I’ve been using SSD for my finger drumming, but this is a pretty good sale it seems. Not sure what exactly I would pick up though. Got a couple weeks to decide. Make sure you use the JRR route though, it gives a bonus discount. I messed up and purchased RC-20 without using it. Now I’m out eight bucks!
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Yeah this is the best sale of the year. The custom collection with Fairfax 1, Black Oyster and Funk kits will give you everything you need to do the lessons on questforgroove.com with my presets. So that’s a very nice deal for 85 bucks.
I will send a little Black Friday list of other stuff I saw over the past days. Some plugins I use a lot as well as Modo Drum SE for only 40 bucks for example also doesn’t seem bad. I will probably buy that simply to test it out.
Addictive Drums 2 is still my main recommendation though, also because of the presets I make for it. 
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@Robert_Mathijs Speaking of presets, I used to be able to find them, but I have so many lessons started I lost track of where they are and now I can’t retrace my steps. Is there a place where they are all together? #presets
I sent it in a private link!
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Hi Robert… Just looking at this sale too. I already have Superior Drummer 2… But it sounds like buying the basic 3 kit Addictive drums 2 option would be a worthwhile addition.(especially when learning from your course)
I mainly play ‘regular’ style music …rock and roll/ ballads/piano based pieces…modern worship…do you have a recommendation of 3 kits in that context? (I think funk , heavy metal…jazz or electronic music is not really my style)
Maybe the Fairfax kit (1&2?) and something else?
Or I guess I could sneak up one more level and get the 6 pack deal?
Thanks for any recommendations!
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Getting 6 kits is probably a good idea if you can afford it.
In order from most important to least:
- Black Oyster (this one is just great for practicing because all the sounds are very clear)
- Fairfax 1 (very versatile)
- Funk (because I use some of the kit pieces in my presets for the courses)
- Blue Oyster (to me this comes close to a nice drum kit in a worship type environment… great room tone)
- Session percussion (these sounds are unlike any other drum sound so nice for variety and some extra percussion parts when you need them)
- Indie (just a nice, versatile, fat sounding kit)
Thanks so much Robert…very helpful…
If I sometimes want a ‘brushes feel’…is that more of a setting within the kits themselves? ie. you just tone back the settings…or do you need a particular kit for that?
Thank you!
Then you will need the “Jazz brushes” kit specifically. If you like those different types of sticks, you might also want to listen to the “Mallets” kit. Which is another type of stick with a little ball on the end. Gives a totally different vibe as well.
Thanks Robert… Will have a good listen to the demo…I actually have the Komplete Ultimate set too… So not sure if I’m doubling up with what they’ve got in there as well . Can end up getting more than I need… But do like a good Black Friday special!! 
Thanks.
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From Native instrument komplete I like the Abbey Road 70s dry kit. I used that in some “real” production actually, so if you have that one already you can definitely play some nice drums even without buying anything.
Thanks Robert…I think I might still get 3 kits with the Addictive Drums 2 package…not a bad deal at present…and will be useful to follow along with your course.
I have the old Superior Drummer 2 package…which features ‘brushes’ in the kit I think…
but it sounds like the ‘sweep’ effect is something you get with that Addictive Drums 2 ‘Jazz Drums’ package…not sure though how important that is…versus just getting one more of the standard kits you’ve mentioned. I think with Superior Drummer 2…Abbey Road from Komplete…and 3 kits from Addictive Drums 2…should have more than enough to keep me busy for a while…
Have you ever tried Superior Drummer 3? Everyone seems to rave about it…but is a lot more coin that is for sure. Thanks Robert…great work on the website, videos and resources!
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Yeah good plan. I own Superior Drummer 3 as well and from my position I don’t like it as much as Addictive Drums. Not because of quality of sounds or anything (it’s great and you can probably get any sound you need out of it if you know how to use it) but more because it is indeed expensive, there are never any real sales and I can get anything I want out of my Addictive Drums plugin as well, which is cheaper and more intuitive to use.
Addictive drums seems to have this thing where the preset sounds are more outspoken and have more character right out of the box, which i also like. Superior drummer to me feels like I should seriously take a course on pro drum mixing first before I can go and make music with it that actually has some personality
So yeah, for now Addictive drums it is. I really like it, I’m good at making nice sounding presets with it and I can recommend it to my students and let them know when there’s a sale so they can hop aboard for around $100.
So it’s a bunch of mixed reasons why I prefer one over the other.
Thanks again Robert…appreciate your time…you’ve got me inspired! Just A/B tested Superior Drummer 2 and Addictive Drums Demo…I think I can tell what you mean…there is a ‘realness’ to the sound that just comes out of the box with Addictive Drums…mind you SD2 is still good too…just different…is a N/Y kit of some sort…
Beginner question…
Can Addictive Drums emulate the kind of special techniques drummers do like Rim Shots etc? Is 16 pads enough for all of that…or can you adjust each individual drum in some way?
Can see I’ve got a whole adventure of learning before me as I barely know a Kick drum from a snare! Thanks!
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Yes, all the snare drums in addictive drums have, Sidestick, Rimshot, Shallow Rimshot and Rim Click sounds and also some more… I think a normal “shallow hit” as well. Most other kit pieces have variations too, like Hi hat bell, Ride bell, Tom Rim hitd indtead of regular hits, stuff like that.
You cannot get all the sounds on your 16 pads but in my experience you do not need this at all. I change sounds depending on what song I’m playing. Sometimes the sidesticks will be rim clicks, sometimes I use a regular ride, sometimes a ride bell etc.
I’ve never been in a situation where I really needed more than 16 pads at my fingertips. Going for an 8x8 controller (which will give you all the sound youll ever need) as a beginner in my opinion makes things more confusing.
Thanks Robert… That’s great… makes sense!
Listened to various packs…Thinking these 6 now to give a great variety of percussive sound options
- Black Oyster
- Fairfax 1
- Funk
- Session percussion (variety and extra percussion parts)
Changed in:
Mallets
Jazz brushes ( for more accoustic/ ballad / slower songs etc)
That along with existing Superior Drummer 2 should be more than enough to keep a beginner drummer going for years to come I hope!
Thanks so much… Greetings from Australia;)
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AD2 Custom is right now on 35% sale here: Addictive Drums 2: Custom Collection, Addictive Drums 2: Custom (pluginboutique.com)
Is this a good offer or will usually come something better next month via Black Friday sales?
Black Friday in the past has had 40% discounts!
They also had a discount once where you’d get more discount the more ad packs you bought. That’s when I bought 5 ad packs for like 50 dollars each.
You never know what they’ll come up with for sure though. It changes.
Just saw that Addictive Drums 2 Custom is now on sale!
XLN Audio:
Custom Collection - XLN Audio
JRR:
JRRshop.com | XLN Audio Addictive Drums 2: Custom
With coupon code “group” you can even save a little more.
Another sale (up to 45% on XLN products). Looks like the collections are 40% off. Not sure if the normal price has changed, so going to leave it here for future reference -
Collections
- Custom $169 ($101 sale)
- Custom XL $325 ($195 sale)
- Custom XXL $499 ($299 sale)
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