@glenn... If you really end up wanting a pad style MIDI controller I bought the Korg padKontrol. It is kind of old but with the right program it works very well and they are much less expensive right now than devices of similar sensitivity and quality. It also has a neat little XY pad and Roll/Flam functions (which are kind of weird to use live but pretty neat and useful for parameter controls). They are about $170 (used to sell for over $300). http://www.amazon.com/Kor...-1&keywords=padkontrol Also they have a MIDI footswitch input so you can have a kick pedal. The place I bought mine from provided a free generic footswitch with my purchase but here is the actual Korg brand pedal if you want something like that as well... http://www.amazon.com/PS-...19&keywords=padkontrol Actually I just found a bundle for the same price that includes the footswitch AND some MIDI cables... http://www.amazon.com/Kor...13&keywords=padkontrol It is a bit of a PITA to get it set up and the manual is kind of confusing (I think it was translated to English from Japanese) but once you figure it out it's a nice device. Sadly with Session drummer and FL studio (the only other two drum programs I've tried with it other than BFD Eco) it doesn't really register the velocity of hits very well so I just set it to "Fixed Velocity" and tweaked that stuff in Sonar after through the Piano Roll View. I'm not sure if this is a problem with the programs or the padKontrol but with BFD Eco I have had WAY more luck with velocity sensitivity and have been able to recreate some very smooth and dynamic sounding drum parts. The other nice thing about this device is because it has the XY pad, two assignable knobs and 16 programmable presets you can use it for pretty much any MIDI parameters you want. For example you can program it as a transport panel (Play, Stop, Record, etc..). You can program it to control faders and knobs within X1. You can use it with synths like ZETA or Dimension Pro and adjust parameters on the fly. You can use it to trigger loops in the Matrix. Whatever you want. For me I plan to eventually use it alongside a keyboard controller to cycle through sounds and adjust parameters while I play the keys. Now that's pretty advanced stuff and I've got a LOT to learn in that department but apparently it is possible. It would probably be far better than your current pad system and it hooks up directly VIA USB so you wouldn't have to have a million cables sticking out everywhere. ALSO if you wanted to control the sounds in your current pad controller or any other keyboard or device with MIDI in/outs you can do so. For example of you had an old DX 7 or Roland or whatever keyboard you can hook the pK up to it with old style MIDI cables, set your MIDI and CC notes and control everything within that host device like notes and pitch/volume wheels, etc... Just thought I'd toss that out there for you. Between the pK and the M-Audio Oxygen keyboards I mentioned earlier you could have the best of both worlds for around or under your $300 budget limit. Cheers!

If you're thinking about getting a pad controller, I heard that Maschine has been discontinued, with something new coming out from NI. So you might not want to get that. On the other hand, you might want to, because it's a high quality pad controller with a lot of sounds and fucntionality beyond just drum pads. And its about half price or something now, I think, and NI did make some statements about maintaining compatibility w/ existing gear, IIRC...

never used a Dr808 so sorry if i'm way off here.

on the drum machines i have used i would program my pattern and then mute all but two of the drum parts (might have to delete them in some machines or set velocity to zero).

next make sonar the timing master and play in those two drum parts to a stereo (or two mono ) track(s).

next, repeat for two more drum tracks and because sonar is the timing master it should all stay in time.

repeat until done

FXpansion BFD eco Drum Plug-in with 40 Mixed Preset Kits and 1,500 Grooves I just ordered it for $49 online, great price, thanks for the heads up

Session Drummer 3 and step sequencer work for me, and can sound great. I use the SD3 "Motown" kit a lot. Putting ghost notes into Step Seq is easy if you work on a 16th-note grid, or 6/8 grid for shuffles. Add your accents on these points, reduce their levels as your ears tell you. You can tell SS to advance or delay any individual note slightly to create different feels. A slightly late snare backbeat will give you a laid back bluesy feel. An early kick note can give a propulsive drive to the song. I found it necessary to bounce the SS clips to plain MIDI clips before mixing, or beats would be dropped. And it's free.