DW Soundworks vs Perfect Drums | Is it Perfect Drums 2 | Drum Sample Library Comparison

[@Silencyde]

I just bought Soundworks yesterday, upgrading from Perfect Drums. The biggest turn on for me was the dynamic range which I thought PD really suffered from. I naturally drifted away from using the internal mixer and, to be honest, I am not a huge fan of internal mixers with drums. With PD, I was putting the kit in different channels in Ableton (4 instances of PD: kick, snare, toms, cymbals) and mixing those sections individually. With that, I was getting pretty stellar results. That's probably going to be the approach I'm going to have again with Soundworks, and I'll test it a bit more, but I do think Soundworks has the potential to be a very impressive library if they optimize it better. I think that's why people are turned off by Soundworks because it seems to want to facilitate more to the internal mixing rather than being an out-of-the-box tool for us non-e-drum users. It does feel like an unnecessary learning curve by default, but the utilities in Soundworks to customize the actual sound of your kit is miles above PD, it's just a mofo to pick apart because of how the UI is laid out. I think that the library manager is absolute overkill for a smaller sample library. Companies like reFX do it for their Nexus program because they have THOUSANDS of samples, it makes more sense. I liked PD's UI much better and wish more companies would stick with "less is more" in that regard. Ultimately, it just needs some time to cook. Edit: Your thoughts at the end essentially were the same thing. Great video and great breakdown of the plug-in.

[@jacobsmith1877]

Perfect Drums was a good idea very imperfectly executed. Like most new companies, they over-promise and under-deliver almost as a rule. I definitely will not be "upgrading" to this new software - this company doesn't get any more of my money, especially not until they actually deliver on all of the promises. I didn't get the notification email about the change to Soundworks. I still have Perfect Drums and will continue to use it, but overall I'm pretty disappointed that this is how it turned out.

[@Lightning4554]

I agree with you about companies nowadays! Feels like a lot of companies aren't making, or doing, things because they want to help musicians, but rather just to make a quick buck. Haha, but good on ya save your money! 🙏

[@jerryfick8547]

Completely agree with you. PD is my go to. This new software doesn't compare in my opinion.

[@jerryfick8547]

​@@Lightning4554Bro ...thank you sooooo much for doing this video. It has solidified my decision to NOT buy this new software. Thank you once again.

[@Lightning4554]

No problem, I'm glad I was able to help you make the choice!! Best wishes to you! 🙏

[@soundsymmetrystudioGR]

Hey! Thanks for this video, it was godsent! I just updated my old mac JUST to get the PD2 and thank God, i saw your video and -to be honest- it's something I was afraid it would happen. I will stay with my PD which is by far my favorite and most used drum library for making almost ANY kind of music- especially Heavy Metal. Thanks a lot-great video!

[@Lightning4554]

Glad I was able to save you the headache!! 🙏

[@DuFFuL]

Thanks for the great vid man. I'm glad I didn't upgrade after watching this. I'll just stick with perfect drums!!

[@resington]

Over time I found the cymbals to be just okay in PD, not as real feel as other plugins. The humanization in other plugins now is simply better too. PD absolutely gave me amazing sounding mixes with a lively almost mix ready kit but I think I've simply moved on. The lack of communication about PD2 and what was happening in general over the years just made me lose interest. DW Soundworks simply looks like over kill for me right now. Great video dude.

[@Lightning4554]

I 100% understand where you are coming from! Good on ya for deciding to not buy Soundworks. It's definitely not for everyone, and it really isn't made for mixed-ready kits.

[@Manit.K]

Nice and thorough review man, the timestamps were real helpful

[@Lightning4554]

Thank you so much!

[@sanctifiedfracture4579]

9 months later, and it seems like the Perfect Drums Legacy Library has been released.

[@Lightning4554]

@@sanctifiedfracture4579 May be time for me to make another video 📹 😅

[@Cluless02]

PD sounds better than any of the others, just don't hear about it. The snare response is really great.

[@Rose-oak-cake]

Was already on the fence about upgrading and I don’t think it’s for me at least for right now. The cpu use was eye opening. Getting the email about perfect drums 2 was shocking because I honestly thought the plug in was just abandoned. Thanks for the video.

