Quote:
Originally Posted by digiot
I had totally forgotten about BFD until you mentioned it. I had a license years ago but have since switched to SD3 and Addictive Drums.
BFD was a mess back in the day but I was pleasantly surprised by their new website and after entering my old BFD 1 license, the price for BFD3 went from $349 to $49!! Its the full license with around 60Gigs of sample content.
I still think their GUI stinks but I always liked their raw drum sounds. SD3 and AD sound very processed and polished. I record a ton of "real" drums and BFD comes closest to a raw un processed live drum sound.
Just my opinion, nothing more.  |
Just my opinion, nothing more...
Last year, fXpansion sold BFD to InMusic, aka "Where software goes to die".
Users (including me) were forced to exchange their fXpansion licenses for InMusic versions. As a result of the changeover, the License Manager is designed bomb out after a month or so, requiring logging into InMusic to reauthorize the BFD application and expansions. For those of us who just have better thing to do with their time, it's a PITA. For those who have their production machines offline or travel while trying to use BFD, this is problematic.
I'm a very occasional user of BFD. I bought it several years ago because, as digiot opined, the sounds are really nice. That said, my heart sank when I read that the sale by fXpansion (whose IP protection was already draconian) to InMusic had taken place. I agree with digiot that the BFD GUI is outdated and difficult, but I've come to terms with it; I, too was also surprised by the InMusic BFD website, but not in a good way (circular references, links to nothing, etc.).
The BFD forum makes the DUC look like fanboi central. I encourage anyone interested in acquiring BFD products to lurk their forum before forking over any cash. I've actually felt sorry for Drew, the BFD Product Manager and apparently sole human resource making the transition to InMusic; I get the distinct impression that he's fighting the good fight for the customers, alone, but the suits and beancounters seem to prevail. Last time I checked (granted, a few weeks back), the requirement to log in and reauthorize frequently was still in place.
I'm certainly not suggesting that BFD should be avoided at all cost. I
am suggesting strongly that any purchases be made with eyes wide open.