DrumFlex vs Superior Drummer 3

Superior Drummer 3 and DrumFlex are both for drum parts played from MIDI, but they're at opposite ends of size. Superior Drummer 3 is Toontrack's drum production program: 230+ GB of sampled drums, a 22-channel mixer, and tools such as audio-to-MIDI conversion, on Windows and Mac. DrumFlex is a drum kit that's modeled rather than sampled: kits for each style, a 14.2 MB download, $79.

What they have in common

• Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit, with a standalone program included in each.
• Drums played from MIDI. Superior Drummer 3 comes with about 1,640 core MIDI library files. DrumFlex opens and plays a MIDI file, and plays from an electronic drum kit that sends General MIDI drum notes (it doesn't read the hi-hat pedal's controller or cymbal chokes by aftertouch) or General MIDI drum keys on any channel.
• A mix and effects. Superior Drummer 3 has a mixer with 35 effects. DrumFlex has a level for each part of the kit, a room and an EQ.

Where Superior Drummer 3 stands out

• Mac as well as Windows, with VST, AU and AAX plugins.
• Much more content. 7 drum kits in 14 kit configurations, 16 kicks, 25 snares and 32 cymbals, plus about 350 electronic sounds.
• A full mixer. 22 mixer channels, 35 mixer effects and 67+ mixer presets. DrumFlex has one stereo output.
• Tracker. It converts drum audio to MIDI.
• Surround. Mixes up to 11.1, using eleven extra room microphones.

Where DrumFlex stands out

• Small. It downloads at 14.2 MB and installs at 31.4 MB. Superior Drummer 3's basic sound library is about 41 GB to download, and the complete install about 236 GB.
• Every piece, tuned. Stick hardness, tuning, ring, pitch glide and snare wires, then tuning, ring and muffle for the kick, snare and toms, the kick's beater, the sizes of the kick and toms, a room and an EQ.
• No two hits alike. Hit variation changes each hit a little; set it to 0 and every hit is struck the same. The same song renders the same every time.
• Four slots (A to D) to switch between kits or layer them, with Compare, Vary and Randomize.
• No account. A license key and your email address, entered once for each Windows user on each computer, no online activation, and one license for one person, to use on all of their own computers. Toontrack uses a user account, and its FAQ allows two active authorizations at a time and four in total.
• Built to play ComposerFlex's songs, our songwriting program, on the same PC with no setup.
• $79, where Superior Drummer 3 is $399, or $319 as a crossgrade for owners of an earlier EZdrummer.

Which to pick

• On a Mac: Superior Drummer 3.
• For a drum mix with many channels and effects, or surround: Superior Drummer 3.
• To turn drum audio into MIDI: Superior Drummer 3.
• For a large library of kits and electronic sounds: Superior Drummer 3.
• On Windows, for kits you can tune piece by piece, with a small download: DrumFlex.
• If you'd rather have no account, and a price of $79: DrumFlex.

Owning both

Superior Drummer 3 is a production suite, and DrumFlex is a small instrument you can open and play at once, so some players could keep one for each job. DrumFlex's demo, which you can download and try before you buy, is here; Toontrack's 10-day trials page doesn't list Superior Drummer 3, so check its site for what it offers. This page doesn't compare how they sound. That's for your ears.

The facts side by side

Every fact about Superior Drummer 3 is from Toontrack's own pages, checked on 7 November 2026. Prices are list prices in US dollars; sales come and go.

More: virtual drums compared: modeled, sampled and drum machines, a table of 27 products, and all about DrumFlex.

If something here is out of date, write to [email protected] and we'll correct it.

Sources

• https://www.toontrack.com/product/superior-drummer-3/
• https://www.toontrack.com/faq/how-many-computers-can-i-install-my-products-on/
• https://www.toontrack.com/10-day-trials/