Pre-processed drum samples: Yay or nay?

[Flow Of Time]

What do you guys think about using pre-processed dum samples? I'm currently trying to justify using them.. But it's always coming down to "C'mon man, you just want to use them beacause you're lazy. If you'd spend enough time learning how to work with unprocessed ones, you could get similar or even better results..."

 

[JasinElric]

Time is not often a luxury many of us enjoy

 

[Flow Of Time]

Well, I don't have a lot of time, but I'm not under time pressure either. So a mix can easily take several weeks for me^^

 

[Mago]

I think that the more time you've spent getting snares to sound decent on your own, the better choices you'll make regarding which "pre-processed" snare samples you'll end up choosing.

not every "pre-processed" drums sample will end up working in every mix. or in every of your mixes. or in the next mix you'll do after the one it did fit.

 

[DavePiatek]

Just like everything, they have their place and a use in the toolbox. The big issue I have is that when compression is preprinted on the samples, there's no way to simulate the compressor release on fast hits. If you're compressing regular drums and there's a super-fast fill, the compressor won't completely recover between the first and second hits. If the compression is printed into the samples, there's no way to replicate this phenomenon and it leads to machine-gunny sounding drums. However, if you're blending with the real snare, this is likely to be less of a problem.