix i have ez drummer and the sounds are good but quite processed but this is only my humble opinion

[dank]

I guess the prudent thing to do is get Jamstix with the expansion packs. If I like the idea of creating backing drum tracks via midi, I'll branch out to EZ or BFD.

[Dragonlips]

Well I have BFD and EZ drummer AND DKFHS! I'm a huge BFD supporter, and I personally feel those drums fit best in my mixes. Ez drummer is a strong collection, especially when you factor the Classic and drumkitfrom hell add-ons. There are two key benefits of using EZ drummer IMHO. Firstly, they don't require as much PC horsepower to run. Therefore, the chances of getting clicks/pops and drop-outs is not likely. The other advantage is that EZ drummer has much more realistic sounding midi drum grooves and fills, especially for the "metal" genre.

I find BFD's samples to be the best. They are more organic and fit into my personal mixes better. I find that I struggle to get a sound I like with EZdrummer, even though they are advertised to be ready to go out of the box.

In either case, that's just my experience. I'm sure you'll be alright with whichever you choose.
_________________
Metal Born Again:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pageartist.cfm?bandID=372370

[dank]

Damn, Dragonlips! Everytime I'm leaning one way, someone gives an opinion to send me in the other direction! BFD vs. EZ-Ugghhh!!!

[Voltago]

[dank]

OK, OK. Price point-wise, I will buy Jamstix with all drum paks (at $139., it's a no-brainer). If I find that I like creating drum tracks via midi, I can always add EZ Drummer and BFD.

Now, if only the new computer would arrive. I've been using a Dell P4 with Sonar 3PE. I've purchased a new computer from ADK Proaudio, wherein my main programs will be Sonar 6PE and Acid Pro. I am primarily a guitarist, and I hope that Jamstix does what I think it does. I've bought a number of programs over the years that wind up gathering dust, due to poor programming, incompatibilty with other programs or the OS, or where the hype far exceeds the usefulness of the program, itself.

[Dragonlips]

Dank, if you're up to Sonar VI PE, you'll be fine with Jamstix. I'm a guitarist too, and I searched high and low for a drum program to really help me create my own music. I love Jamstix because it really makes it easy to arrange drum patterns and songs.

I hear all of this will be nothing when Jamstix 2.0 comes in Q2 of this year. We're being told that drums will finally be taken to the next level with JS2. Much more realism and more drumming styles to choose from!!

You'd get that for free if you buy now!!
_________________
Metal Born Again:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pageartist.cfm?bandID=372370