I highly recommend BFD3 because to my ears it is capable of very human sounding loops and patterns. It is pretty easy to use and there are expansion that sound really good. I haven't used Superior Drummers or EZDrummer and I will likely never switch because BFD3 covers everything I need and more.
I guess it's like the Kemper of the drum programming world. Get the best and concentrate on other challenges, instead of worrying about great recorded guitar tone or realistic sounding drums.
I bought Superior Drummer 2 on the weekend and am very happy with it. Had been using Addictive Drums (the original version 1) for several years. SD2's step up in sample quality is very noticeable and the interface is actually pretty similar to Addictives layout of years ago.
I mostly use drum programs to write ideas and demo songs at home, so really the drum sound quality super important, but curiosity got the better of me and I decided to upgrade. A very noticeable difference and the demo tracks do seem to have more life in them.
Great news for some here:
Steven Slate has finally provided us with some update info on SSD5. From BeerGutz:
3 Days Ago at BeerGutz
"SSD5 is very close. It's being debugged right now in parallel to the Mimic software."
"SSD5 has been years in the making, and it deserves to be debuted without distraction in its own spotlight out of respect to all those involved in its development... and as you may have heard, there would have been a big distraction and possible overshadowing due to the VRS announcement. So we are working on the SSD5 launch now."
Display MoreGreat news for some here:
Steven Slate has finally provided us with some update info on SSD5. From BeerGutz:
"SSD5 is very close. It's being debugged right now in parallel to the Mimic software."
"SSD5 has been years in the making, and it deserves to be debuted without distraction in its own spotlight out of respect to all those involved in its development... and as you may have heard, there would have been a big distraction and possible overshadowing due to the VRS announcement. So we are working on the SSD5 launch now."
HAH!! how wonderful to see your original avatar in the thread, monkeyman!! 
Knowing slate, I predict 2 years before we see it (halfway joke here :-)) I'm definitely interested in seeing what they have come up with. If it's "just" another sample library I'm thoroughly uninterested. Wonder if they've managed to come up with something revolutionary. On the other hand - if that were the case I'm sure they'd spoken about it at NAMM..
Yep SSD 5 has been a long long time in the making, must have been at least 2 years ago when Sweetwater accidentally published it in there catalog. I've kind of lost faith in slate now FG-X 2 has been promised for a very long time (I doubt it will ever come) My Raven doesn't work properly in Windows and pro tools and all I'm told is I should upgrade Windows and pro tools, but this is not possible due to my TDM rig.
I was a massive fan of Slate but I don't intend to buy anything from this company again other that SSD5 if it gives us something truly extra than another sample player
Fair enough, Raoul. You're not the first to say those things, mate.
Well, Steven had a bunch of other stuff going on, according to him - VMS promotion along with the "Everything Bundle" and further mic modelling during the latter half of last year, and this year at NAMM, the new interface and "paradigm", so it's understandable he'd be looking for clear air from a business-marketing standpoint... IMHO.
Mate, my avatar's in every forum I frequent (which is quite a few), except one. Oh, hang on... Skoczy's using it for now, albeit in a not-tweaked-for-correct-contrast form, which is reserved for moi. 
So glad it helped brighten your day, bud!
As I said over at BeerGutz, I really am optimistic that SSD5's gonna be something special. IMHO, it's safe to assume that it'll sound fantastic; for me the excitement lies in the possibility of greatly-enhanced user-friendliness and power. I'd like to see more built-in pattern "power", and some sort of consistency where assigned individual outs are concerned - I don't want them to change every time I switch kits as they do now. The plugin needs to be smart enough to know how to avoid, say, making a tom channel or whatever a room-ambience one just because the various kits don't all follow a pre-ordained, set-in-stone set of naming rules and channel orders and numbers.
IOW, I just want to be able to set a default kit up the way I like, and switch kits to my heart's content without having to reassign individual elements to the appropriate DAW channels. This totally kills the ability to A/B kits, for me anyway, and it's really my only big beef with SSD4. Extra power and ease of use with patterns a-la EZ would be the icing on the cake, and I'm betting Slate's done something special there.
