#XLN ADDICTIVE DRUMS 2 REVIEW FULL#

Finally, all the cymbals include a choke sound for realistic muting. Also, if you want to generate a typical 'drum machine' type sound, the default 'alternate' sample option can be switched to 'single'. Firstly, the mixer includes a submix bus, which is great for setting up a compressed blend. Happily, Addictive Drums does have a few innovative features of its own. Similarly - and very annoyingly for owners of electronic drum kits - MIDI note mapping is fixed. So, although you can control overhead and room mic levels for each sound (and buzz level for the snare), beyond this, the cross-bleed options are set. What should be noted is that XLN Audio have opted not to include some of the more complex configuration options that you'll find in rival software. All of these things help to ensure that this is a fast and fun plug-in to use. In our tests, playback was consistent even at low latencies, and the CPU hit minimal. Unlike in some sample-based instruments, load times are quick, and this makes Addictive Drums feel slick and responsive. You'll soon discover how easy it is to audition using mouse clicks (with location-sensitive velocity), and interface familiarity comes quickly. Even novices should be able to get to grips with it quickly, and if you get stuck, the manual's a mere 30 pages long.

In fact, if you've used one of the established drum ROMplers, you'll find this one a relative breeze. The simplicity of this approach is matched across the rest of Addictive Drums. When you've found what you want, you can drag your chosen patterns into your host's arrange page as MIDI. These are arranged by style into around 200 songs - each of these contains many variations, and they can all be auditioned from the browser. This is accessed via the Beats page and contains over 3000 beats and fills. In useДЄlthough AD is playable via MIDI (or from its interface), for quick results it also has a pattern library.

The mixer also hosts a few other notable features, including feed levels to the overhead and room mix mics, mic balance controls for the kick and snare (each has two mics), and send levels to the two reverb busses. And because the mixer is always visible, you can tweak and balance without having to switch screens. Here, you'll find everything from basic sample manipulation controls (envelopes, pitch and filter) to compression, distortion, EQ and saturation devices.

#XLN ADDICTIVE DRUMS 2 REVIEW FULL#

So, what exactly do we mean by onboard processing? There are a number of aspects to this you'll notice that there's a mixer on the main screen, and each piece of the kit can be opened in the Edit screen to reveal a full chain of processing. These make use of the onboard processing and give you an excellent palette of sounds that goes way beyond a typical live kit. Although at first glance the library might not seem to be that extensive (add-on packs are now available, by the way), the basic kit patches are complemented by about a hundred presets. It includes three main kits and the source samples were recorded at 24-bit/96kHz. The library comes in a proprietary format and as one single data file.

Xln addictive drums 2 review