[@andybishop8095]

Id love to know what snare you're using in your PD plugin. Sounds like it could be the palmer snare tuned down perhaps? Sounds great

[@cmd_f5]

Thanks for making this! I had thought about buying Perfect Drums many times, but always found something else I already owned worked. Kvlt Drums, Superior 2 with all the Metal EZX stuff, Addictive Drums 1 (I think v2 isn't that much an update. The Black Velvet and Fairfax Studios kits were rad but not worth the rest of the updates, which felt like gimmicks.) Now I'm messing with ML Drums. They have some of the same sonic quality as Perfect Drums and update frequently. ML uses the FLAC format for compression (according to the plug itself in the about dlg), Kvlt2 and Ugritone in general uses something for their .ugrisample format; pretty sure it's FLAC or some other lossless format. Ugritone also seemed to trim their samples so the cymbals would fade after a time rather than having a 50 second tail on a ride, etc. For data purposes, all the KVLT 2 libs installed = about 9 gigs. The DW Soundworks is interesting but limited. The blast beats for example, I hear some repeated hits on the snare. Also they still sound kinda drum module-y. The lib size is insanity. Same reason I haven't looked seriously at Superior3. It's just too darn huge. All those ambiance channels? It's too much for most people including me. Haha. Great vid man. Hope you do more of this in the future. We need more solid drum library comparisons. :)

[@lootbaglarry8.2]

nice how perfect drums offer all the killer cymbal packs and sounds great man

[@makis7234]

What bothers me the most is that, this is a result of a collaboration and I haven't seen a word from DW that this is the case. I don't feel like this is Naughty Seal. It's like they did the whole work but DW is the front face and that confuses me as to who do I support when I buy it. Do I get to pay and enjoy the continuation of the first Perfect Drums which I use all the time, or is this another thing? I don't know really..

[@Lightning4554]

Yeah, it's very odd to me how DW has effectively left out the people who made the software. Without the emails, no one would think that it was Naughty Seal Audio behind the program. Also, if you have perfect drums already you should be fine, at least for now I guess. Right now, their email support still works so if you have more specific questions try emailing them! Or maybe DW will see this video and make the necessary changes and actions to clear more things up for everyone, myself included.

[@makis7234]

@Lightning4554 Yeah, that's right!Without the emails, nobody would know anything about this. The whole situation is very, very weird. Also, I think DW couldn't care less. I don't think that they feel they have any responsibility at all. This is product under their name after all...

[@thefuse03101]

Thanks so much for this. 100% not buying now, even with the PD discount. This just finished the play of 2 years of being let down with naughty seal.

[@hexcellerateofficial]

I was thinking about "upgrading", but now I'm on the fence. I loved how the kits in PD were mix-ready, but the fact that the kits in DW Soundworks aren't isn't a deal-breaker for me. The CPU usage for DW Soundworks seems a bit ridiculous. I'm gonna need to look into DW Soundworks more. PD earned its special place in my heart, though.

[@maxhammerum7705]

This is not quite related to the video content, but just as feedback; Your guitar timing is wayyy off. You're rushing massively, and it's making the drums feel way out of wack, and I'm guessing those are perfectly on the grid.

[@Lightning4554]

Haha, yeah, I was having trouble with my arm that day, and I don't like quantizing my stuff. Thank you for the feedback I much appreciate it. Also, yeah in certain sections the drums are on and off the gird to try and compensate for the guitar timing. Again, thanks for the feedback!

[@svarogstudio]

Thanks for the comparison, I just wish PD updated their drums for new macs before selling the company to DW cause I want to stick with PD for a while longer.

[@LightCyrus]

So disappointing. PD had the perfect UI and almost all the functions the typical songwriter would need. All they needed to do was make a few slight improvements, imporove the cybmols, add at least one more tom to the kits, and BAM: Perfect Drums. Basically Perfect Drums died and this is just some E-kit supplement, completely unrelated to PD. No thanks. Moving forward with Hertz and Supeior.

