Comparison of Drum Synth REs... which one is your favorite?

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Billy+
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24 Nov 2021

Popey wrote:
24 Nov 2021
Thanks Billy and yes I did mean pitch as I have a folder of kicks which has sub folders for each key. I wondered if it had this as I have tons of folders unsorted though. I have been looking at this for a while as I have samples on different drives but never justified the price tag at £130. Think I will get it at this price though.
I would always recommend to trial a product first but for the price it's a better buy than the current RS RE offerings, I like the way XO does everything I like the export of midi as well as samples processed or unprocessed separate or grouped as a loop.

You're going to get a massive collection of one shots that alone is worth the price and the interface is just excellent.

As for keyed hits I've always just used my ears and a pitch control, it either sounds right or it's wrong I don't need to be told the pitch and besides most pitch detection doesn't really reflect how the hit sounds just what frequencies it's dominant in. Just use your ears and trust your decision.

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Billy+
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24 Nov 2021

PhillipOrdonez wrote:
24 Nov 2021
Popey just put them on mimic and it will tell you the key?
I don't have mimic but I'm under the impression that the detection is a bit hit and miss, how well have you found it and do you have a second opinion that confirms it?

Also I would be interested in your suggestions for kick design rather than sample playback your brought up previously as at the moment I'm just using kong pad stacks, I did think about softube heart beat but couldn't commit.

Popey
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24 Nov 2021

Billy+ wrote:
24 Nov 2021
Popey wrote:
24 Nov 2021
Thanks Billy and yes I did mean pitch as I have a folder of kicks which has sub folders for each key. I wondered if it had this as I have tons of folders unsorted though. I have been looking at this for a while as I have samples on different drives but never justified the price tag at £130. Think I will get it at this price though.
I would always recommend to trial a product first but for the price it's a better buy than the current RS RE offerings, I like the way XO does everything I like the export of midi as well as samples processed or unprocessed separate or grouped as a loop.

You're going to get a massive collection of one shots that alone is worth the price and the interface is just excellent.

As for keyed hits I've always just used my ears and a pitch control, it either sounds right or it's wrong I don't need to be told the pitch and besides most pitch detection doesn't really reflect how the hit sounds just what frequencies it's dominant in. Just use your ears and trust your decision.
Watched a few videos on this during lunch and it looks very good and have had my eye on this or the similar product I forget the name of. Just thought sod it and bought it as nothing else interests me this black Friday. As for the keyed hits I have done it by ear but also run things through span etc to get an idea. I like having my kick samples tuned to the key of the track and see xo has pitch just like ableton so it will be a very similar workflow.

Popey
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24 Nov 2021

PhillipOrdonez wrote:
24 Nov 2021
Popey just put them on mimic and it will tell you the key?
Thanks Phillip but I have used up my reason12 trial so do not have mimic to do so I am afraid. I can always find the pitch myself so it's not an issue but if there was a decent lazy way to do it I was interested 🤣

PhillipOrdonez
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24 Nov 2021

Billy+ wrote:
24 Nov 2021
PhillipOrdonez wrote:
24 Nov 2021
Popey just put them on mimic and it will tell you the key?
I don't have mimic but I'm under the impression that the detection is a bit hit and miss, how well have you found it and do you have a second opinion that confirms it?

Also I would be interested in your suggestions for kick design rather than sample playback your brought up previously as at the moment I'm just using kong pad stacks, I did think about softube heart beat but couldn't commit.
Have found mimic key detection useful myself.

The thread was created about synthesized drums and percussion devices, if you read carefully. I didn't bring it up on a whim.

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Billy+
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24 Nov 2021

PhillipOrdonez wrote:
24 Nov 2021

Have found mimic key detection useful myself.

The thread was created about synthesized drums and percussion devices, if you read carefully. I didn't bring it up on a whim.
Yeah I assumed you was serious about the design discussion that's why I asked. Heartbeat was about the only thing I've considered but couldn't be bothered to go through the hassle of trialling it. Other than kong I don't think Reason had anything other than using synths.

I got drumspiration for spire the patches also work in respire. It's a good learning tool to see how to synth drum sounds


PhillipOrdonez
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24 Nov 2021

I'm more interested in perc than kick/snare hat modules.

Popey
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24 Nov 2021

PhillipOrdonez wrote:
24 Nov 2021
Billy+ wrote:
24 Nov 2021


I don't have mimic but I'm under the impression that the detection is a bit hit and miss, how well have you found it and do you have a second opinion that confirms it?

Also I would be interested in your suggestions for kick design rather than sample playback your brought up previously as at the moment I'm just using kong pad stacks, I did think about softube heart beat but couldn't commit.
Have found mimic key detection useful myself.

The thread was created about synthesized drums and percussion devices, if you read carefully. I didn't bring it up on a whim.
Have you tried Kick2 Phillip? That is the only vst I tend to use if I am making a kick and not using samples.

