drum sounds

[ronniemac4]

I know this has been discussed, but I wanted to start a new thread. I have downloaded demos of a lot of soft synths and think I have come to the conclusion that I would prefer a drum machine. I am curious what you all think would be a good drum machine for around 550.00 and below. I am writing mellow acoustic music with female vocals and like the loop type patterns with odd sounding beats. I also like the more techno oriented sounds. I am looking at the Korg Electribe series. Anyone with experience with them? Are there better machines for this price?
Thanks,
Ron

[sugarfuzz]

Ronnie, have you ever tried that boss groove doctor? My friend just bought one, and gave it to me for a week to see if it was worth keeping, and I really like it. I think he got for around 300.00 brand new. It had a good bit of hip hop, and techno sounding beats, a lot of patterns, and very easy tempo control. Anyway, in just one week with that thing I laid down some cool tracks!

[Chompers]

I havent touched a drum machine since I got Reason.
It is so much better than any hardware out there.
Have you tried it?

[ronniemac4]

No, I havent tried reason. I hear a lot of people really like it, but since I am not too familiar with soft synths I was worried about it being compatible with ProTools. I know it doesnt support DirectConnect and it seems like a lot of work to incorporate it with the 001 systems. Thats the only reason I have not really looked into it too much.
Ron

[keysmia]

check out native instruments battery. It apparantly works with Direct connect.I hear it is the bomb.

[sidereal]

For hardware, I'm really digging the Electribe sampler version. It's so easy to compose beats. But it's even better when you get really out there with stuff. It's got enough "channels" so that you can like double a snare to a different track and change the filter setting, or assign an effect to one of them. The delays are nicely bpm'd if you want them to be. It's also great if you're a drummer (like me) and you do performances along with a drum machine. I can tweak all the settings in real-time live to create dub reggae style randomness. Messing with the volumes, pans and filter is very easy and you can always go back to the original in mid-performance.

Anyway, it's pretty damn cool.

[chealy]

I use the Electribe ER-1 for something similar to what you have in mind ("grooving" up acoustic tracks) and I find it works great - in fact I was hoping to make it my trademark! I was thinking about integrating a hardware sampler as well (especially for live work) - does anyone have any suggestion as to what is "hot" on the market?