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Old 12-18-2018, 11:50 AM   #1
lunker
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Default NI Abbey Road Drums - Recommendations ?

I wasn't really looking for another set of drums (I have Jamstix and Addictive Drums 1 & 2), but Native Instruments is offering all 6 of the Abbey Road Drums products for $199 (and I also have a $25 coupon, so $174 total for $594 worth of drums).

I'm a sucker for a good sale, but don't want to end up with something I'm not going to use.

Any recommendations for or against Native Instruments Abbey Road Drums?
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Last edited by lunker; 12-18-2018 at 12:09 PM.
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Old 12-18-2018, 08:55 PM   #2
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I use 'em and love 'em. I can't say they'll do anything that other stuff won't do - I've not personally compared. (You'll want to compare to Superior Drummer, for example, which is newer and may have some features or sounds you're looking for)

I can't find a specific weak spot, but like most sampled drums, you'll crave more nuance at the hat (especially) and other cymbals. But you'll find, if you pay attention to the mappings and velocity layers, most everything you want is there.

Personal favorite is the 70's acrylic kit (I think it's called 'open'). It's delicious. Out of the box, you can get good tones, but you'll find the best sound can be had by splitting the tracks out dry (with the room mics of course) and mixing like a real kit. [EDIT: Reaper does this well]

As for value, $200 for all 6 is pretty good, but it depends on if you actually have a use for more than one or two... Reason is you'll likely gravitate towards only a couple of the kits, and some may go unused. However, having access to all of them is pretty versatile.
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Old 12-18-2018, 11:12 PM   #3
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I got all of the AR drums included in Komplete Ultimate and especially love the Vintage / 50ies set for vintage stuff. In combination with NI Studio Drummer I see no need to buy any other drum plugin.

PS: Check Youtube for reviews like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id3O_KKCp6M
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Old 12-19-2018, 01:09 AM   #4
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The 70s drums do sound good.

You can buy each drum-vst on the KVRAudio forum for about 25$ each if someone is selling it.
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Old 12-19-2018, 08:48 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cassembler View Post
As for value, $200 for all 6 is pretty good, but it depends on if you actually have a use for more than one or two... Reason is you'll likely gravitate towards only a couple of the kits, and some may go unused. However, having access to all of them is pretty versatile.
Very good advice! As I said, I am a sucker for a good sale, and I especially have a compulsion to buy an entire "collection" at a greatly reduced price, even if I might not use everything in the collection.

Many times it works out to overall savings if the sale price of the collection is less than what I would have spent on the individual items that I do use. But in this case, maybe not.

These marketing people really do know how to draw me into their web!
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Old 12-19-2018, 09:28 AM   #6
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Hmm... tough choice. I have AD 1/2 and all Kontakt kits that come with Komplete. I don't use the Kontakt kits that much which I think is for the following reasons...

1. Not sure I like them as much as AD - IIRC it seems like there tend to be things I want to adjust that I can't or can't seem to find. Take that with a grain of salt though as I haven't spent that much time digging into them. I also think they may be a little more studio sounding where AD can get pretty basic/dry when desired.

2. It's usually quicker and easier for me to pull up AD than to launch Kontakt as a VST, find the drum kit, load it, tweak it etc.

3. It's possible there is more value in expanding your existing AD kits.


I don't want to unnecessarily steer you one way or the other. Though I have had Kontakt kits since 2011, it seems like I tend to gravitate to AD more. I also remember kit MIDI mapping being more to my liking in AD but YMMV.
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Old 12-19-2018, 10:30 AM   #7
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3. It's possible there is more value in expanding your existing AD kits.
Another great point!

Like you said, I also think I prefer AD to Kontakt, so perhaps adding a new kit to AD that I will definitely use would be a more cost-effective option than getting a good deal on many kits I might not use.
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Old 12-19-2018, 11:31 AM   #8
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Abbey Road 50's & 60's Drums are 100% usable, perfectly recorded, not over-processed and sound great, natural and organic. I've found them to be one of the most-used sets of kits I own. I use the 50's kit exclusively for recording retro 50's pop and they are fantastic. Check out all the sound demos.

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Old 12-19-2018, 11:08 PM   #9
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I use the 50's kit exclusively for recording retro 50's pop and they are fantastic.
That reminds me, that NI Cuba is a nice addition, because the included double bass and piano are ideal for 50‘s Rock‘n‘Roll ... but also for Jazz.
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Old 12-19-2018, 11:30 PM   #10
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I use Maschine and it included most of these. There are a couple which have become my default kits. Definitely recommended. Idk if they are worth the standalone price though.
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Old 12-20-2018, 06:28 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Aymara View Post
That reminds me, that NI Cuba is a nice addition, because the included double bass and piano are ideal for 50‘s Rock‘n‘Roll ... but also for Jazz.
I didn't know about NI Cuba - thank you for this!
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Old 12-20-2018, 06:57 AM   #12
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Quote:
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I didn't know about NI Cuba ...
Then you might want to check out this review:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuJKFsB-Ogo
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Old 12-20-2018, 07:32 AM   #13
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Quote:
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Then you might want to check out this review:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuJKFsB-Ogo
Great -thank you!
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Old 12-20-2018, 08:59 AM   #14
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Great advice from everyone. Thanks!

@karbomusic had the best advice for my situation (posts #6 & #7 above).

While NI Abbey Road Drums looks/sounds great, I realized I really don't want to learn the ins and outs of another drum sampler and I was just being drawn in by the sale price. I really need to watch out for that!

Turns out that Addictive Drums has a sale going on, too, and I was able to pick up a few kits (that I definitely will use) at less than the price of the whole Abbey Road Drums deal.
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Old 12-20-2018, 10:02 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lunker View Post
While NI Abbey Road Drums looks/sounds great, I realized I really don't want to learn the ins and outs of another drum sampler ...

And the routing of Kontakt based drums can be a bit tricky, if you don‘t want just a single stereo track.
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