Finally took the 2Box plunge!

[daebado]

Got a deal on a used 2Box module and had to pull the trigger! The operating system is 2.4, I believe, and I have no idea what the latest OS is but I have the new card mod coming from Jman and it sounds like there is a lot that comes on it including the latest OS and all the latest sounds from the 2Box website. I'm quite stoked!

So far, the factory loaded kits are just ok but I can already see the potential. Case in point... no hint whatsoever of any machine gunning on the toms!! I tried everything I could think of to get them to do it and they just simply won't. This alone has me smiling when I play!

All of the drums seem a little soft or muted- kind of a far away sound is the only way I can describe it, and I'm not sure why that is. I haven't had much time to really tweak anything yet, so we'll see what I can do when I can play around with it a bit more. I did do a factory reset and that seemed to help some but I really want to get some VST sounds loaded to see what this baby can really do!

That brings me to the real reason for my post (I have been utfse for hours looking for answers, btw, to no avail)...
To those of you that have the 2Box module, what VST software do you prefer? Or is one maybe easier to convert than another? I really haven't gotten into the whole VST thing much so I'm a bit unfamiliar with what's good and what's not. I hear good things about quite a few of them... Superior, BFD, Steven Slate, Addictive, etc... but it's hard to know which way to go. I'm really looking to get 4 or 5 or 6 really good sounding acoustic type kits on this thing.

Also, in doing this, do I have to buy the entire program? For instance, if I go the SD2 route, that's $300 bucks! I don't really care to trigger VST's from the module, I just want to load the sounds into it so is there a cheaper way to go or do I just need to cough up the dough? In addition, I have Ableton Live8 already but it sounds like I will be wanting the SDSE program that's available. Will I be needing to get Reaper as well for that to work?

I know I should be asking some of these questions on the 2Box forum but I'm at work and their site is blocked from here! Besides, I know there are quite a few 2Box users on here with a lot of knowledge and that I already trust so it seems like a good place to start.

Thanks,

Mark

[fulrmr(Daniel)]

CONGRATS!

..and yes...AFAIK....you have get the whole kit-n-kabootle with all these VSTs (all I have is S2.xx) ... in order to build kits and then the conversion process begins. I love all the endless faders, FX, mic bleeds and options in S2.xx. Yep..... SDSE from Lustar and Reaper to simplify and speed up the conversion process. He has full thread on this process to help you at the 2Box forum...and he is usually readily available to give you a hand should you need help. The journey is well worth every penny invested....especially if you are already used to laying down cash for high priced Roland gear.

Don't decide on any one software yet....once you get the "card mod" from Jman...I think you will be elated and surprised at the sound options that you will be exposed to. Jerry also has some very nice vids....and many many libraries. I bet he could steer you in the right direction for the tones you are looking for. I think some are even free. I'm like you though...I just don't have the cash to pick up everything I've heard that I like.

That said...I like...and have... S2.xx Avatar and Evil Drums & Metal Foundry.....Don't let the titles throw you off....the samples are not just for Metal and are very nice and well rounded for use with any genre. Also...don't forget about the Zildjian Gen 16 Vault series of cymbal samples...


Now the real fun begins...your ears will forever thank you.

[daebado]

Thanks, Dan! Always appreciate your help! I feel like a kid in a candy store whenever I make a big drum purchase like this! So many new options to explore!!

M

[billgtx]

I enthusiastically concur with Daniel. On the software I debated between SD2 and BFD3 and even though SDSE did not yet support it I went BFD3 due to JmanWord's testimony about the quality of sounds. I'm reasonably sure I would be happy with SD2 as well, however I had to choose only 1. Enjoy!

[nocturnodrummer]

In my opinion, Addictive drums translates very well to the 2box. I also use SDSE to import sounds and it's a great piece of software! I can recomend to you the Funk Adpak as well. I use it as my main kit it's just so awesome and versatile. I've participating hugely in the beta testing of SDSE that led to the development of velocity curve settings. The dynamics are just perfect now and you have the ability two chose from different dynamic curves settings when exporting.

As far is playing is concerned, If I close my eyes I can almost feel like I'm playing in a big ass studio and have the sound in my headphones already mixed by a great sound engineer.

