SSD 3.5 to 4??

[scooter]

Has anyone made the upgrade from SSD 3.5 to 4?
Are you happy with it? Any bugs being that it's fairly new?
I've got 3.5 and I like the drum sounds a lot. Just wondering.

thanks,

scooter

[kgdrum]

Haven't done the upgrade , thinking about it.
I already have Superior 2 with most of the add on libraries.
SSD 3.5 for me was OK but I didn't like the cymbals, I have heard mixed reports about the cymbal and hi-hat quality in the new ver. 4, for me that'd be a deal breaker.
1st reports I've seen users like the new engine and most prefer over Kontakt.
I have the EX edition, if I understand correctly that the upgrade for the equivalent is only $49 , I'll probably get it, the big bundle I'll probably hold off on though.

[mhschmieder]

I can't get the darn thing to bring up its authorization screen and have run out of time to put into it this week as my day job is quite demanding at the moment.

SSD 3.5 inside Kontakt works fine for me. Perhaps with SSD 4 I was supposed to install the 32-bit version instead of the 64-bit version? I have no idea.

[scooter]

Yeah it looks like the download will take most of the day!
And cymbals are always the killer with the V.I. drums.
Someday I'm gonna spend the money and buy some and mic 'em.
Then I'm gonna get a good kick, snare and some toms.
And then find a good drummer to play 'em.


scoots

[mhschmieder]

I have LOTS of excellent drummers to work with, fortunately. But I still like to mock up my initial concepts of drum parts -- especially if it's for more formal arrangements such as Broadway oriented theatrical work. I never know when those are going to be the final parts.

[NazRat]

I just bought the crossgrade yesterday (last day for 1/2 price) and had one issue setting things up. You need to select the data and license paths when you first insert the plug by selecting the Settings button. In DP the SSD4 GUI was completely unresponsive to clicking any buttons. I instead another DAW to set the paths which worked without a hitch. Now appears to run fine in DP, but won't have time to exercise it any time soon. The samples are big, I loaded one of the supplied rock kits and it weighed in at around 1.2 gig. Maybe something better used outside of DP unless/until you can use the 64 bit AU plug which is included.

[mhschmieder]

Yep, that describes my problem. But I couldn't work around it on short order as BIAS Peak Pro won't load 64-bit plug-ins in some cases and in other cases won't load their GUI's. And I haven't learned how to use my Wavelab demo copy yet, along with forgetting how to insert VI's (vs. effects) in Wave Editor. So I was going to resort to learning Studio One a bit better or maybe try Ableton Live for purposes of loading SSD 4 and getting the Settings window to come up (which it doesn't in DP).

[Gabe S.]

I had the same authorization problems too with SSD4's Sampler. I had to authorize in another host. I was finally able to authorize it in Bidule 32 bit. (it didn't work in Bidule 64bit either.)

Also, it doesn't look like the AU 32 and AU 64 bit version can be installed at the same time. The installers seem to replace the previously existing version.

Auditioning the MIDI grooves is a cool feature, but some of the loops don't loop cleanly......don't know what's up there. I also wish there was a feature to make the auditioned drum groove play at your sequence tempo, but there isn't.

Anyway, I like the vibe of SSD drums overall. They seem to respond really well to DSP processing.

I sent Slate Digital a report with my experiences but haven't heard back yet.

Cheers.
-gabe

[dbawmp]

I upgraded to ssd4 and I'm pretty disappointed. I think the kontakt version just works better. The new GUI is just dull and not ready for primetime, there is no metering on the mixer and its just very clunky. They also remapped a lot of the sounds. They got rid of the 2nd kick which I always found useful. They also don't have those cool cymbal chokes anymore. Steven says they will be fixing many of the issues and there will be a lot of updates in the future. I've reverted back to using 3.5 for now. I can finger drum on it pretty well still

[kgdrum]

I upgraded to ssd4 and I'm pretty disappointed. I think the kontakt version just works better. The new GUI is just dull and not ready for primetime, there is no metering on the mixer and its just very clunky. They also remapped a lot of the sounds. They got rid of the 2nd kick which I always found useful. They also don't have those cool cymbal chokes anymore. Steven says they will be fixing many of the issues and there will be a lot of updates in the future. I've reverted back to using 3.5 for now. I can finger drum on it pretty well still

I love Slate Digital, I am a very happy VCC owner, I have 3.5 which I never actually use as I prefer the Toontrack sets, the Slate drums have always sounded a bit too processed for my taste and the cymbals to my ears have never sounded right, not to mention the hi hats which for me is the trickiest part of edrum libraries for playability and realism.
I have been tempted with this upgrade as it's very inexpensive but a timed upgrade special that involves a new engine and all of these reported issues has me concluding, I will sit this one out, I'm not in the mood to pay for an upgrade that sounds like a payed by the user beta test.

[jloeb]

I have been tempted with this upgrade as it's very inexpensive but a timed upgrade special that involves a new engine and all of these reported issues has me concluding, I will sit this one out, I'm not in the mood to pay for an upgrade that sounds like a payed by the user beta test.

+1

Sounds like I made the right choice, especially since I'm invested thoroughly in SD2; can put that money towards the Roots set instead.

That said, i do like Slate's other stuff (FGX,VCC) well enough.

[kgdrum]

Yeah JL,
I'm just waiting for the 1st big sale that Toontrack finally puts Roots on sale, I have everything except the Roots set.
SD2 is awesome, I've had some recent issues with the Evil Drums library ported to S2,as it requires way more memory than the native SDX libraries.
Toontrack support has been 1st class all the way in trying to help solve this for me.
Evil is my favorite, I hope DP8 64bit alleviates the resource demands Evil now brings to DP.
I'm sure Slate will get this going well, I feel like I already have my hands full with S2 , maybe after they get the kinks worked out, I'll check out SSD4 then.

[mhschmieder]

Well, luckily I got my upgrade for free, because the vendor forgot to ship my SSD 3.5 several months ago even though it was pre-paid, and Steven was nice enough to compensate at his end by sending me the copy directly and with a free SSD 4 upgrade.

Not the first time I've seen Steven do something nice to take the edge off a bad situation, an order gone wrong, or an initially problematic product. EWQL could learn something from how he treats customer relations...

[kgdrum]

Well, luckily I got my upgrade for free, because the vendor forgot to ship my SSD 3.5 several months ago even though it was pre-paid, and Steven was nice enough to compensate at his end by sending me the copy directly and with a free SSD 4 upgrade.

Not the first time I've seen Steven do something nice to take the edge off a bad situation, an order gone wrong, or an initially problematic product. EWQL could learn something from how he treats customer relations...

+1
Steven is one of the nicest customer service oriented developers out there, though I do think he & his team sometimes rush new product to the market.

I haven't bought anything EW since PLAY, don't like the engine and their level of support & service is as bad as it gets IMO.
It's a shame because they have made some great libraries.

[scooter]

This might not be the right forum for this. But I haven't even been able to contact Slate digital lately. No email response, their phone answering machine is full, and no Skype either.

I'm into this company for a lot of money. I bought everything they've come out with so far!!
I have to say though, I am happy with everything except this last transaction, upgrading to SSD4.

Hmmmmm.......

scoots