BFD2
 

After playing around with it for a few days I really like BFD2. Let's be clear. It does not improve the RTAS performance in any way. Still sucks along with every other drum plug. But as a stand alone drum module it is really excellent. They have really done a good job of making BFD more usuable. Since Stike doesn't offer Stand Alone mode and BFD2 does and niether is usuable as an RTAS pluging I have to say that BFD2 wins the prize no contest. With it's really fast audio rendering you can make your tracks outside of PT and import them very easlily. It's still not as good as working with them in real time in PT but at least you "can" get the job done. Plus, i can crank up my B4II, my Pianoteq and Bfd2 all in stand alone mode and have one hell of a good jam sessin going in no time without any "CPU Held off interupts for too long" messages F'in up my groove.

BFD2 Improvements:

Better Drum Sounds with basic package
Much more mixing capability
Fast Audio rendering
Setup similar to Strike in look and feel
Better midi editor capability
Better grooves included in basic package

I think I've spent $500 to date on BFD1 and BFD2 and am just now beginning to feel like it was worth the money.

randyT

I think BFD 2 is great Love the sounds and it's a CPU Hog for sure

I keep the effects off in the mixer to keep things running smooth

The studio I work at has also Purchased Superior Drums 2

Haven't tried them yet have you????

I use BFD2 as RTAS without any real trouble.

8 gigs of RAM, Quad 2.5 PPC, ProTools 7.3.x, OS 10.4.11

Pretty smooth. I don't even bypass the effects. Run it straight away with everything turned on.

It's a HUGE improvement over the first version of BFD in terms of sound and mixing ability.

I am looking for a drag and drop program of drum 'loops?' to simply create a demo song (intro, verse, fill, chorus, etc.). I have tried to use Strike, but I can't seem to import midi loops. What would you suggest based on your experience and what is out there? I don't want to spend another 300 dollars on something that doesn't work? Thanks, Del.

It does include pre-programmed MIDI loops that you can drag into your sequencer (at least it drags into PT just fine), so count it as one good option.

There's a demo of BFD2 - check out www.fxpansion.com

Rail

Bfd
 

I do use PT, so thanks for the option. I have tried to simply play the loops at tempo, one segment at a time, and then tried to splice the audio file together, but not as easy as it would be to drag and drop midi segments.

Thanks for the tip. I will give it a try and see if it is what I am imagining. I would have saved money on strike if that had been an option! Del.

not sure why your having problems in RTAS with bfd2, it works fine for me with everything on and even in 24 bit mode. I "only" have 3gb of ram and a 2.0 pentium dual core 2 processor.