Logic, Ableton Live, FL Studio, LALAL.AI, Moises, and iZotope RX can all pull the drums out of a song, and some do it well. But nearly all of them hand you the kit as a single stem. ReStem 2 starts where they stop and splits the drums themselves into seven.
A general splitter divides a song into broad families, usually vocals, drums, bass, and everything else. That's genuinely useful for remixing, sampling, and practice, and if that's your job, the splitter built into your DAW may be all you need.
The ceiling appears when the drums are the point. One drums stem means the kick, snare, hi-hat, toms, and cymbals share every fader move. You can't turn up the snare or tame a crash, because they're all still one sound.
| Tool | Drum output | How it runs |
|---|---|---|
| ReStem 2 | Seven stems: kick, snare, hi-hat, toms, ride, crash, other | Plugin & standalone, live or offline, all local |
| Logic Pro Stem Splitter | One drums stem | Offline, in Logic on Apple Silicon |
| Ableton Live 12 | One drums stem | Offline, Suite edition |
| FL Studio | One drums stem | Offline, in the DAW |
| iZotope RX (Music Rebalance) | One percussion stem | Editor and plugin |
| LALAL.AI | One drums stem | Web service and app, subscription |
| Moises | Drum parts on its Pro plan, in the app | Cloud processing, practice-focused app |
| Hit'n'Mix RipX | Note-level editing; no clean per-drum stems | Its own standalone environment |
Details checked August 2026. Products change quickly in this category, so please verify before you decide.
Moises can split a drum track into parts on its Pro subscription, in its practice app, with processing in the cloud. Some community-built engines can split a kit too, if you're comfortable uploading files or setting up technical tools. None of them offer a plugin in your DAW, stems on faders while the track plays, or anything to do with the stems afterward.
In ReStem each stem lands on a fader with a gate and transient shaper, kick and snare add the Transient Restorer and Drumagog replacement, and every stem can send MIDI with articulations sorted. In ARA2 hosts it all happens on the timeline. A splitter gives you files. ReStem gives you a drum production workflow.
Everything runs on your own computer. Nothing is uploaded, there's no per-minute metering or monthly plan, and the same file always renders the same stems, which matters when revisions come back months later.
Feed ReStem a full mixed song and the drums come apart the same way, with the vocals, guitars, and everything else landing on the Other stem. For remix and sampling work, that's often the whole job in one pass.
For occasional four-stem jobs, use what you have; the splitters in Logic, Live, and FL Studio are free with the DAW. For drum work, the single drums stem is where they stop and ReStem begins. Product-by-product detail is on the comparisons page.
No. They produce one drums stem from a full song. As of this writing, no DAW's built-in splitter separates the kit into individual drums.
Never. Separation runs entirely on your computer and works with no internet at all. Cloud services process on their servers, usually with file-size limits and per-minute pricing.
No. ReStem 2 is a one-time purchase, $99 for Core and $199 for Pro. The Editions page has the breakdown.
The Best offline mode was built for dense, bleed-heavy material, and full mixes are its everyday work. Run your own song through the free trial and judge with your ears.
Seven days, the full Pro feature set, on your own computer.