What are the advantages of using Jamstix over Addictive Drums? I'm not very familiar with Jamstix. Do you have to get AD paks with it too? Is it used in addition to or with AD2? Please help! I Am an ignoramous!

I've had Jamstix for quite some time.
 
The thing I like about JS is that after you load the kit, the style, and select a drummer, you simply click playback on the DAW and JS creates a part for you.   Everything is editable from the EQ and compression to the size and tuning of the pieces of the kit. You can also vary the busyness of the kick  or the snare, vary the hit power, ride the cymbal bell, and literally dozens of other parameters. It all depends on how well you want to learn JS and how deeply you want to edit it and control it. OR...... you can simply load the 3 basics and let it run. All you need to do there is tell it where the song starts and where it ends. JS will handle the rest. As a non-drummer, I like to say, Jamstix does the "heavy lifting" for me.
 
You have to learn a few things about editing and song creation and getting around inside JS to really get it's full potential working for you.  Once you have that, it's actually fairly easy to work with.
 
They sell lots of drum kit sound packs and percussion add ons for JS BUT..... it will also recognize and be able to use the sound packs and kits from many of the other major drum synths. I have Battery so I've added several Battery 3 kits to it.
 
You should go to the JS forums if you are considering buying it and read the threads there. Sign up and ask questions as well. I will say that from my experience, I had a few problems early on and their internet support is second to none. It seems like (at that time) Ralph was always on. He took a personal interest in handling my problems and solved every one of them in a timely manner.
 
I don't use drum synths too often now.....I use the drums in Band in a Box mostly, but on occasion, I like to pop JS into a project to get a slightly different take on the drums.
 
If they still offer the free demo version, just DL it and give it a try. That's what I did and needless to say, I loved how easy it was to work with and the drum tracks it created were so much better than the ones I was creating at the time with point and click midi. If you end up buying, just be sure to totally remove the demo version BEFORE you install the full version....that was one of my mistakes that caused issues.

what is the sequence that lets hear a drum part played. I can see the drum part but have no idea how to get it to play anything

It's been my experience that if you add JS to a new project and nothing else.....and hit play after setting JS up with a kit, style, and drummer, it will do nothing. Like any other synth with no midi, it has no idea what to do.
 
Jamstix needs "something" in the other tracks.  You either need to have an audio track in the project with Jamstix or a midi track with some midi in it.
 
JS will play with audio in the freestyle or follow audio mode.  If you have midi, just add a midi note somewhere out past the end of where you think your song will end, tell it to "follow midi",  and click play.Even though there is no immediate midi data, JS will see the midi note out there in measure 156 and start playing based on kit, style, and drummer, at the tempo you have selected for the project.
 
Jamstix will create a track based on any of the above situations.  It will be a default basic drum pattern based on those few parameters. Once you get sound and it's playing, now you can edit the song structure and the individual measures or bars in JS, adding fills and accents and editing the hits and the values of the hits.....
 
You can also give it a pre-programmed MIDI drum track created somewhere else and imported into your DAW. Simply tell JS to play the midi in that track and it will play it like any other synth would play the midi.
 
As you learn JS... while it's very easy to get a fairly nice drum track with minimal input, there are so many features that will allow you to really dig in. This thing is easily as complex in it's features and functions as Sonar is for audio editing. You have a learning curve ahead..... just how far you want to go on that curve is totally up to you.
 
Have fun.... it's certainly very cool and fun to work with.

Excellent posts Herb!!
 
.....and a +100 for JS.

Jamstix will play in a new project as long as a part, style, drummer and kit are loaded in Jamstix and "Stop at Project End" is not enabled. No other data need be in the project. At least, it does in X3 when I load an empty project with Jamstix, load a song in Jamstix, make sure Jamstix is set to "Normal Jam" (the default) and hit play on the SONAR transport.

Thanks guys!! I've been working with your inputs. I played a basic part in AD2 as I normally do then gave that to Jamstix. Wow! Very cool how it turned it into a nice drum track! Normally I would have spent a long time coming up with a workable drum track. I can see how Jamstik will pay off big time here!!!
Btw, I hear Jamstix 4 will soon be released.

scook   -   Jamstix will play in a new project as long as a part, style, drummer and kit are loaded in Jamstix and "Stop at Project End" is not enabled.
 
You mean in Sonar preferences?

Yes, the "Stop at Project End" option in the Track View Options menu. When this option is disabled, the SONAR transport will run without any data in the project.

If they ever get jamstix in IOS 7 that will be heaven for me.
I would love to be on a plane or in a hotel room when i travel composing drum tracks.
 
JR