Electronic Drum Kits

- How long have you been using it? I've been using it for a bit over 5 months. I had a Millenium MPS-200 before getting this one. - Did you try any other models before buying it? I tried the Roland TD6 at a friend's. It's true that it's a different ballgame, the pads respond better on the Roland, mainly the snare pad with mesh drum head, but for the price, I decided to go with the Millenium MPS-600. - Which feature do you like the most / the least? I'll start by saying what I don't like. The brand, which makes you really think it twice before buying it, it's still $750. The reliability of the pads, yes, I think the 3rd zone of the ride is not easy to activate. You get used to it, but it sometimes seems to have a will of its own. The kick pad broke after 4 months of use, but Thomann and their excellent customer service sent me a new one right away. Now, what I like most. For $750 you get a solid rack, a 3-position hi-hat pedal, one 12" dual-zone hi-hat cymbals, two 12" dual-zone crash cymbals, one 14" triple-zone ride, three 9" dual-zone tom pads, one 11" dual-zone tom pad, one 11" dual-zone snare pad, one kick drum with pedal. Plus the module with enough connections for everything. Not to mention the headphones, throne and drum sticks. Contrary to what you might read, I think it's true that the module sounds aren't at the Roland level, but once you have browsed all sounds and customize your kit with the ones you like best, it's not that bad. You get used to it pretty fast. What's more, you have a tuning system, not very fine, granted, but it works fine on the toms and cymbals, to customize a bit more your kit. The module's main asset it the USB port. With a $5 cable you can connect it to your computer to use EZDrummer or Addictive Drums, in order to have very realistic sounds. It is comprehensive and easy to use. - How would you rate its value for money? Very good. For a bit less than $750 you get an excellent and comprehensive kit. - Based on your experience, would you buy this product again? ... Absolutely, although with hindsight, if I had the means I'd go for a Roland, still the leader when it comes to e-drums.

This was the first drum kit I bought, it seems simple and the price is affordable! I can confirm that it is easy to use, it takes 15-20min to set it up and the module is very easy to use. The type of drum sounds on the module are nice, it is very easy to use (manage sounds, etc.). So, its main strengths are the price, the toms, the cymbals, and, especially, the bass drum pedal, which is very responsive, but be careful with the snare drum because some spots don't sound at all, it's very annoying! Nevertheless, the sound is not the best, it has a reverb, that is impossible to get rid of and it's very annoying! The sound hasn't much attack, due to the reverb, and you really need an excellent audio output for it to be convincing, because it's the audio output that will give your drums a good sound or not. (Despite that, the reverb is unbearable.) All in all, this drum kit is not bad, for a beginner, it's even very good. You just need to foresee changing the module fast because the one that comes with it is tiring (although that depends on how much you play it). You can always make a drum kit evolve, though, and if you are just starting out, it's more than enough. But if you have the money to buy something more high-end, don't hesitate!! If you are an experienced drummer and this is your first ELECTRONIC drum set, look somewhere else or you'll be disappointed. PS: The cans that come with it are of good quality and are more than enough for this kit. Broadly speaking: Positive: Price Sturdiness Ease of use Different sounds Negative: It's impossible to remove the reverb Limited module The hi-hats (sensibility) and snare (muted spots) are frustrating

What I like most about this product is the feel, the touch, how great and natural Alesis made this product. This great product has the ability to give life to your drum patterns which is so important if you make pop rock songs or you can even put a different spin making some jazz or hip-hop composition. The drum hoops are triple flanged steel and tension adjustable. I also do like that crash symbol can be muted just like in some acoustic drums. The value of price is great, you can't really buy something greater for this price, this is one of the most quality products out there that costs around 800$. Precision and quality of sounds is pretty wow , some don't really like the snare sound, however I do think that this products combines great an electronic kit with an acoustic one. The pads are tight and solid which is something very important , however there are some issues regarding the clamps , but it's a matter of choice. I have tried some other drum machines out there, one of it is Roland which is like the king in drum machines , this product isn't much lower in terms of quality than the Roland drum machines. Without a doubt, the sound provided by this product is exactly what we musicians need, high-quality and fast and without a doubt easy to use. Knowing what I know I would make the same choice just because the sound provided by this product is more than enough and the balance between the price of the product and the quality provided is well made. If you're searching for a Drum Kit that sounds good, is easy to use , is well-made and also is a keeper, without a doubt, this is the right choice

