It comprises six full kits in 14 configurations: Ayotte Classic (sticks and rods), four-piece Gretsch Round Badge (sticks, brushes and rods, all with snares on and off, plus mallets), Ludwig (single- and double-headed toms), Premier Genista, Pearl Masterworks and Yamaha Beech Custom.

SD3’s 230GB library of raw drum samples was recorded (in 11-channel surround) by engineering demigod George Massenburg at Belgium’s state of the art Galaxy Studios. This has to be done via the new search engine, rather than the right-click menu, but that’s not a great chore, and the search engine itself works well, utilising a text field and a comprehensive bank of filters.

Unlike SD2, though, individual kit pieces can now be mixed up as you see fit across all libraries. Like SD2, as well as the kits in the core library, SD3 can also load any installed SDX and EZX add-ons. Size-wise, SD3 blows SD2’s 20GB library out of the water with 230GB of recordings downloaded in five separate bundles - the surround channels (which are very usable as additional ambience channels for stereo mixes) add up to almost 100GB alone.

The centrepiece of Superior Drummer 3 is its massive core library of multisampled drums and cymbals recorded by the legendary George Massenburg in true 11-channel surround (see boxout). The whole thing is freely resizable, too, with internal elements (text and controls) scalable from 70-250%, and all four tabbed sections able to be popped out into their own windows.

Superior drums 3