Steven Slate Drums 5 - Finally! Was Due for Release Mid 2014

  • Hmm... this was posted at GS few hours ago:


    A few days ago I posted in this thread a very unhappy message. Mr. Slate and his team responded in kind despite my harsh tone. It is only right for me to let everyone know that not only did the Slate Pro Audio Family make things right, but they also went above and beyond the call.

    This is the age of public discourse. We so often forget to also acknowledge a job well done, especially when doing so means we must walk back our words. I have no intentions of joining that neglectful rank and file.


    So, I am sending out a great big THANK YOU to Steven Slate and the members of Slate Companies. You all came through for me and I sincerely appreciate it.


    ~ L


  • Obviously the writer doesn't know what it means to respond "in kind" and thinks it means a kind response.


    He also doesn't use the word sorry or make any apology :D

  • Ok guys, I have been testing the free version and I have to say I really like the sounds. At least as good as SD3 (which also sounds great, but misses something at the higher velocities for me). Especially the dynamics are great! What I don't like:


    -No built in way for CC curves. To me that's a no go, because out of the box the tracking with a Roland VH-11 is not good. To me that's a weak spot for all VSTs. I still have to find a VST-drum that PLAYS as well as the TD-30.

    -mapping is a pain, wish they put the note names in there. As of now you have to go back and forth between mapping and construct, to see how SSD5 is mapped.

    -I don't like how the half open articulations blend. Whatever magic they did with the playback engine (which is great) on drum heads, I wish they could do something similar for the HH

    -No rim shots on toms

    -I don't mind the 90ies look of the GUI, but I would like to see the whole mixer without scrolling


    If any of the edrummers have a trick for the CC4 HH issue, I would really like to hear it ;)

    (I know Scripter can remap incoming MIDI in Logic, but it's not exactly easy to use)

  • mapping is a pain, wish they put the note names in there. As of now you have to go back and forth between mapping and construct, to see how SSD5 is mapped.

    This has been requested over at BeerGutz, GK. Let's see what happens.

    I don't mind the 90ies look of the GUI, but I would like to see the whole mixer without scrolling

    This has also been requested, and I'm not surprised. Definitely needed AFAICT.


    News:

    Rail from Platinum Samples posted this:


    Our grooves which are formatted for SSD4 work in SSD5
    Platinum Samples - Professionally Engineered Drum Samples & MIDI Grooves
    Instead of installing them into the SSD4Library path, install them in the SSD5Library path.

  • Steven's offering the SSD expansion packs for 50% RRP. 3 of them are $49 each and the Blackbird Studio one is $75.


    This is what I paid years ago on super-special, as mentioned earlier in this thread. Of course, you'd automatically receive the SSD5 versions, but I daresay there'd be an option for those who want them to download the legacy versions.

  • Alex Semichev from the Slate dev team posted this over at GS. Some great news:


    He's talking about hi-hat articulation here:


    1. 3/5 and 4/5 are the same articulations. Deluxe 1 and 2 have 5 steps of open-close positions for tip and 5 for shank, but we made 6 steps for each (12 total in mapping because we’re going to add unique 3/5 articulations so it’s gonna be unbelievably smooth. We’re looking at all tapes and keep finding more.

    Crash-riding here:


    2. Actually our main goal while recording SSD5 crashes was great crash riding. And they sound amazing when you do crash riding. Our advanced playback does some tricks too. Just don’t ride them on 127 velocity. Set it to 110 and randomize it to have velocities from above 100 and up to 120. You’ll hear magic!

    Tom MIDI notes:


    3. People were always complaining about holes in toms mapping so we made a tom notes autofilling. So even if you have 2 toms, you can trigger them from all 5 notes. I guess we need to display that in Mapping.

    ... and some great news for some (including myself):

    BTW, really great update is coming soon. Will include gui scaling and some other features people were asking for.


  • Interesting!


    What does "3/5" and "4/5" refer to?