Electronic drumsets used to be considered a fad. Nothing more, but I disagree. To me, they fill a void in a good player’s arsinal, one which cannot be filled without accepting and embrasing the electronic drum trigger and furthermore, the electronic drumset. That is not to say that all these sets are the same, of the same caliber, of similar quality, capacity alike. That is much not the case, as this perticular set plain out is horrible alone. More on that later. I was loaned this set some years ago when my buddy went off to Europe on tour. I figured what the heck, this would make a great practice set for me to jam quietly on and finally not annoy the apartment neighbors. I was wrong. The tapping noises from these heads is louder than some snare drum hits, i kid you not. The kit claims to have over 700 “sounds” which it does, however only 20 or so were nice. Of them, all of them were generic and sounded like utter trash. That’s ok though, because frankly, what sounds lame can be used properly, as I did. With this in mind, I decided to do what Neil Peart did, integrate this kit into my main set. By and far, this was the best decision I ever made. This allowed me to trigger sounds while using my main set and sound like a full complete drummer section. Percussion was never the same. I was able to use the “cheesy” sounds as a plus for once, and this made me very happy as a drummer, as I was embracing a not so shiny past in a new way. All in all, for a beginner set, this is a nice unit, however, when you get better and purchase a real set, don’t be so quick to get rid of these, try to integrate them into your new rig, because differentiation as a drummer is never a bad thing.

I took my first seat behind the Yamaha DTXtreme Standard 6 months ago, and I find it to be the perfect practice kit. Once you get the feel for the pads and get everything positioned to your liking, this is the most important part of enjoying an electronic set like the DTxtreme, you need to be comfortable with where the sticks are going to land. Yamaha is a trusted brand, you know you are getting quality, so the price fits the value well. It's in the same range as other brands, and so for me it was a matter of what I needed to practice. It fits the bill perfectly and I get plenty of good jam sessions in, whether just listening through a pair of headphones or plugging in for a light jam session with the band.

I purchased the Roland TD-3 drum kit to be used in my apartment to practice drums without annoying my neighbors. Eventually I started using it to record MIDI drums in Pro Tools. The TD-3 is perfect for this kind of application. It isn't as fancy as the more expensive Roland E-Drums, but it is reliable and functions appropriately. The cymbals are the least realistic thing about playing the TD-3 compared to acoustic drums/cymbals. I think this is the hardest thing for e-drums to get right mainly because rubber feels much more different than metal. I don't mind rubber pads for drums, but having rubber cymbals is a little weird. Nonetheless, the drum pads and the cymbal pads trigger very well. They just don't feel that great. It is a sacrifice you have to make for quiet drums. The hi-hat pedal also takes a little getting used to. Since I have had the kit, I have purchased a couple of Hart Dynamics drum pads to supplement my TD-3. These triggers are much more realistic to the look and feel of acoustic drums. They actually work very well with the TD-3 drum module. This was a big advantage to the roland e-drum kits. I definitely like being able to expand my kit as I save up the money. Eventually I plan on adding better cymbals and hi-hats too.

So after a trip to Guitar Center on a Thursday evening, myself and a buddy of mine start looking into some electronic drums. One of the first ones we messed with where the Roland TD 3kw. At first glance all the electric drums looked the same to me. But I think the thing that made Rolands TD 3kw stand out a little more was how real it actually felt to play them. You really had the sensation of playing a real set. Ofcourse without the loud sound of drumming. I actually plan on getting he Roland TD 3kw for my son when he gets a little older but by that time they will have so many other upgrades to this one it will be called something else. So my friend purchased the set for his home studio and he has been using it daily and I get the chance to use it too. I love how you can just put headphones on and jam out without making hardly any noise at all. Plust the own board part where you can load your kits on. The price of it wasn’t too expensive to me because I was so use to seeing the prices of the high end real sets that this was like a breathe of fresh air , the Roland TD 3kw was the first electronic drum set that I have used on more than 1 occasion and im happy to get the chance to use it when I can. I can say its pretty tough too, I have seen it get knocked over several times with it being in a small space with a lot of other non musical stuff going around it gets hit and stuff spilled on it but it keeps working perfectly fine. This will be perfect for someone who needs drums in there room and can make a lot of noise. that’s why I want my son to have these.

