Love machinedrum, but I find more useful Digitakt. Then, Digitakt with samples from Machinedrum not bad 
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I still have it, it’s obviously very good for drums, but I particularly enjoy that OT (and MD) can process any incoming signal to make drums with it. I forgot A4 that can also process incoming signal.
So I bit the bullet and sold a bunch of stuff and got an OT. So my answer will probably be that soon…but for now the DN. Blows my mind every time that the sounds I can get out of it are not sampled!
Seems the answer is that any kit can make drum sounds or play back good drum sounds.
To each their own 
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…exactly that way…
Since i like reverb and distortion on my beats, i prefer stereo sampling, so i go octatrack, sampling from A4 & AH
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Having owned the OT and Rytm before, and having the AK now, I have to say the AK does it for me. They can all do drums and do them well, but I find the depth and complexity of the AK’s engine leads me to much more interesting percussive sounds. It takes a bit more work, sure, but I enjoy the sound design process and I love the results, especially when it comes to drums.
I just like the things I come up with more with the AK. It feels much more creative to me, like instead of loading a sample of a hi hat or adjusting parameters in the pre-defined hi hat engine, I’m making a hat from scratch, experimenting with varying amounts of AM, FM, noise, all kinds of oscillator sync strangeness, resonant filters modulating into the audio range, etc. forever. It’s exciting for me, to start with a blank slate and have no idea where I’ll end up.
With the AK, I can use all of these tools to experiment and sort of let the synth guide me along to new places. Or, if I feel like it, I can read an article about how the 808 produced its hats and re-create those same restrictions within a patch. Being able to choose either approach is something I have found myself to value quite a bit.
Speaking of 808’s, I have never really been all that interested in recreating the sounds of old and famous drum machines, so perhaps that could play a part in why I prefer the more open ended nature of the AK.
With all that being said, I do sometimes miss the crossfader from the OT and the overall immediacy/relative simplicity of the Rytm. I’ve never had a chance to try the MD, but I will get around to it one of these days. It seems pretty awesome. For the time being though, I love the AK. Every time I turn it on I am rewarded with all kinds of goods 
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And not only that. The filter and master overdrive seal it for me.
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Never tried DT nor DN but out of the ones I have, MD all day.
Octatrack… just because I love how flexible the programming is. Have my samples of the greats in there (DMX, EMU, 707, CR78, Linn and the like) and then pitch and mangle as I see fit. Love how fast it is to write with.
That said, have been very impressed with the drum sounds on my A4 mk2.
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MD + a DT/OT
Sequencing the MD with a OT or DT opens up a world of possibilities with micro timing, trig conditions and resampling.
Just recently got the MD and it’s like the drum machine I’ve always been missing <3
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Same here, it’s just so fun to play that putting it away is really hard.
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For synthesis:
- DIgitone
- Analog Four
For sampling: Digitakt
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So many in here praising the drum sounds from A4. You guys prefer them over the analog machines in the AR?
only had the AR for two months, but I actually sold it cause I preferred the A4 drum sounds.
On the other hand, I thought AR does better mono synth bass sounds 
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So your programming in the A4 or sampling it?
I use it as drum machine quite often. I rarely program sounds from scratch but there are great presets as starting point for drum sounds, especially the Druma soundpack by @darenager.
Still hoping for the sequel
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Í have two A4s, but use my AR and OT way more. Maybe I have to get into downloading custom sound packs for the A4. The factory sounds have not tickled my taste enough, and I get lost pretty soon if I start to program my own sounds. Are custom sound packs the way to go?
I can highly recommend these:
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The a4 is my favorite sounding drums. But programming them is not very fun
Digitone is still capable of really good drum sounds. But making them is alot more fun
A4 drums are worth the time you have to put in to making them, but I’m loving being able to free up a track or two now I have the AR on drum duties. I’m now sampling a lot of my A4 favourites for use by the AR.
As a pure drum machine I still find it a tough choice between MD and AR. I like how both sound and that they sound quite different to each other. The AR probably shades it though due to conditional trigs. I love building up evolving patterns with them. I’d miss the RAM machines on the MD if I sold it though…
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