Toontrack Superior Drummer: The new “Real to Reel” SDX brings right/left samples for the first time! 👉


First of all, it's great that Toontrack has finally addressed my request (and most likely the request of several others) for Right/Left samples. The new R/L-capable Roland e-drum hardware and my BecauseDrumGeek R/L e-drum engines have certainly contributed to this.
In contrast to my R/L engines, which work with every previous SDX (and also many EZXes) that did not yet offer native R/L samples, there are now real sampled R/L sounds. How good and “close” my ‘fake’ sounds are for the left part (in contrast to the "real" ones now available for the first time from Toontrack) — well, everyone can judge that for themselves. I think they turned out great and do exactly what they're supposed to do :) . But now back to the new SD3 development, which is absolutely welcome. I would say that the direction is definitely the right one, but unfortunately it hasn't been thought through and executed to the end yet.


Here I have discussed what I consider to be the drawbacks of the new R/L feature, but also reviewed a few other aspects (and made a few comparisons with my engines):


Snare:

There are no R/L samples for the “Center” articulation < WHY ?! > , even though the stick sound difference in the center is no different than anywhere else. So you only get an R/L stick sound difference from the off-center playing area onwards. The unchangeable center area on the Roland digital snare pads has a fixed diameter of at least 8 cm (3.2 inches), and unfortunately, the Toontrack engine only offers the usual monotony in this area.
And if you increase the size of your preferred 'Center' zone with the zone sliders, then of course the enlarged diameter will offer that monotony.

Adding another Center-to-Edge articulation (i.e., 4 with the new pack instead of the previous 3 ; the new one: "Off Center 2") is a step in the right direction in terms of stepless Center-to-Edge Positional Sensing, but unfortunately (in some cases -> depending on the snare model) it is by far still not enough. This is particularly true for some snare models that exhibit significant sound jumps: such articulation or zone jumps are absolutely unpleasant (and I would prefer to switch off positional sensing completely in such cases).
➜ Example:
the '6.5x14" Ludwig Vistalite' snare: the difference in sound between “Center” (where there is no R/L, just to remind you!) and the nearest “Off Center 1” (where there is R/L) is huge. It's obvious that this makes for a rather strange experience in terms of authenticity to the acoustic original.
It also gets strange with those snare models that have a fairly big right/left sound difference in the 'Off Center' and 'Edge' articulations, and in the center it becomes comparatively “machine gunning” with the one-dimensional sound without R/L.

In comparison with the BecauseDrumGeek Snare Engine: here there is also R/L distinction in the center area, and the entire Center-to-Edge Positional Sensing runs parallel and steplessly: an absolutely 'smooth' snare as it should be.



(Toms:)
Toontrack has applied the same principle to the Tom samples as they did to the snare: R/L is only available for the off-center sounds, and unfortunately the center is once again left empty in terms of R/L.
In any case, e-drummers will be pleased to hear that Toms now feature Center-to-Edge Positional Sensing with an “Off Center” option for the first time (many tom pads and trigger devices already support Center-to-Edge PS in terms of e-drum hardware).


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Hihat:

There are no R/L samples for all 'closed loose' articulation ( = the important "Open 0" and "Open 1" stages) and there are also no R/L samples for all half open and open articulations < WHY ???! > , even though the stick sound difference doesn't cease to exist in 'closed loose'! (“Open 0” and sometimes even “Open 1” can often be considered closed hihat articulations).

+

Another drawback: when you set up R/L hihat, you lose the hihat 'Bell' function. The BecauseDrumGeek Hihat R/L Engine, on the other hand, works with all hihat articulations/zones/open-closed stages (including the “bell”) and, in addition to a slight R/L difference for authentic translation behavior, can also be used as an ingenious creative hihat engine, namely when a big sound difference is selected for the left part (e.g., through pitch or the same hihat model played with other tools (e.g., mallets) or even a completely different hihat model).


What I would have liked to see in the new SDX hihat articulations is meticulous attention to detail to ensure that there are no big sound jumps, especially between the closed articulations (a great example of this is the “Fusion” EZX hihat, which has the grace of smooth transitions). Unfortunately, this has once again not been achieved here.

Examples:

- the '14" Zildjian New Beats'-Hihat from the "Wood Room" -> there is far too big a jump from “Tight Tip” to “Closed Tip.”

- the '14" Istanbul Agop 30th Anniversary'-Hihat from the "Wood Booth" -> there is far too big a jump from 'Tight' to 'Closed' on Tip and Edge (and Bell).

➜ Unfortunately, this is still a long way from the smoothness and richness of detail in the 'closed' articulations range that e-drummers desire. (Why the creators of these sample libraries don't realize that the richness of detail in the “closed articulation” range of hihats is extremely important for virtually stepless translation remains a mystery to me.)