The heart of this drum set is the TD-6V Percussion Sound Module. It has a very nice sleek black design with an easy to read blue LCD screen. This module is not overload with buttons, it has just the right amount for easy uncomplicated play. These easy touch rubber buttons are lit up for quick use. The TD-6V sound module includes; 64 voices, 1024 drum instruments, 262 backing instruments, 99 drum kits, 6 part sequencer, as well as Ambient and 2 Band-Master Equalizer for awesome effects. You get 150 preset songs with this model. In addition to the TD-6V sound module, this drum set also includes; an upright kick drum pad which can accommodate double-brass pedals, a PDX-8 mesh V-Pad with an expanded 10-inch rim, the C-5 cymbal pad with a 12 inch playing zone with separate bow & edge triggering and a double reinforced drum stand. Any way you look at it this is a very sharp looking and playing electrical drum set. You have the capability to record your songs and learn from the pre-installed database. This drum set takes up very little room compared to an acoustical set and of course gives you the option of plugging in a head set for personal play. I bought this drum set as a Christmas gift for my son. He has been enamored with drums since he was little. He love that he can practice whatever he wants and it doesn't bother anyone else. He is very creative. I was able to obtain this set from a friend out of state for about $1200. I am not sure where they got it from. I just told them which one I wanted and they took care of the details. My favorite option is the headphones. My children can play the drums without disturbing anyone else. We are very happy with this drum set. My son has gotten hours of enjoyment in improving his talent. Very nice and professional looking design. I highly recommend this product to anyone who loves to play the drums or who like me wanted a set for their children. This unit can be broke down for transport. You will be the envy of all your friends. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I am a drummer, bassist and guitarist that has been playing one instrument or another for over 17 years. My style varies from one instrument to another, though it is generally in the rock, funk and acoustic genres. I acquired this unit from Sam Ash (in store, not online) for $599 plus tax. I had chosen this unit due to my previous experiences with Alesis equipment, and the fact that it is, in my opinion, the best electronic kit within my price range. The price, first and foremost. Based on my experience and research, it seems to be the most bang for the buck. The set-up is also sturdy and the heads are not the hard rubber sort. A lot of tweaking is necessary to prevent crosstalk and noise. You are only limited to 21 banks to store kits (one kit per bank). The kit seems sturdy, with secure mounts and rack. Alesis seems to have come through for those wanting an extremely versatile kit for not a lot of scratch. The quality of the sounds, construction, and general conceptualization of the kit makes this a comparable to kits in the $1000+ range. Great for practice, home studio and even some gigging. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

