Hi! I read in the forum that the jazzexpansion doesn´t even include a brush set.
I am sorry but I must express my disappointment with GA4. I´ve been spending a few days with it now and though I had great hopes for it I must say that I am terrible disappointed in relation to other competing drum modules in general on the market (EZ drummer, Strike, Logic drummer) and GA3 especially. If you are NOT into electronica, techno hip hop and hard rock, it seem you have nothing to get here. If you are likewise are NOT into tweaking of every sound possible and in-detail programming, constructing your own grooves from scratch - just stay away.
Being very impressed with Cubase 8 Pro as first impressions after coming back to cubase after long absence spent with protools mainly I had great hopes for the GA4.
With all respect that it usually takes some time to learn a new software, I have difficulties to find this version of GA useful. All default patterns seems to start off with hard hitting rock settings that don´t fit much anywhere else. When will Steinberg respect that many of their users have a lot wider musical ambitions than making teenage hits?
To try to be concrete, after reading the manual through and through, and seeing a few youtube videos, I still dont know where to start. I find the musical classification system almost totally absent, only to be substituted with phony “song” names nobody but the programmer who made them with be able to decipher in terms of genre and style. You have to switch between menu´s until you got blue fingers and eyes.
If you could have expanded and developed GA3 further into modernity, it could have become as good as anything.
If Steinberg wants to aim for going “pro”, why not do it all the way!
I am sorry if it seems I might be writing out of ignorance or blindness. I do hope someone will give me the enlightening word, but this is such a letdown. With all respect for all the work gone into the plugin in it´s present form I find it really frustrating and have to go on searching for a nuanced drum plugin. / yours fransmo
Wow a jazz kit without brushes? What WERE they thinking? I used the brushes a great deal GA 3 - I have got GA 4 - I haven’t even booted it yet as I have plenty of other options and I haven’t got time to learn a new interface right now - but the lack of brushes puts me off straight away.
GA4 is probably excellent at what it does - however I think calling it GA4 was misleading - given the fundamental changes in workflow they should have had the decency to call it something else - it’s more like NI’s battery than Groove Agent. At the very least if they’re going to call it GA4 then have the option to run a classic interface with the kits and sliders for patterns selected in the time-honoured way - I wouldn’t have thought it would have taken a great deal of coding to provide the options.
No matter what you call it - it’s bad. Newer should have been published. Bad interface, bad sound. Many competing software releases, just as good sounding, at a fraction of a price, and the once similar priced are much better sounding. The most annoying release in my 12 years with DAWs.
The interface is bad for what WE want of it - but for a product where you can drag audio to a pad and start editing - it’s very good - I think that’s the market SB went after - which is why I think they should have renamed the product.
Bad sound? Well it’s true it doesn’t offer as many velocity layers as other products - but if you’ve ever spent time with professional mixing engineers and listen to what they do with drums - they crush, EQ and squeeze the life out of everything - when I was a young man spending time in the studio I used to be aghast because I LOVE the sound of drums - I could happily spend hours listening to drums on their own - however it soon become apparent that the producers are simply trying to find space for them in the mix. It’s for this reason I think I’m having trouble in some mixes with my NI drum products - the sound is TOO GOOD and clashes with other instruments - I find I have to spend much more time making EQ cuts on the drum buses than I did with GA3 (and presumably with GA4) - which cut through the mix better straight out the box. I listened to GA4 extensively a couple of days ago - some kits sound great others average - but bad? Nope. Why do you think so many modern genre use arguably awful sounding drums? Old TR909 samples and wotnot? They cut through the mix because they do not clash with the rich thick basses etc.
Steinberg’s biggest failing is not supporting GA3 - all software houses should support the current and previous product, GA3 may be old but it’s the previous product and therefore should be supported - the issue on modern platforms of MIDI out not working is just unacceptable and they should patch it - not working at all on some Macs is even worse.
When I say “bad” sound I am referring to the acoustic sets. The electronic are… well in electronic “bad” often seem to be “good”. And yes I know that drums has to be EQ’ed, reverb’d, panned and compressed according to the track and genre and that sometimes (and especially when there is a lot going on on the track) drums are squeezed to almost not recognisable when in solo. However the original sound can be compared, and this original sound is the start for all mixes and sometimes you leave it quite close to the original sampling. I also have studio drummer and a couple of the abbey rd by Native, but I rarely use them. Over the years I tend to use more and more of Toontracks Superior and EzDrummer sets. They are great sounding and the interface is the best at present (IMO). I also have others that run under Kontakt and Addictive, Drumcore and MOR. MOR is by far the best sounding but the interface is cumbersome and very CPU heavy. I own the full version of GA4 and it is my biggest ulcer developing buy ever. I loved GA2 and 3 for some specialties, but now I have to revert to CB4 and PC/XP to use them. That leads me back to the start: SB should issue a 64 bit update on GA3. As I have said in another post: Steinberg will be sued by governments around the world for the increased cost of medical care for us ulcer patients.
Oh! What a great suggestion!
I would love to see this!
It will probably never happen
I would be glad too with simply a 64-bit version of GA3.
It will probably also never happen
Indeed, GA4 is a disappointment, it gives me the urge not to spend any more money on it.
at least till Steinberg gives me the possibility to create my own styles and bring some new drumkits to live. I want to create a style witch fits my song. And not the other way round. create a song that fits their style.
Did anybody of the Steinberg team read this?
We need BRUSHES!!!
Unbelievable… I have the Jazz essentials… and it’s not possible to create a slow Jazz tune or ballad with this…
STEINBERG!!! We need BRUSHES… anyone out there from Steinberg who’s listening to us?
Hi! I read in the forum that the jazzexpansion doesn´t even include a brush set.
The most annoying release in my 12 years with DAWs.