mixmkr
But I'm pretty sure we're on the same page. 

Based on your posting history, that's a pretty safe bet 

Leadfoot
And we all know how long we've been waiting for Kitcore and Drumcore to be updated to 64 bit. 

I've heard rumors...

fireberd
My old Alesis SR-16, program 31A is still my go to for classic country. 

I used a drum kit and percussion kit I constructed in an SR-16 for many years, but as a sound module, the MIDI being programmed via Sonar's step sequencer or Live rather than the SR's dreadful programming interface. The pads started to wear out some time ago and the sockets started to go so to be on the safe side I sampled the sounds I used and loaded the samples into Session Drummer.

That drum machine, or its sounds, is to be found on no end of commercial recordings and for good reason.

I had the HR-16 and glued the interiors many times.  Loved that machine.

I don't use any of the drums included in Sonar.  I always use drum loops (usually Beta Monkey) because I prefer the sound of something recorded by an actual drummer.  It just takes too much time for me to try to create something that I'm happy with.  I wrote and recorded a song this afternoon and doubt I could record a heavy rock song with decent sounding drums in that amount of time otherwise. 

Ha, I just recently bout a sample pack of 200+ drum machines from the 80's. Cost: $7 on ebay.
 
Included are the HR-16, SR-16 etc. 

I used to have a Roland TR-707 that I actually liked the kick and snare, and the toms weren't too bad at the time.  Of course the cymbals were to laugh at...but that was quite a while ago when memory was at a premium price.  I remember when one MEG of ram was $100.

I'm of the honest opinion that overall Addictive Drums II sounds better than both Superior Drummer and BFD. IMO Cakewalk has made the right decision. And also, look at it this way, apart from real-life and real-time dynamics of a real drummer (which every drum replacement is at a loss for) if someone can't make convincing fill-drums with Addictive Drummer II, then something's very wrong.
 
Compared to my days with a Roland D50 and D20 and later the Roland XP80 and a Korg Trinity, the samples we have to work with these days are a dream come true, very high-quality and convincing, it simply can't get any better. Even the current Yamaha Motif XF and Korg Kronos don't have anything that sound as good as this, so you tell me; some people are just spoiled these days. Herbie Hancock or Midnight Star never had access to these samples we have today, but that didn't stop them...
 
I make EDM-Pop music, but there are times when i like to incorporate some realistic drum sounds for a break-down beat, and Addictive Drummer II will do me just fine.   
 
I've got an opposite complaint to the OP, i want Cakewalk to give us a version III of the PSYN softsynth and a version II of Pentagon and add a dedicated EDM Drum-Machine.

TomHelvey
Haha, I feel your pain on AD2. Great stuff but it doesn't really work for the music I'm doing. If I were doing alternative or classic rock, AD2 would probably be my go to plugin for my drum scratch tracks but I would still use a real drummer and a real kit for any kind of release in those genres. It's a PITA to try to do much more than dynamics with any drum plugin, a real drummer can nail that stuff without even thinking about it. There are literally a million sounds between the edge and the bell on a ride, no way any plugin is ever going to get close, and that's just one cymbal. Plugins are great for SoundCloud demos though. You'll probably get the most bang from your buck by going for the weirdest stuff XLN makes.
As far as the price hike is concerned, $200 is pretty much the industry standard for the latest and greatest. I haven't crashed Sonar in a while so I'm taking a wait and see attitude.
 
 

On what planet?   Reason upgrades = $129,  Live Standard upgrades = $149, Tracktion upgrade = $29, FL Studio = FREE,  Reaper = $40.  From Sweetwater, Studio One Artist to Pro = $99.
 As for Sonar I've never paid over $149.  I bought the pre release.
 
 I thought the "As far as the price hike is concerned, $200 is pretty much the industry standard for the latest and greatest" is something a developer would say to justify the price of an upgrade.  
 
 Sometimes if something works great it's hard to get other to upgrade. Think XP and W7.  That's the same with DAWs so you have to throw something in to sway them.
 
 I keep saying this is my last version of Sonar.  I said that after S5 but somehow made it from S7 to the present. I'm a casual user.  The AD pack swayed me since I have 4 machines and need another license. Plus I like the idea of incremental updates.

Vern C
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.

 You couldn't find any packs for death metal till about 5 years ago.   I would think the larger libraries would be better than what is in EZD or AD.  SSD came close.  I use to look for drummer forums who sampled their kits and was going to make them in Battery.