26 years playing in my 30 yr tenure on this planet - touring 10k venues to quiet NY sessions.. everything in between. Bought used, but like new condition. TD-6V (2005 model) for 1100.00 First, I take my reviews really seriously. Check my DW review (link below) just so you have an idea of how much so: www.musicgearreview.com/review-display/5974.html BTW: I hope my reviews are helpful to you. If they are, please RATE THEM accordingly. Thanks! I can go on and on about what I like about these things, but I am going to try and give it to you straight- both the pros AND cons here: First, all us drummers know what a bitch it is to carry all the crap we need to. About in 2001, I went on a crusade to maximize efficiency of my acoustic kit. I have it such that my 5 piece club-date kit is reduced to kick, 13x6 snare, 10x6 aux popcorn snare, and 10 and 14 toms (pop corn located where rack2 would normally be). These 5 drums PLUS 18 ride, 16 and 14 crash, 14 china, 10 splash and 13 hats: ALL of this shit literally fits onto TWO boom stands, plus normal hat stand and nsare stand... NOT BAD RIGHT?? well guess what - even as "streamlined" as I've made my acoustic kit, the V-Drums kit is SOOO EASY: fold in the rack "sides" so its one neat unit, pick it up and CARRY OUT. DONE!!! Aside fromm the lightness and ease of transport, let me say this: ELECTRONIC DRUMS HAVE COMME A LONG LONG WAY!!! back when I was touring, I used to play a 6 piece DW kit along with an ALESIS DM PRO brain linked to a DrumKat TURBO Kat. despite how good that brain sounded, and how fast the Kat was, I gotta say- the v drums kit (I think) triggers FASTER. there's literally NO latency - it works phenomenal. WHY BUY ELECTRONICS: Interestingly enough, many drummers hate the idea of electronic drums -- STOP THAT SHIT. V-drums sound incredible- but aside from that, THEY SOLVE THE STAGE VOLUME PROBLEM! The difference between a great sounding band on the other 99.8% of the shitty sounding garage acts out there is even if they're organized and tight sounding as a unit, they DONT have a workable, usable stage volume. Acoustic drums are wonderful- but its very very hard to NOT raise your natural volume as the crowd gets into the show and starts shakin ass etc etc... we've all been there- we all know. add to this the natural fact that ALL guitarist love to play on "eleven" - it becomes a mess. On stage, all the instruments get turned up trying to complete, the vocal monitors get cranked to earbleed, just so the front cant HEAR... it sucks! ENTER ROLAND V DRUMS: V Drums SOLVE the stage volume problem. Even more importantly, they DONT go out of tune!! I dont give a shit if you play DW's, GMS or ToysRuS brand drums - play 3 hard 55-655 minutes sets - THEY GO OUT OF TUNE! V drums no not. EVER. And for the record, if ya WANTED to change the pitch and "tune" them - you CAN... its one of MANY parameters you can change in the brain! Even more importantly then the fact that they dont go out of tune, the TOm-Tom sounds CUT - you have to realize, youur eliminating the need to Mic ANY drums - which makes MANAGING the drummers' used inputs EASY. You simply run 2 1/4" (left and right) outs from the brain to your board - DONE. For the record, even if you have a stereo-capable board, I recomend SPLITTING your outputts- leave a seperate channel for your left AND right... (trust me- the fact that you're NOT occupying 5 or 8 or MORE mic-channels will make your sound guy happy... he or she will be more than happy to let you use 2!!! The diversity of sounds is incredible! The brain comes with 99 pre-programmed "kits" which are your MIDI patches. While youu cant store MORE than this, 99 is plenty. you can easily "move around" patches within the brain- this way you have all the kits you need NEAR each other- so you can shift on the fly, whilst on stage in the middle of a set. Furthermore, you can rename kits, so that way the names are meaningful to you: Example: WTF is the point of "rosewood"... that name means shit to a drummer! On the other hand, if you named it "U2 Streets" that is a PERFECT name - and meaningful- easdy to identify mid-show. Bring Balance to Your Stage!! In keeping witth the huge improvements in stage volume, what you'll notice is since EVERYONE in the band can (and NEEDS to ) play LOWER, all of you can HEAR EVERYTHING! it becomes easier to play better cause there's no more guess work - the stage volume is controllable enought to everyone such that you can hear the mix AND the outside volume -- its not masked by an out of control stage volume. This alone will yield great improvements to your bands' sound-- PROVIDED the rest of the guys are responsible enough to lower down and stay that way! EASE OF NAVIGATION: I cant tell you how impressed I am at the ease of use and tab-nivigation built into the TD6 brain module. Consider that i bought my TD6v kit used, SATURDAY MORNING. I played it out both Saturday night AND sunday night... Trust me- I was nervous! But the drastic change in stage volume meant everyone was able to hear EVERYTHING and they didnt need to turn up A few notes on the CONS - I've given you all the PROS... 1) You need a powerful speaker to hear yourself on stage: and particularly something that can reproduce a kick drum pretty well... You will need either a REALLY good powerful monitor speaker with a good couple of hundred watts