Steven Slate Audio Trigger 2 Platinum

All Slate products are great, and this is no exception. Lots of sounds available, I only wish the different mics were given a more transparant title which would reveal the processing. It triggers in the right polarity, which is great. Lots of options and tweak ability. And very handy than you can use a second input the actually filter a sound from the signal, like getting rid of the hihat in the snare mic. It also has a great gate. I do recommend you buy the platinum version, because of the sounds it has available. And of course, you can always buy more sample libraries.

It's a great tool in the studio! I use it in every single project even if I'm not using drum samples.

Pros - it can create MIDI of your audio peaks (drum hits) so so much more accurate than the DAW's built-in Audio-to-MIDI function! Makes work much faster and easier to set up my MIDI for gates!
Also I like the way it handle samples - the built-in mixer.
I didn't really use it for real-time triggering only when recording triggered kick drum I using it to feed a kick sample sound to the drummer's headphones.

Cons - The "tune" funcion could come in handy sometimes but it's not that great - you better looking for other plugin (waves) for that.
If you have multiple samples you want to blend you need two audio tracks with 1-1 trigger instances on them because you cannot delay the samples inside the plugin's mixer to phase align them.

If you want to program drums from scratch you better look instead into other stuff like GGD - but if you want sample replace/reinforce drums or make your own samples this is a no brainer!

I've been making music for 22 years, most of it spent between worship services and the studio. As a bass player, the moment that matters most to me is when the kick and bass lock together as one. But so often, the recorded drums just couldn't support that. I'd lay down a great performance, only to have the kick get buried and the snare fall flat, and no amount of EQ could fix it.

Trigger 2 Platinum truly put an end to that struggle.

What surprised me most was how alive the performance stays. I had always assumed drum replacers sounded mechanical, but even when I blend the samples with the original drums, nothing gets smeared. If anything, the drummer's dynamics and groove come through even more clearly. The first day I used it, I actually went back and pulled out tracks I had given up on years ago.

Being able to stack up to 8 sample layers is another huge plus. I can keep the warm character of the original kick and just add a touch of a punchy sample, and suddenly the kick sits exactly where it belongs in the mix. When I put the bass on top and felt the two instruments lock in perfectly, it was a genuinely moving moment for me as a bassist. Converting audio to MIDI with a simple drag also saves me a huge amount of time when arranging.

The included samples exceeded my expectations too. From gentle worship songs to full band productions, I've always found a sound that fits.

These days, it's the first thing I recommend to fellow musicians and younger players doing home recording: "If drum sound is your problem, this is all you need." Trigger 2 Platinum is the tool that lets me capture great performances with great sound. My sincere thanks to everyone who made it.