Acon Digital Remix:Drums Review: A Great, Specialized Sequel to One of My Favorite Plugins

I’m fortunate to be able to review such a wide variety of plugins and products. However, sometimes, I don’t go back to the plugin for a while after reviewing it. It’s not that I’m lying to people and saying products are good when they’re actually not; it’s just that not every product I review fits perfectly into my workflow.

In the case of Acon Digital’s Remix, that’s a plugin I’ve used countless times since my initial review. I’ve found it to come in handy time and time again. And, as you may know, there’s a new Remix version on the market.

Remix:Drums is just Remix but specifically tailored towards separating stems in drum loops, rather than entire songs. It hones in the technology that made the original plugin so great and provides a far more specific use. If you like (or hate) a sound in a drum loop you have, now you can adjust the levels as much as you like, and even isolate it to sample that specific drum.

As an avid user of both Remix and drum loops, I had to check this out. Here are my thoughts.

Huh, this looks familiar…

Do you know how to use Remix? No? Do you know how to turn sliders up and down, click buttons, and twist knobs? Yes? Then, congrats, you know how to use Remix:Drums!

One of my favorite parts of the original Remix was how easy it was to use, and I’m happy to report that this same ease-of-use is in the sequel. Everything is in exactly the same place as it was in Remix, but I’ll go through it all again anyhow.

The sliders under each instrument type (Kick, Snare, Hi-Hat) handle the volume for that instrument. Turn the hi-hat slider down, and the hats in your drum loop will be quieter. Turn the kick up, and it’ll be louder. Hit S to solo that instrument and see how it sounds, and hit M to mute it.

Underneath, you can adjust panning and sensitivity (which I describe as how hard the algorithm works on separating the instrument from the loop). You can make the processing as intense or as relaxed as you wish.

All of this, once again, works in REAL-TIME. This is another reason why I love the original Remix so much. Everything just works in real time, no extra tabs or exporting required (unless you’d like to do that), and it’s reasonably light on the CPU. Plus, you can automate each parameter within your daw to add instant life and excitement to your originally static drum loops.

There are also some presets yet again in case you’d like a starting point. They’re pretty simple here, so most of the joy will come from you playing around with the settings.

So, how does it work?

Great Success!

About as well as I hoped it would.

I’ll make it clear: the separation algorithm isn’t perfect, but I expected that, considering that every drum loop is different. The big success here, for me, is the ability to adjust things in real time with no latency, being able to add instant life to drum loops during a track by automating volume and panning of specific parts of each loop, and the possibilities that this brings to re-sampling. If you like a snare in a drum loop, now there’s an easy way to isolate and save it.

Here’s a quick demo I whipped up. It consists of a drum loop from one of my favorite sample packs, Cyclopedia Two. The first part is the unedited loop, the second is the kick isolated, the third is the snare, the fourth is the hi-hats, and the fifth is my “remix” of the loop, with levels adjusted and some slight panning added.

As you can hear, it’s not perfect at isolating certain parts, although it did nail the hi-hats. But, again, the excitement I have for this plugin comes from the ability to make edits to your drum loops in real time. You can bring so much life to your tracks with this just by doing some simple automation. I’m excited to use it in some of my projects coming forward!

Pros and Cons:

Pros:

All of the tech-y things I’ve been geeking out about so far.

Real-time processing, automation, and the prospect of easy drum resampling makes this a tool that anybody whose music requires intricate drum work should consider getting.

It’s so easy to use.

Seriously, this plugin is idiot proof. Literally anybody could figure the controls here out. I love how you’re able to add high-tech processing to your tracks by just dragging a slider, and you’ll be able to be an expert with it in no time.

Cons:

The isolation is finicky.

As you can hear in my demo, it’s not completely perfect. It’s better at isolating some aspects of drum loops than others. I’ll happily say that it does its job well enough, but just be prepared for mixed results on different drum loops.

It’s a bit pricy for a specialized tool.

Remix:Drums sells for $50 USD. Can’t lie – that’s a bit expensive.

With that being said, this plugin does something that I’ve never seen a plugin do before, and can help you get the most out of your drum work. But I’m also well aware that 50 bucks is a lot for some people. You can technically get a discount on it if you grab the Drum Production Suite which also includes the new DeBleed:Drums plugin, but that goes for $119, and is that price due to DeBleed:Drums selling for $100. It’s not much of a discount on its own, but if you want both plugins, it’s worth a look.

If you can afford it and think you can get some good usage out of it, I’d buy without a second thought. If you need some time to think about it, there’s a demo version.

Conclusion: Should you get it?

This is a tool that anyone who values their drums should, at the very least, strongly consider getting. I am once again very impressed, and I cannot wait to see what else Acon Digital has coming up.

Buy Remix:Drums here.