Phenomenal... If I have one complaint about this amazing piece of software, it's that FXPansion didn't do a better job selling it to me in the first place! So I wound up with LM-4 and Battery, and Attack... when all along this kickass piece of gear was out there waiting for me.
The concept of DR-008 takes a few minutes to grok, and the excellent manual is definitely not an optional read in my estimation... you really need to check it out to see what all is possible.
Frankly, there's just nothing else to compare it to. An open, modular drum-oriented sample playback platform with a bevy of modules. 'Battery vs. DR-008' isn't a fair comparison, though I've seen many conversations on this topic... you might compare ONE of DR-008's modules to Battery, likewise you might compare ONE or TWO of DR-008's modules to Attack, but again... this doesn't make sense. In reality, DR-008 is all of these tools and more. The ability to have a different 'module' on each pad is flat-out brilliant.
And I have to weigh in on the UI design, too. Having four separate views for different needs is phenomenal. DR-008 really works the way I work, so I can switch between a high-level, 'birds-eye' view of the drum layout, to a more detailed mixing console type layout for detailed work.
The DR-008 kits that came with SONAR 2 XL, including goodies from Manytone and Kenfen, are for the most part top rate. (Some duds, but mostly immediately useful) I think it would be smart to include kits that show off more of DR-008's other modules, rather than just the simple sampler.
And the whammy for me? Drumsynth support. I've been using MDA's drumsynth as a 'secret weapon' for quite some time now... and DR-008 has one built right in, plus all the awesome presets that come with DrumSynth are available immediately in DR-008 using the DrumSynth008 presets.
Battery and LM4 kit import support round out the amazing list of features, and frankly, I can't say enough.
