I'm not all that convinced that the Transient+ has a point to it. FR touts it as a 'drum module', but it can obviously do more. But the 'more' that it can do is hampered by an underpowered user interface, a storage maximum of a mere 16 gig, and too much going on behind too few controls. So I'm left thinking that it doesn't make sense at all, and it's another example of FutureRetro having the right concept, but the wrong execution.
Consider: if it's a drum module only, then why should it be so big? Most dedicated drum modules are pretty small. So that screws the Transient+ on that front. Seriously...Erica has a pre-sampled drum module with quite a few drum sound options that fits in just 3 hp. You could cram four of those in the Transient+'s space.
But then, if it's a sampler module, then why is the user interface so hampering and why the limited data ceiling on the microSD? That's not exactly what you'd want to see. Plus, in the same general price range you already have other sampler modules that can kick this thing's butt up one wall and down the other.
Or...if it can do all these functions, how exactly do you make sense of this? True, it's got a menu-driven method which makes use of its OLED 'stamp' screen...but consider what a bitch it'd be to jump around between needed parameters in a live performance situation. This sort of UI might work in the studio, but when you're 'under the gun' before an audience...perhaps not so well, then.
Jared Flickinger just hasn't really managed to nail a lot of his company's recent offerings, IMHO. Take the Zillion. Now, here's something with a lot of promise: an algorithmic sequence generator based on the concepts used in the legendary Triadex Muse. Done right, this would be a required buy for a HUGE segment of the electronic music userbase. But it wasn't done right; the user interface wasn't intuitive (unlike the actual Triadex Muse, amazingly) and certain parts of the operation were hampered by a reliance on external MIDI cues...again, unlike the Triadex Muse, which was self-regulating once its parameters had been set. In the end, you got a product that was a niche-type curiosity when compared to what it was initially claiming to be. And ultimately, why would I (or anyone) do this with hardware, anyway? In Ableton Live, there's tons of tools that can do what the Zillion was supposed to...and they fit in the same computer as part of the same DAW being used to create works using both internal software and external hardware. And they're already paid for when you bought the DAW in the first place.
So, frankly, I wouldn't go with any version of this. Look either at more upscale at offerings such as the Orthagonal ER-301 or the 1010 Bitbox+ if you're trying to get at what the Transient+ is supposed to be about...or, as you noted, just assemble the various necessary functions from more basic modules. Either way, you get more to work with.