Hey, I totally agree! ROM drum sounds do suck. I don't have much experience with Sample CDs so Im not gonna comment on that, but I will tell you what works well for me.
I sample my own drum sounds off of a
Korg ER-1, various hand drums, and download sounds off the net. Then I tweak them in Wavelab. This is where the magic happens. I always tweak them in wavelab, you know givem some punch, some originality, maybe even some reverb. Then I put them into my Yamaha A4000 sampler, edit a few parameters, and magically i get kick ass original to somewhat original drum sounds.
So, the way I see it, you can't get away with using drum samples without editing them to your liking, otherwise your gonna have some shitty weak ass drum sounds lacking clarity and punch.
Who makes these samples in the first place? people making weak ass drum samples? forgetit.

What works for everyone else?