Edit: sorry just seen your after something for perc not kicks 😒

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jam-s
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24 Nov 2021

I've found Rob Papen's PunchBDRE quite good for electronic drums/kicks. Especially for some harder Dutch inspired styles. It also comes with a lot of (also tuned) patches.

PhillipOrdonez
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24 Nov 2021

Popey wrote:
24 Nov 2021
PhillipOrdonez wrote:
24 Nov 2021


Have found mimic key detection useful myself.

The thread was created about synthesized drums and percussion devices, if you read carefully. I didn't bring it up on a whim.
Have you tried Kick2 Phillip? That is the only vst I tend to use if I am making a kick and not using samples.

Edit: sorry just seen your after something for perc not kicks 😒
Haha yeah I've seen that and there's another one that is good too. Maybe someday I'll play with those. 😀

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huggermugger
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24 Nov 2021

You asked about RE's but several people mentioned SonicCharge and MicroTonic. Sooooo, one more vote for Microtonic.

Here's a link to the Patternarium, where you can hear it in action... https://soniccharge.com/patternarium
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PhillipOrdonez
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24 Nov 2021

BumCuddle wrote:
24 Nov 2021
PhillipOrdonez wrote:
24 Nov 2021
And now I'm interested in echobode thanks to this thread 🤦‍♂️
Echobode is my go to effect!! So versatile it is insane.
Trail it and you will fall in love :thumbup:
Yes.

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dvdrtldg
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24 Nov 2021

huggermugger wrote:
24 Nov 2021
You asked about RE's but several people mentioned SonicCharge and MicroTonic. Sooooo, one more vote for Microtonic.

Here's a link to the Patternarium, where you can hear it in action... https://soniccharge.com/patternarium
Yeah I think I need this. Next time it goes on sale

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huggermugger
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24 Nov 2021

dvdrtldg wrote:
24 Nov 2021

Yeah I think I need this. Next time it goes on sale
It never goes on sale. Ever. Nothing from Sonic Charge has gone on sale or been available thru 3rd party vendors since I discovered them 3 years ago.

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dvdrtldg
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24 Nov 2021

huggermugger wrote:
24 Nov 2021
It never goes on sale. Ever. Nothing from Sonic Charge has gone on sale or been available thru 3rd party vendors since I discovered them 3 years ago.
No shit...? Interesting, my immediate response to this is "Oh well, I guess I'm not going to get it then". That might change on reflection - like, I really want it - but it's interesting to see how endless sales and discounts have altered my perception of what music software is worth. Five years ago I would have dropped $100 on a quality plugin without thinking twice. Now it seems weird to buy at full price - or more generally, to spend more than fifty bucks on anything, ever

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aeox
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24 Nov 2021

challism wrote:
23 Nov 2021
I'm curious how the drum synths compare to each other. Which is your favorite and why? Feel free to discuss all the drum synth REs in this discussion (OchenK EDS06, Josh Levy 808, Rob Papen PunchBDRE, etc) but I am personally interested in hearing about Ekss DRUMSYN, Ekss SYNR and Noise Engineering Basimilus. (I've tried the Ekss drum synths, but it was a while ago and I can't compare them to Basimilus... looking to buy one of the three). I think I preferred DRUMSYN to SYNR... I don't remember why, though.... maybe I like sliders over knobs. It just seemed more intuitive for me to dial in the perfect sound on DRUMSYN.

Also... what drum synth RE (not sample player) did I not mention? I tried to search the shop, but the filters don't seem to be working properly anymore.

Thanks in advance for any comments! :)
I was using Basimilus for a while, it sounds quite good straight out of the box. Though nowadays I use subtractor for most of my kicks. Or Europa in a combinator :thumbs_up:

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StephenHutchinson
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24 Nov 2021

Billy+ wrote:
23 Nov 2021
challism wrote:
23 Nov 2021


Googling "XO" ha ha
Yeah, a refill unpacker would be great! Too bad that will likely never happen, as it involves doing something/changing to something old. This company doesn't like looking back... only forward.... no matter how many bugs or issues the old stuff has.... just keep pumping out new REs! ha ha ha I would love to be able to easily unpack some of my refills. I mean, it can be done in a very slow and tedious method, but who wants that?
https://www.xlnaudio.com/products/xo

It's got massive discount at the moment :thumbs_up:

IMG_2875.PNG
IMG_2876.PNG

Look at all the interface panels
Thanks for the recommendation of XO... tried it, bought it and it works in Reason 12.2.2 on Windows but I can't get it to work on Mac without hanging Reason 12. Works perfectly in Bigwig 4.1 and Ableton Live Suite 11.
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Billy+
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25 Nov 2021

StephenHutchinson wrote:
24 Nov 2021
Billy+ wrote:
23 Nov 2021


https://www.xlnaudio.com/products/xo

It's got massive discount at the moment :thumbs_up:

IMG_2875.PNG
IMG_2876.PNG

Look at all the interface panels
Thanks for the recommendation of XO... tried it, bought it and it works in Reason 12.2.2 on Windows but I can't get it to work on Mac without hanging Reason 12. Works perfectly in Bigwig 4.1 and Ableton Live Suite 11.
Cool you liked it enough to buy it it's a really fun way to work with samples and although it's not working without crashing R12 I think that's more about R12 than XO as quite a few people are reporting crashes when using vst's so make sure you report it. I don't have R12 at the moment maybe I should have been clear about that but most regulars are probably aware that it removed it after a few weeks of using it.

