I’ve been going on a spending spree lately, which I sometimes do during the gray winter months here in Michigan. I got BFD2 the other day. I bought the original BFD 1.0 when it first came out several years ago, and was thoroughly disappointed. My computer met the minimum requirements, but the sounds wouldn’t stream correctly and the program was full of other bugs. I ended up selling it on ebay, then finding a hacked copy of 1.5 last year. With a faster computer and more RAM, I found BFD to be pretty nice and even bought the Joe Berassi Evil Drums expansion pack for it. Still, I didn’t use it much because it was lacking something. When I saw some of the previews of BFD2, I thought it looked like they made some major improvements and decided to give it a second chance. I forked over my $399 and went legit again with Fxpansion.I’m a “try before I buy” consumer. If I can’t find a demo version and I can find a hacked version, I don’t have a problem trying it. Ninety-nine percent of the time I end up not using the program, but there’s always that 1% that turns out to be a gem. I believe BFD2 to finally be one of those gems. Out of the box, it was an easy install and activation. I got up and running in less than an hour (a full install of 55GB!). It’s pretty intuitive to use and laid out well. I was jamming to the luscious new sounds within minutes (although I strongly suggest reading the extensive manual to learn everything this has to offer). How good does it sound? Unbelievably realistic. You get a whole new library of sounds, and I can still import my expansion pack to use with it. It comes with an extensive array of fx, so you can use it for any genre of music. I’m really pumped about this release and am recommending it to anyone who is wishing to capture that acoustic drum sound without the hassle of mic-ing up a real kit.

Here are some of the specs and description from maker, Fxpansion:BFD2’s easy to use interface is redesigned from the ground up to give you more power and control for shaping your drums than ever before. It’s fast and easy to set up and integrate into your digital audio workstation of choice.Create expressive, complex drum parts using 55GB of rare, vintage, boutique and classic drumkits. Recorded at AIR Studios in London, BFD2’s sound library combines extreme realism with stunning sound quality.Mix your drums with flexible routing, submixing and built-in EQ, compressors and other effects.Meanwhile, BFD2’s Groove engine offers advanced editing, performance and humanization functions for creating realistic drum parts. You can even lay out a full song’s drum track entirely within BFD2!All BFD1.5 registered users are eligible to purchase BFD2 upgrade. All BFD1.5 and expansion pack sound content is compatible with BFD2 and BFD2 upgrade.

10 full kits, extra snares, cymbals, and more

MY RECOMMENDATION: Buy it. I understand Toontracks is coming out with DKFH Superior 2 soon as well, but I can’t imagine it touching BFD2. The boys at Fxpansion finally got it 100% right.Click below to listen to the demo tracks (they sound great, but really don’t do the program justice):

 

 Taurina [1:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Hey Liverpool: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Nice Trip: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Colors: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download