fireberd
There is nothing in the AD drums for me, too.  I do mostly classic country, western swing, etc.  Its all for other genres of music. 

Same situation here. In bluegrass, the upright bass is the kick and the mandolin takes the place of the snare. So drums are a non-issue for me.

I'm a fan of AD2, but taking the upgrade last May, gave me 3 kits, then Black Friday Sales led me to invest in the 4 I was most interested in. At the moment I keep talking myself into the 3 I would add, but not being 100% I then chill on the idea. Hoping that they release something new that's helps make my mind up They say more is on the way.
 
I agree with the OP, even as an AD2 interested user, two versions providing a connection with it is enough. I fear they release something later in the year, and I will hold off buying them because next years sonar will bundle again. Puts you between a rock and a hard place.
 
If I had more Rock sensibilities, it wouldn't be such an issue.

jih64
Yes nothing beats a 'real' drummer, but an Electronic Drum kit with your Drum plug of choice goes along way to making 'certain' things a lot easier to attain, as apposed to pure programing, not to mention a lot more fun, or a bit less fun, using professionally played drum grooves, midi tracks and altering them to taste, but still you can't beat the real thing I guess, with a 'real' drummer that is ;).

If you're into rock, I've yet to find a better way to lay down drum parts than the Discrete Drums libraries. They're long loops played by really good drummers, and recorded very neutrally so you can tweak the sound as you want. Drummers who hear my music are sure that I'm using a real drummer . In a way, I am.
 
I do feel BFD is outstanding and AD is no slouch, same with the NI Komplete kits etc., but nothing beats a real drummer - even if he's been "freeze-dried" into loops.

I also want greater functions development instead of sample libraries.

 
........ but nothing beats a real drummer .......

I used to think this way, but I only think that's the case if you're trying to fake people out with your drum programming and it's really an important ingredient to making your music sound good (and appeal to others??).
 
This is coming from a 61 yr old rocker that has seen the changes over the years.  I say move on, embrace something new, or else you'll always be surrounded by a set of restrictive rules.

I just want to "slap" our kid drummer at church, who REFUSES to even embrace new drum technology, because it doesn't have the "feel" and continues to play on the church's horrible sounding $150 kit, stuck in an "aquarium", poorly mic'd.  But it's *church* and you're not supposed to slap people!  ;-D

mixmkr

 
........ but nothing beats a real drummer .......

I used to think this way, but I only think that's the case if you're trying to fake people out with your drum programming and it's really an important ingredient to making your music sound good (and appeal to others??).

I think it depends a lot on the genre. If you're doing rock, it has a certain "sound." But if you're doing techno, then a human drummer is the wrong choice if only because it won't be possible to maintain the all-important metronomic beat.
 
There's also some crossover. I thought Drum 'n' Bass demanded electronic drums, but heard a human drummer playing DnB once and he added a whole different flavor. It was a cool alternative. Personally, the best part about playing with a human drummer has less to do with the sound, and more to do with the interaction. One of the things I like about the Discrete Drums libraries is they have lots of options so you can slice and dice the part into something that does sound like it's interacting to some degree.
 
 

Anderton

mixmkr

 
........ but nothing beats a real drummer .......

I used to think this way, but I only think that's the case if you're trying to fake people out with your drum programming and it's really an important ingredient to making your music sound good (and appeal to others??).

I think it depends a lot on the genre. If you're doing rock, it has a certain "sound." But if you're doing techno, then a human drummer is the wrong choice if only because it won't be possible to maintain the all-important metronomic beat.
 
There's also some crossover. I thought Drum 'n' Bass demanded electronic drums, but heard a human drummer playing DnB once and he added a whole different flavor. It was a cool alternative. Personally, the best part about playing with a human drummer has less to do with the sound, and more to do with the interaction. One of the things I like about the Discrete Drums libraries is they have lots of options so you can slice and dice the part into something that does sound like it's interacting to some degree.
 
 

The interaction can be a huge ingredient.  There's crossovers happening everywhere.  Think Def Lepard.  But I'm pretty sure we're on the same page.  I just tend to go for something new...kinda like your approach on your amp models.  Why recreate a Marshall Plexi (among the many already existing...or even a REAL one).  Create an amp model that sounds great.  My Boss GT-100 [floor stomper] takes off in that direction, with their "custom" models.

Anderton If you're into rock, I've yet to find a better way to lay down drum parts than the Discrete Drums libraries. They're long loops played by really good drummers, and recorded very neutrally so you can tweak the sound as you want. Drummers who hear my music are sure that I'm using a real drummer . In a way, I am.
 
I do feel BFD is outstanding and AD is no slouch, same with the NI Komplete kits etc., but nothing beats a real drummer - even if he's been "freeze-dried" into loops.

What are your thoughts on DrumCore? Same "real drummer" feel with great flexibility, but stuck in limbo on the way to v4 (64-bit) ever since SonomaWireworks acquired it and has tried to rework v4 from scratch — endless beta, with pre-paid people upset due to delivery being around 14 months late. (Sonoma acquired Discrete too in 2009).

I really don't like some of the samples in AD. I do metal and hard rock, but the metal pack is a big lack compared to what I have in SD2, SSD4 (to a lesser degree) and my Kontakt libraries, all vastly superior (no pun intended hehe) products. I really don't like any of the toms AD comes with. The snares are alright and I really like the designer Sonor snare. The preset on the Black Velvet demo video was amazing, but AD2 as whole just didn't do it for me. I might give it another try, but right now it's worth it for it to come with Sonar as a starting point maybe for people just getting into recording, but it's obviously not aimed at more experienced users.

chamlin
What are your thoughts on DrumCore? Same "real drummer" feel with great flexibility, but stuck in limbo on the way to v4 (64-bit) ever since SonomaWireworks acquired it and has tried to rework v4 from scratch — endless beta, with pre-paid people upset due to delivery being around 14 months late. (Sonoma acquired Discrete too in 2009).

I have Kitcore and absolutely love it, especially the Matt Cameron kitpack. But I got BFD3 for Christmas last year and have been using that pretty exclusively. I would like to upgrade Kitcore, though. The main reason I got BFD3 is I was tired of using jBridge just to be able to use Kitcore. And we all know how long we've been waiting for Kitcore and Drumcore to be updated to 64 bit. I just got tired of waiting for Sonoma to get their head out of their rears.