[@sanctifiedfracture4579]

Although this doesn’t have any audio demos (which is really concerning and isn’t a good first impression for an introduction to this VST as it should be able to showcase how it can be capable of sounding good), I’m interested in seeing how they implement the PD Legacy Library into this new software (but I agree that the mix ready presets should be ported over as well) I also prefer the prototype look of PD2 over DW Soundworks as it looks a bit cleaner imo. It would be interesting if there was a skin to that design implemented (this would be highly unlikely due to this being branded with DW)

[@paulrox177]

Dw soundworks is built mostly for playing on an E-Kit, while Perfect drums is more for recording. As a drummer you have to understand feel is everything when you play a lot of dynamics. Although PD sounds good on a recording it wouldn’t play as good dynamically on an E-kit.

[@offshot1st]

Does it work with aftertouch and have hi hat calibration?

[@judsonsnell]

All I'd hoped for was a Silicon-native PD. Still haven't jumped to Soundworks.

[@R3myBoyMixMastering]

Bluecat patchwork + PD AU ;) is the key :D

[@JayRayOfficial]

@@R3myBoyMixMastering Wow. I didn't realize that... damn. I was waiting for PD (Silicon-native) for so long time.

[@RunningInSuits]

Thanks for the video man. How does SW compare to Superior Drummer 3? Can the new DWe drums be used with SD3?

[@Lightning4554]

Well, I'm too sure how it compares to Superior Drummer 3 because I don't own that library. Would love to though! But I believe that yes the new DWe Kit can be used with other drum libraries, but you'll probably be missing a lot of articulations that you would get if you used DW Soundworks.

[@blakepennycook8952]

How are cymbal chokes done on DWS? I found PD1 really limiting compared to TT Superior where you could time the mute tail perfectly.

[@Lightning4554]

From what I experienced it was the same as PD, but I believe if you used the DWe kit it does it whenever you actually choke it. Good question.

[@tnypxl]

It was made primarily in service of their edrums, no?

[@Lightning4554]

Yes, it was! It was made for the DWe kits, however, when Naughty Seal Audio tells people in emails saying DW Soundworks is the Perfect Drums 2 we had been waiting for it's a little confusing. But, again, its main function is the DWe kit, and if they truly separated the software it would leave a better taste in people's mouths.

[@tnypxl]

@@Lightning4554 Can't argue there.

[@morbidfollower]

sound works samples sound way better. But your mix is absolutely terrible with them to use as a comparison. The volume isn't even close to the same to even compare either.

[@Lightning4554]

I do agree with you. Sound works have a LOT more detail within their samples and their potential to make great sounding kits is there. However, I do believe that PD had something much more user-friendly going for it. I don't feel it fit to call it a successor, or PD 2, because PD had something Soundworks doesn't. That is the simplicity, and ease, of just loading up a kit that has already been processed and made for a mix. I will say for my mix I didn't treat Soundworks like a raw drummer (like how I would now when using it) but rather how I did PD. I, personally, have a good amount of things I can point out in the mix that are terrible, but that wasn't the main point of the video. I wanted to make a comparison, and give an idea of how much different this "PD 2" was from the first PD. Anyway, all-in-all, I do appreciate the feedback, so keep it coming 🙏, and question for ya as well, do you think it should be called "PD 2" like they were saying in emails or not?

[@randallsimmons1093]

I think this whole deal is total BS. We waited for how many years for an PD upgrade, and now that we get it we have to cough over an additional 100$.. WTF.. GGD, Borgen, Spector Studios all do free upgrades for purchased software..

[@tohsrae]

Any ideas where i can still get the original version of perfect drums? Thanks everyone! 🙏🏻

[@Lightning4554]

Hey Tohsrae, for now, from everything that I've seen you can't get the original anymore since they want to bring over all those samples into the new version, but that hasn't happened yet. I don't think there's a legitimate way to get the OG library anymore, and I don't recommend trying to crack the plugin since that's dangerous.