I have it running fine on R11 Mac El Capitan as I didn't bother with any os upgrades, I'm always running the lowest version I can get away with and tested R12 on an old windows laptop as i didn't want to trash my production machine to trial R12.

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RandomNoise
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25 Nov 2021

DRUMSYN and Basimilus are some of my favorites (the new Basimilus btw sounds great!).
I also prefer DRUMSYN on SYNR, I just get results faster with it, but SYNR do have its thing and can create some unique cool sounds. Definitely recommend having all these 3! :D

Btw, I love creating tons of drum synth nowadays with the new Combinator just using all the different synths.
Its cool becasue you get to almost design exactly what you need if you know your way around with synths.

In VST form, Microtonic for me is one of the best, no doubt. I love its sounds and the interface is super easy and fast.
Kick 2 is also good one, although it is focused on Kicks, you can actually get all sorts of sounds with it.

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StephenHutchinson
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25 Nov 2021

Billy+ wrote:
25 Nov 2021


Cool you liked it enough to buy it it's a really fun way to work with samples and although it's not working without crashing R12 I think that's more about R12 than XO as quite a few people are reporting crashes when using vst's so make sure you report it. I don't have R12 at the moment maybe I should have been clear about that but most regulars are probably aware that it removed it after a few weeks of using it.

I have it running fine on R11 Mac El Capitan as I didn't bother with any os upgrades, I'm always running the lowest version I can get away with and tested R12 on an old windows laptop as i didn't want to trash my production machine to trial R12.
Oh yes, absolutely. I had forgotten to try it out in Reason 11 yesterday and loaded it up today, and it works perfectly.

Ah you're just like me. I hate installing the latest MacOs. I'm capped at High Sierra on my MacBook Air. This is because going any higher will wipe out various programs like Outlook (Thanks Microsoft), as well as the old iWork '09 stuff (Pages, Keynote, Numbers) which are outstanding in comparison to the crap versions that Apple created as "upgrades".
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Billy+
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25 Nov 2021

StephenHutchinson wrote:
25 Nov 2021
Oh yes, absolutely. I had forgotten to try it out in Reason 11 yesterday and loaded it up today, and it works perfectly.
One tip I could offer about XO is if you want each track as audio for further processing is to mute all but one lane and bounce to audio, repeat for each lane then you get the internal fx's included as audio add them to a new group for easier master control and then each audio channel can be further processed with any other fx inside the insert slot ;)

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moofi
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25 Nov 2021

I just noticed FIlterchain´s Frequency Shifter does inhabit an LFO :-)
moofi wrote:
24 Nov 2021
I can recommed listening to Filterchain from Ekksperimental Sounds aswell. It offers a similar toolset without the integrated LFO and sidebands, though with a superb sounding reverb and a simple yet more complex echo (TapeEcho MKII´s little sibling) and sweet filters (including an envelope follower plus tube distortion), while comparably sounding quite improved quality-wise I find.

Here´s a quick jam on Filterchain put on a simple one bar rhythm from Boom 808 I already posted in the Filterchain thread (256 kbit/s to fit filesize), showing the similarities in outcome effectwise:
.
snope.mp3

BumCuddle wrote:
24 Nov 2021


Echobode is my go to effect!! So versatile it is insane.
Trail it and you will fall in love :thumbup:

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raymondh
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25 Nov 2021

challism wrote:
24 Nov 2021
reusenoise wrote:
24 Nov 2021
Not Re but Microtonic it's the only drum synth you need,https://soniccharge.com/microtonic the patternariun thing it's quite funny and useful https://soniccharge.com/patternarium
I absolutely LOVE Sonic Charge. Who doesn't? I wish they were still making REs. I would love to have SynPlant and Permut8 as REs. Ecvhobode and Bitspeak are both so great. I haven't tried Microtonic. Can't speak highly enough about Sonic Charge. For those who don't know, Sonic Charge is Magnus Lidström's (and his brother) company... the guy who made Malstrom! Cool interview:
+1 on Microtonic. It is excellent. In fact so good that Teenage Engineering made a hardware version!

Way outside scope of a RE, but I also were looking for a new drum synth, uninspired by a lot of the software that has too many bells and whistles when I just want great sounds, and ended up buying a Roland TR-8! It's really good. Blows away using 808/909 samples which I'd been doing up to now.

Also suggest adding new life to whatever you are using today, by adding Fabfilter Saturn or other effects. Lastly, there's some very very nice EQ curves for drums in the Kuassa EQs. It can really bring a kick to life.

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