About the machine gun effect, SDSE has the ability to remove any duplicate sounds from the equation so every sound played by the 2 box will be unique! Additionaly, 2box utilises round robin algorightm. It prevents the same samples to be played in succession. Concluding, machine gun effect is unknown to the 2box

Remember that 2box have an in-built EQ. The right settings may help you with that dampened, far away sound you mentioned. Try to tweak it a bit, add some bass, cut the mids, and add a tiny bit of highs.

Sorry for any mistakes, I'm not a native speaker. Have fun with 2box!

[daebado]

Damn, I have a lot of stuff to learn in the very near future!! Get ready, brain!! (oh, this is going to hurt!).

Thanks for the comments and suggestions, guys. I really appreciate it. Sounds like there is a lot more to this SDSE software than I first imagined. And Nocturno, you probably speak English better than I do!


Mark

[Kenster]

Wish there was an easier way to get proper samples into the machine without the multistep conversion process using no less than 3 different software packages? (the VST software, this SDSE everyone is talking about, and then Reaper?). One reason I'm staying away from 2Box...too much work and additional cost. Now if there were samples already made like a VEX type company that you could buy the samples from, that'd be the easier way to go...just load and play!!!

CONGRATS on your purchase, I know it will sound awesome when you're done!

K ;-)

[JmanWord]

Wish there was an easier way to get proper samples into the machine without the multistep conversion process using no less than 3 different software packages? (the VST software, this SDSE everyone is talking about, and then Reaper?). One reason I'm staying away from 2Box...too much work and additional cost. Now if there were samples already made like a VEX type company that you could buy the samples from, that'd be the easier way to go...just load and play!!!

CONGRATS on your purchase, I know it will sound awesome when you're done!

K ;-)

Eventually we should see Add-On kits/packs for the 2Box module from VST companies that will be load, plug n play. I can't give much detail other than I have built several add on packs for one of the VST companies many months back that are supposed to be offered for purchase/download. Hopefully those will finally be available some day! I know many people would prefer just to download and install kits.

With SDSE, Reaper is already included, the free trial download version. So other than VST software everything is already included with SDSE when you purchase/download. Then you can go ahead and buy the full version of Reaper if you want. But you are ready to go to start off with whether you end up purchasing Reaper or not. Personally I bought Reaper years before I started using SDSE, Reaper is a great piece of software for $60 compared to the other choices. One free drumkit is the Senheiser DrumMic'a! kit, pretty impressive sample kit for free.

[JmanWord]

Oh, and congrats on the new module daebado. By the way, when you get the extender installed and plug in the 32GB card...... all the stock 2Box kits are 1-100. Everything after 100 are the newer 2Box kits/sounds that are not on the stock module. J

[perceval]

If it's possible to use the Drumica library, than that one is free and sounds nice.

[KennyinDundee]

Congrats on your purchase and good luck!

[daebado]

Thanks, all! Jman's card extender hasn't arrived yet (it's only been a couple days) but I'm already tweaking sounds like a madman!

[daebado]

Scratch that... the card extender/mod just arrived! That was fast!!
Thanks, Jerry... gotta go do my installation and see what this baby can really do!!


Mark

[JmanWord]

Scratch that... the card extender/mod just arrived! That was fast!!
Thanks, Jerry... gotta go do my installation and see what this baby can really do!!


Mark

Cool Mark, be sure to look at the step by step pics/instructions in the download I linked, have fun, talk to you later! J

[daebado]

Well, the mod was very easy... took about 20 minutes as they said it would and had no issues. Thanks again to Jerry for that! Now that that is done, all I can say is WOW! Some of these new kits are fantastic! The Sparke kits in particular sound like very good live kits while the Cube kits sound like very good studio kits.

Having reset everything and re-routed to individual channels on my mixer, the sound is really coming alive! I still have some tweaks to make to improve the playability, but it's not bad at this point at all. The hardest thing now is going to be trying to decide which kit I'm going to use live! Even some of the original kits are now sounding much better than they did at first and I think are really quite usable (have I mentioned how much I love the lack of machine-gunning??).

One strange thing I've notice... with my Roland modules, it was always a case of the kits sounding great through headphones and lousy through the PA. With this 2Box module, I am getting the opposite; a much better sound out of the PA but the sound in my headphones is a bit thin and a little tinny. Not terrible, but noticeable. Still, I'd much rather have it this way than the Roland way!
Has anyone else notice this? I am using fairly high end IEM's so I'm pretty confident that these are not the problem (everything else has always sounded great through them).


Mark