- 24 hours ago
- 3 min read
_80s hits is a rare collection of 23 drum kits made from 1,277 vintage 1980s drum samples. Drums from the 80s, sourced and sampled in the 80s, and then sampled again from the output of the 80s hardware sampler that they were made for.
We sampled 23 factory floppy disk presets in total, and then ported them to:
Ableton Live
FL Studio
Logic Pro
Kontakt
Battery
MPC
Decent Sampler
SFZ
If you don’t own any of the provided software/hardware formats, just use the Decent Sampler version for free with any DAW (VST, AU, AAX). Our Decent Sampler formats are just as capable and high quality as the others, and it is completely free to download and use without restrictions.
We figured everyone would want to easily add that classic 80s “gated reverb" sound, so we managed to give you a simple control for that classic sound built into most of these modern formats. We used a custom convolution reverb IR profile captured from an 80s digital reverb rack, so when paired with the samples, it’s an authentic sound down to the last detail.
Since the sampler has its own built-in 80s analogue effects, we decided to also capture the drum kit "presets" that use the analog filters, chorus, phaser, and flanger.
To help induce a more 80s workflow, we preserved the way the original presets were mapped and played across keys. All the baked-in stereo panning, bold pitching of single samples, and hardware quirks, are all true to the original patches.
Instruments
• 23 Ableton 12 Drum Racks
• 23 FL Studio Patchers
• 23 Ableton 12 Drum Racks
• 23 Kontakt Instruments
• 23 Battery Kits
• 1 Decent Sampler Multi-Kit Instrument
• 23 Logic Pro Patch & Sampler Presets
• 23 MPC Kits/Programs
• 23 SFZ Sample Maps
Drum Kits:
• Kit 01 - Full Kit
• Kit 02 - Full Kit Chorus FX
• Kit 03 - Congas & Percs
• Kit 04 - Cymbals Etc.
• Kit 05 - Toms
• Kit 06 - Toms Special
• Kit 07 - Full Kit 2
• Kit 08 - Full Kit 2 Stereo FX
• Kit 09 - Full Kit 2 Chorus FX
• Kit 10 - Full Kit 2 Phaser FX
• Kit 11 - Combo Kit
• Kit 12 - Full Kit 3
• Kit 13 - Full Kit 3 Pitched
• Kit 14 - Misc Kit
• Kit 15 - Electro Kit
• Kit 16 - Electro Hat & Kick FX
• Kit 17 - Electro Kit Pitched FX
• Kit 18 - Electro Kit Chorus FX
• Kit 19 - Cymbals
• Kit 20 - Cymbals FX
• Kit 21 - Cymbals Pitched
• Kit 22 - Cymbals Phaser FX
• Kit 23 - Snare Pitched
Facts
Both the samples and the Emu Emax sampler were created somewhere between 1981 and 1989.
Sample libraries came on 3.5” floppy disks and had a very "early digital" sound quality.
The original factory sampled drums and AD/DA converters are both 12-bit, with an average sample rate of 28kHz.
The frequency aliasing when pitching samples is rough and real.
The sampler has that recognizable “crunchy” 80s quality all around.
Each kit is labelled, and organized into 23 different folders, with clear and consistent file naming for every 96kHz/24-bit WAV sample.
Every device is ready to drag, drop, and load into your DAW of choice. There are clear instructions of how to load each format.
Notes
Although we made every effort to make every format as similar in sound and function as possible, each format has its own quirks and limitations.
Ableton, FL Studio, Logic, Kontakt, and Decent Sampler are all fully functional and nearly identical in sound and functionality.
• 2 Reverb controls (dark & bright)
• 1 Reverb “Gate” control
• 1 “Dirt” (lo-fi saturation) control
Battery and MPC kits are ready to load, but they will lack some of our custom effects, features, and functionality.
Battery and MPC users may wish to lay out their samples differently for fancy finger drumming duties.
SFZ files are provided as sample maps for those who want to dig deeper and build kits from scratch or in other hardware/software.
1,277 samples. (665MB)
Minimum Requirements:
Ableton 12 Suite
Logic Pro 12
FL Studio 2025 Fruity Edition
Kontakt 7 (Full Version Only)
Battery 4
Decent Sampler
MPC that supports Expansion packs
96k/24bit .wav sources.
100% Royalty-Free.
Designed in Vancouver, Canada by Subsocial Studios.
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