Are there any advantages of Strike

I'm in the market for a good virtual drummer. I run Protools LE 7.3.1 with an MBOX 2 on a macbook pro 2.2. I've heard good things about Strike. But I know that Groove Agent 3 was just released and I can get that 170.00 cheaper because of their academic discount. Price always being a concern, I was wondering what I'll be missing out on by not going with the protools optimized strike. Are there any drawbacks of using a virtual instrument as a rewire slave rather than an RTAS plugin. Even if you don't have Groove Agent yourself, if there's anything you might know, any information would be greatly appreciated. Thankyou. Terence

In my own experience, I tend to use rewired devices less because they aren't as quick and simple to hook up as plugin instruments. Also, if you forget to close them out, PT gives you a nasty error when exiting. Maybe the extra time in setting up a rewire device is worth it to you. I have to admit that I did like the demos I heard of GA3. fxpansion's vst-to-rtas adapter might get rid of the need for rewire. Another option to consider: Drumcore. I've been using it for more things than I'd care to admit. Between that and Stylus RMX, I've been covering a lot of ground - but I always want more. There is now a DrumCore LT which is free. You then add famous "players" for around $70 each (discounted) in their "DrummerPaks".

In the small amount of time I've been using Strike, I'm liking it more and more. My favorite thing about it is how it doesn't crash Protools. It sounds good and it's super easy to use, very intuitive. I like the preset patterns too, just wish there were more available. After wasting so much time trying to get BFD to work, Strike is such a relief.