  • Alex was responding to this post from JPPP a day ago, Michael:


    Some notes on the free version Deluxe 2 Kit:

    1. The 3/5 and 4/5 Hi-Hat samples sound the same to me, on both the shank and the tip. And then there's too much of a gap between 2/5 and 3/5 open Hi-Hats.
    2. Someone else mentioned this earlier already, but I'm missing a sample suitable for "crash riding" or "riding the crash". Something one would use in heavier choruses, a more washed crash instead of just CRASH, CRASH, CRASH, CRASH. Maybe the metal kits in the full version have something like this?
    3. Note A1 (which according to the Kit Mapping is empty) is actually the same 12" tom as note B1.

    My guess is that the poster was describing the degree of openness of the hat samples. 5/5 probably being fully-open, and 1/5 fully-closed, or the other way around.


    As you could see in my post, Alex responded to each point with good news, which is why I figured I'd share.


    Also, the GUI-resizing thing is huge for me. My eyesight ain't what it used to be before I was 12 years old, so adjusting things to compensate is literally a way of life for me. So looking forward to firing this baby up, but it's still at least a few months away for me... Arrgghh...


    Oh, and I don't think the small number of velocity layers (will be added to anyway according to Alex) is an issue with SSD5 due to the "smooth-transition" thing that's already been mentioned and the doing away with round robins as a part of this "technology".

  • Alex Semichev from the dev team just posted this:


    There is upcoming update with GUI scaling and few more things. And right after this update, the next update will add more groove functionality including sync to DAW timeline!


    This is really basic stuff though, Nicky. Makes it seem like they rushed the product out after years of delay.

  • Indeed, I'm convinced the lesson has been learned, at least as far as SSD5 is concerned.


    Encouraging to hear Alex speak of not just the next but the following update as well. I mean, he's a coder, so...

    Since they're in the same general price range, how does SSD compare with the ToonTrack EZ or Superior Drummer lines, particularly the latter?


    Because I code for a living I'm more inclined than most folks to cut a shop some slack on release dates. Even so, talking up a 2014 release and not delivering until four years later would be enough to make me nervous about the company and less willing to depend on their ecosystem.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • I wouldn't say SSD and SD are in the same general price range.


    SD3 is more than twice the price and the library, even if you exclude the "extra" ambient mic's, comes in at many times the size (disk-space-wise). Many more features too.


    As for relying on an ecosystem, well, SSD5 will (should) still be working for many years to come, as SSD4 is right now, even if things were frozen and no updates added. Also, due to the fact that it's the only VI the company makes, I'd say it falls outside the ecosystem in the sense that we understand it these days plugin-wise. IOW, it's its own entity and not like a Waves (for example) plugin that gets broken along with all its siblings if a particular update doesn't jive with your 'puter.

  • I wouldn't say SSD and SD are in the same general price range.


    SD3 is more than twice the price and the library, even if you exclude the "extra" ambient mic's, comes in at many times the size (disk-space-wise). Many more features too.


    As for relying on an ecosystem, well, SSD5 will (should) still be working for many years to come, as SSD4 is right now, even if things were frozen and no updates added. Also, due to the fact that it's the only VI the company makes, I'd say it falls outside the ecosystem in the sense that we understand it these days plugin-wise. IOW, it's its own entity and not like a Waves (for example) plugin that gets broken along with all its siblings if a particular update doesn't jive with your 'puter.

    I was thinking "hundreds rather than thousands" in my price range grouping, which of course is an arbitrary observation anyway.


    My intent wasn't to infer that SSD isn't a high quality choice, merely that in Software Development Years, a four year gap is an eternity. Heaven only knows what that works out to in Kieth Richards Years. Most software shops who wait that long between releases can be found in the local obituaries.


    As for features, I'm sure they're constantly compared to the ToonTrack offerings so I was wondering how they stack up against each other. It sounds like EZ Drummer would be the most fair price point / feature comparison but I'm guessing that SSD's feature set falls somewhere in between EZ, which is intentionally limited, and Superior, which is meant to offer the ultimate tweakability thing.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • The thing is with Slate, is that he tends to get very excited about what they're doing and can't wait to spill the beans, meaning that we all start hounding for release dates and he's too quick to pull something out of the air. That said, he's a stickler for details and knows that he'd get slaughtered if his stuff didn't cut the mustard, so he won't release anything that he isn't completely 100% sure fulfils all his boasts. This adds up to what might appear to be lengthy, drawn out and delayed releases, but killer plugs and such.