What's lacking in EZDrummer, Jimmy? I know you know drum sounds better than I, so just trying to figure out what I'm missing here, being that I use EZD on everything.
To the OP, if you can afford it, Overloud's TH2 is awesome for metal. The presets are fabulous.
From my experience, none of the snare samples included with EZD ever work in a good mix. Especially the DKFH set-which is typically purchased by the metal guys.
EZDrummer lacks the quality sounding samples to make it worth using. Yeah, the snare sample cuts through, but it sounds like crap. The 'Room' mic track should be always deleted without blinking an eye. Whoever decided that was good should have been fired long ago. This is just my opinion, but look around, and you will find many others that have the same. I purchased AD and found almost the same thing. Even though there is more control over the samples, it still sounds robotic. I use Steven Slate Trigger to replace the snare samples on every track that I/or others use for AD or EZD tracks. The samples are way more natural sounding. Strange, using a live drum sampling program to replace fake drum samples, but it sure sounds better. BTW, I don't hear much love for Steven Slate Drums (VSTi program), so I am not sure if that would be better. I record live drums more than I program, so Trigger is the software that I use.
Then, I record live drums later anyway, so it really isn't an issue from my perspective.
Keep in mind, I am not disrespecting anyone's use of the program. If it works for you and sounds good to you, then by all means use it. It just does not IMO have the ability to fit into any of my mixes with any natural feel at all. Most listeners probably don't give a crap, but I can pick out a generic EXD sample quickly.
Again, 'Cheap Yet Decent" is what the thread is about. Defining 'decent' is all I am trying to describe from my experience.