For those unaware, Retro is three complete Ludwig kits; Bonham, Moon and Ringo. This is the same number of kits as 'original' AD, thusly justifying the higher price, imo. (the other ADPaks are single kits, though some come with extras)

Mojo-

So...I'm still trying to figure this purchase out. The $99 download purchase available... it USED to include the retro pack right? I'm assuming that it doesn't now. The GC sale doesn't offer any bundles. Lame. I think it will still be cheaper to get AD from GC, then buy a pack from XLN's site and take advantage of the buy one get one free offer.

My eyes are on the retro, indie, and Reel. I'd start with the indie, and get the reel with the offer. As much as I want the Retro, I might wait for next months pay check first. Are there any of the packs that are a "must" have??

Seth

None of the "Paks" are available without purchasing the basic AD; Retro costs as much as the base AD, but it's three complete drumkits, each, which seems reasonable enough to me, though your mileage may vary. Original AD is also three kits. The advantage to all AD kits is that they sound great, have a minimal footprint, and aren't hard on computer resources. AD has other advantages, but those are the main ones, imo.

A ha, got it. That's sorta what I figured. I do love my Superior drummer 2, but I usually have to route it through Reaper to guarantee a flawless performance. I'm definitely looking forward to AD's lack of resource hogging. Not to mention, that indie pak sounds mighty nice. As always, thanks for the input. Pulling the trigger on it tonight,

Seth

I just had to post...I finally got my newly purchased Addictive Drums up and running. Man oh man...the indie pak is STELLAR!! I can't give a higher review. The indie midi grooves are worth it alone IMO. I have a lot more playing around to do, but I just had to comment. Anyone looking for that indie drum sound, along with some killer creative, contemporary indie rock beats...check it out. A huge thanks to Mojo for turning me on to these. Talk about instant inspiration to write!

As a Feb. promotion, I got the Reel pak free of charge. Very cool sounds as well.

Seth

Hey Mojo...


I've always wanted Addictive Drums. I own Superior Drummer 2.1 and love it! But I always wanted to have AD also. They're asking $250 on the XLN website for the basic AD engine and I have heard people have bought it for $100 less. I can't afford it right now but I went ahead and downloaded the demo version. I love the sound of the (minimal) demo kit. However... it put an enormous strain on my CPU. I mean... just stopped my whole rig! And I've got a Mac Pro Quad-Core (2.66Ghz) with 12 GB of memory. It runs smooth as silk... that is, until I installed AD... I remove AD from the song and everything returns to silky smoothness. What the h-e-double-hockey-sticks????!!!!!!!!!!!

I do operate at 64-bit and know that XLN is only available in 32-bit but I use a lot of 32-bit plugins (Native Instruments, Arturia, Ueberscahll, IK Multimedia, etc.) in 64-bit without issue...

Andy,

Sign up for newsletters from places like Sweetwater, Guitar Centre, Audiomidi, Florida Music Co. etc. to be advised of sales. AD can be picked up for $99, sometimes with expansions thrown in, if you're patient.

Thanks brother...

Ps. I'm still running Windows XP 32bit with 4gb ram and haven't had issues like you described. Maybe AD doesn't like the 32-to-64 bridge? Don't know, just a guess.

Hmmm, strange about the "heavy resources" bit. I own Superior drummer 2 as well, and I have to say that SD2 is more burdening on my system. I'm running 32bit (Win XP) though. Maybe there's something about that? I end up running SD2 via Reaper via rewire. Reaper is a gem (as far as I'm concerned) for Pro tools users. Because pro tools has not entered the 64 bit realm, and seems to have some serious memory issues with certain virtual instruments (SD2), reaper has been my "go to" for any system burdening VIs.

In case you are close to pulling the trigger on Addictive, Guitar center still has the deal. AD basic for $99. I ended up buying it through GC, then going to XLN's website for the indie pak. And through February, XLN has the "buy one ad pak and get one for free" deal. So I was able to get AD and the indie pak (midi included bundle) along with the reel pak for a total around $180. Not too shabby.

Thank you credit card.

Seth