[@IntheDAW]

Personally in a treated room with speakers that have been tuned perfect drums sounds extreamly processed but fits in a metal mix. That's why I liked them. But DW sound works sounds like okay quality raw samples. Superior drummer 3 has much better raw sample options with a mixed preset for every kit. Overall I'll keep my sd3 and perfect drums 1 and skip this completely

[@mrsayang]

Great video....thanks a lot for the effort. I prefer the sound of Perfect Drums and I am very disappointed about the very very limited cymbal choice in Soundworks. DWe is unusable for a drummer in a Live situation in it´s current state. Just imagine that you use your 10.000$ DWe kit Live on stage with your band and suddenly the Soundworks software crashes. DW should have waited with its release until everything works as expected.

[@sanctifiedfracture4579]

imo, they should have either spent more time in the oven with both products if they wanted to go for the eDrummer idea still intact, or just ditch that idea and primarily focus on the software to fully iron out whatever bugs could still exist.

[@mrsayang]

@@sanctifiedfracture4579 exactly, I fully agree. 👍🏻

[@orenbalbus588]

PD made an amazing vst, DW just made everything so damn difficult and complicated. i made an upgrade and went back to PD. the buzz was overated from my point of view

[@nilsh4472]

No idea why they wouldn't include the FX button in DW Soundworks (like in PD) to dial in a more processed sound if needed. would be a huge QOL update.

[@Lightning4554]

Honestly, didn't think about that too much. But, maybe they thought it was limiting in a way to have just one knob for all fx that's preset and made. Yet, I think that was a win on PD's part!

[@jacobsmith1877]

@@Lightning4554The FX knob in PD was a preprocessed channel with analog hardware and triggers added per drum. It's a great feature because it has a low CPU hit and sounds great with one knob. I think they need to bring it back.

[@Lightning4554]

@@jacobsmith1877 Yeah, it was a great feature and having something so "perfectly" processed I think was the reason why PD is just a killer drum library! If they were to bring it back that would be amazing!

[@newmountainsky]

They ruined a great product. Thanks for the comparison...no sale DW!

[@ctatrains]

Imo, I hear why people aren't talking much about DW. The sound is just "no" straight out the gate. Don't even care what's in it after the first listen.

[@melvinbrinson]

Silly question, but why not use superior drummer or Getgood drums? The quality difference is significant. Idk how people use some of these other options they just sound so cheap.

[@Lightning4554]

Hey, not a silly question, but I do use Getgood Drums and other drum libraries! I just wanted to make this video about these two because there was zero information on them basically. But other than that, I think getgood drums libraries are good, but some working around is needed to get the results sometimes. But, honestly, I think every library has its sound that works in different situations! Question for Ya, how do you think superior drums stack up with getgood drums or mixwave? Haven't really heard people compare those two.

[@melvinbrinson]

@@Lightning4554 totally fair and I’m sure a lot of people appreciate you pointing this out to them! Good on you :) I personally don’t use Getgood because I can’t stand the interface, routing and bleed options in it. I don’t use mixwave either because it sounds too plastic 5 gallon bucket-like to me lol. There’s just no character or sustain. I’ve been using superior drummer for a long time. It’s just so versatile and the interface is amazingly operable. You can really get anything you want out of it if you mix and match. Superior also has very real sounding samples that have character and sustain and the fact it doesn’t rely on the dreaded kontakt player is a huge bonus. I’d be happy to give you more information or send over a mix I’m working on and tell you what I used.

[@Lightning4554]

Haha, thank you! Interesting, I've never used Superior Drummer, but I've heard such good things that I've wanted to get it, but the money hahaha! If you wanna send over a mix I'm down, just DM me on Instagram, or if you find my email linked to the channel you can do that too.

[@melvinbrinson]

@@Lightning4554 yeah the cost is certainly steep 😬 can’t argue there haha.

[@IntheDAW]

Honestly for the quality you might as well get the ml sound labs ml drums. It's free kit sounds better then this and for like 20 bucks you get the expansions

[@huchmow]

OMG that snare x) What happened exactly ?

[@Lightning4554]

Haha, yeah, on DW Soundworks the snare doesn't feel as though it hits as hard.

[@animalglx4469]

To much reverb and processed sounds in Perfect Drums, don't sound like real drums at all.

[@ManuSDP]

Aight, not upgrading then