DrumFlex vs XO

XO and DrumFlex are different kinds of tool. XO, from XLN Audio, is a beat tool built around samples: it sorts and plays the samples you have, your own and its included ones, so you can build beats from them. DrumFlex is an acoustic drum kit you play from a MIDI file, a keyboard or an electronic kit. If you want to build beats from a library of one-shot sounds, XO is the better fit. If you want a kit that plays a drum part, DrumFlex is.

What they have in common

• A program and a plugin on Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit, standalone or inside your music software.
• A way in without buying. XO has a 10-day trial. DrumFlex has a demo you can download and try before you buy.
• Presets to start from. XO comes with 240+ beat presets. DrumFlex has kits for each style, and Randomize and Vary to move away from them.

Where XO stands out

• Your own samples, organized. It sorts samples by how they sound alike, wherever you've stored them, and has filtering and search.
• A large library. 8,700+ one-shot samples and 240+ beat presets, with 35 expansions you can add.
• Swapping in one click. Replace a single sample or a whole set of them.
• Mac as well as Windows. It runs on macOS 10.13 or later, and comes as AU and AAX plugins as well as VST.
• Beats, not only drum parts. It's a tool for building a rhythm from the samples you choose, which DrumFlex isn't.

Where DrumFlex stands out

• An acoustic kit, modeled, not sampled. Kick, snare, hi-hat, three toms, ride, two crashes, china and splash, with nothing played from recordings.
• Shaped, not swapped. Stick hardness, tuning, ring and snare wires, then each piece: kick, snare and toms tuning, ring and muffle, the kick's beater, sizes, and a level for each part of the kit.
• Drum strokes. Cross-stick, rimshot, buzz stroke and brush sweep on the snare, ride bow, bell and edge, and a closed or pedal hit that cuts an open hi-hat short. No two hits alike, unless you set Hit variation to 0.
• Plays what you give it. It opens a MIDI file, takes General MIDI drum keys on any channel, and plays from an electronic drum kit that sends General MIDI drum notes (it doesn't read the hi-hat pedal's controller or cymbal chokes by aftertouch).
• Small. A 14.2 MB download, with no library to install. XO needs an internet connection during installation; DrumFlex never connects to the internet.
• Four slots to switch between kits or layer them, and a render of a MIDI file to FLAC, or to WAV with the included command-line renderer, ready to use.
• $79, one time. A license key and your email address, entered once for each Windows user on each computer, no account, no online activation, one license for one person, to use on all of their own computers. XO is $149 on its own, $189 with four expansions, or $499 for XO Complete.

Which to pick

• For building beats from samples, yours or theirs: XO.
• On a Mac: XO.
• For a drum kit that plays a MIDI file or a band part: DrumFlex.
• For an acoustic kit you can tune and shape, on Windows, for $79: DrumFlex.

Owning both

These two don't do the same job, so they sit well together: XO for beats built from samples, DrumFlex for a kit that plays a part. XO's trial is on xlnaudio.com; DrumFlex's demo is here. This page doesn't compare how they sound. That's for your ears.

The facts side by side

Every fact about XO is from XLN Audio's own pages, checked on 7 November 2026. Prices are list prices in US dollars; sales come and go.

More: virtual drums compared: modeled, sampled and drum machines, a table of 27 products, and all about DrumFlex.

If something here is out of date, write to [email protected] and we'll correct it.

Sources

• https://www.xlnaudio.com/products/xo