Kev - Not to knock what u said about the 9th Wonder, but when listening to his joints - ive gotta say that his stuff doesnt sound that "loose" or more humanized. His stuff sounds pretty quantized sometimes. I can feel a hint of FL swing on some of his shit, but still most of the time his stuff sounds pretty locked.(Not to say thats bad though - I actually like this feel on certain joints, it just depends) Plus, theres other factors that come into play as to how he pgrms his beats and how you do yours.......
He may still use the step sequencer like everyone starts with, or he might use a midi controller now to lay down most parts. If he does use a midi controller other things come into play like how he uses it to interact with the prgm tho. If he leaves the quantize while recording setting on while he bangs out the drum parts then of course its gonna sound the same as the step sequencer minus the new dynamics that have been added from actually playin the parts with human touch.....but if he leaves that feature off and just plays the shit out, well then its all natural human error and nothing else.
So if that is how hes prgming then all u gotta do is cop a midi controller and do tha same thing. But musics music man, its all up to u how u want yer shit to sound, ya know?
Heres a suggestion and something i often do:
**While recording with a midi controller set the quantize while recording feature to 1/16 but then let it only quantize at about 50% or less to leave some human error in there.
Or ---- If you are gonna still use the stepper due to lack of controller or that u simply prefer this method - Try fucking with the swing feature while u prgm the hits and until it feels a little more to your liking, ....only thing is this still isnt gonna sound the same as human error.
Ooooor --- Just prgm with a midi controller and leave the quantize off for good. Just be carefull though becuase sometimes if yer shit aint on point you can really fuck up the groove of the song. Basically, this all just comes with practice like anything else.
Good luck.
STEEZ