from your board OR a great amplifier. IF using a board-monitor, This alone MIGHT be a con, because doing so means you typically DO NOT have any EQ control through the board for a monitor... It helps to EQ in a "smile" so you can hear kick drum well, and hear hi-hat. 2) Hi-Hat will be one of the areas that requires the most attention, if you want to be successful with this kit: First, it's almost a GIVEN that you will need to crank the HH foot pedal volume- if you want to be able to get that nice natural sounding "chick" when you stomp on it. You can find this in and then toggle to . Again, it helps to be able to crank up the hi's EQ-wise, because you really need to hear what the HH is doingg while on stage, to make sure you're keeping it OPEN long enough.. EXAMPLE: Take the opening beat for AeroSmiths "Walk This Way." The openingg beat is a simple rock beat, BUT, it requires you to hit the OPEN hi-hat on the "1" and keep it open until exactly the "2" If you close it early or late, it sound wrong- PERIOD. You will need to modify the volume, sensitivity and threshold, as well as the chick-volume (above) to make sure youur foot will get the natural feel of a real hihat. NOTE: the TD6V kit commes standard (now) with a CY-5 as a hi hat. The next older itteration of the kit used a gum-rubber pad (like the tomtoms) instead of the cymal-shaped CY5 pad. There's not a WHOLE lot of difference between the two, PLAYING-Wise, though I personally like the feel of the CY5 better, since it more accurately gives you the bow-VS-bell feel- AND it pretty decently triggers the sounds accordingly. YOU DO NOT NEED TO SPEND THE MONEY ON THE CY-11 OR CY-12 HI-HAT SYSTEM!!!! IN FACT, IT IS A WASTE!!! despite the advantage of the 2-cymbal system of the CY11 and 12, vs the one cymbal CY5, the 11/12 does NOT trigger a whole lot better AND requires you to drag around a heavy frickin hi hat stand. SAVE YOUR 500 BEANS!! stay with the gum-pad OR cy5... whichever yours came with. RACK UPDATE: Roland evidently added a cross-bar to the stock rack that comes with the TD6V... BFD!!! well- in fairness, maybe not - we'll see how road-worthy this thing is the more I play it- but for now, it seems fine. If i start breaking rack parts (clamps etc) I will change the tone of my review to "pissed off" as expected!! A few last notes on the pitfalls: Be extra aware of where instruments are PANNED - especially if palying through a PA system! while it's nice to pan a kit, alot of how that effect comes across hinges on the room you'r playing in and its acoustics- so bear in mind, for level reasons, it's wiser sometimes to keep things centralized... BTW- I didnt write this to start a debate. Im sure MANY of you guys keep your shit panned and it works great - I'm just saying this is a subjective thing. YES- I LOVE when myy drums are panned beautifully bla bla bla... and gorgeous virgins are dropping at my feet and shit bla bla bla.. But let's face it- UNLESS you have a full-time sound guy, it's really hard to pull that off without SOME trade-off. EVERYTHING is a trade-off some how. NOTE on KICK drums: Again, particularly if you're a club-date player, or you're just using this thing for gigs, i recomend keeping your kick drums level fairly HIGH - like over 105 or so - dont be shy- 120 is fine. BUT- do NOT do the same for the snare of toms - those may need to be a bit lower. the Hi-Hat also requires a higher level in order to cut through AND to be heard- see also the above note regarding HI-Hat sound and EQ through monitors.. etc. While it's nice to avoid the weight of carrying your own AMP as a monitor, the benefit again, fo doing this is you get your own EQ control AS WELL as your own volume control. Regardless, I used a powerful Yamamha monitor (SM151V) all weekend, through our board, and it worked very well- even without the EQ control. BUT - it required the rest of the band members to stay controlled in their volumes. Again, a SMILE curve of your own amp's EQ will give you easier volume control from the Throne AND better EQ control so you can make sure you HEAR THOSE HATS!!! Thus far the thing seems pretty robust- but only time and wear-and-tear will truly tell the tale... Again, if stuff starts breaking down, you will hear my tone change from happy to pissed off in myy update... hahaha Almost all drummers have a fear of electronics - if its not worrying how they sound, or how difficult it may be to use them, worse, its the STYGMA that is tyypically associated with em... FORGET IT!!! Read what I opened this whole damned review up with: THESE THINGS HAVE COMME A LONG LONG LONG WAY!!! In terms of sound, I give em a 5. Quality and build, a 4.5 and in terms of flexibilty, I give them a 4, only because you get much more finite adjustment in tthe higher modules, like the TD12 and TD20. Regardless, the 6 has been more than FINE for me- and my gig is COMPLEX- we do everyting from reggae to soca in addition to the rock, hard rock and oldies- so you can bet your ass that i use ALOT of kits through the night. The TD6 is a great module for a working drummer- because it keeps it simple enough to learn quickly and to navigate effectively through the night wihtout drama. While I know the 12 and 20 modules have more bells and whistles, they're also harder to get around in - which is why i think the TD6 is a stupendous module for the working drummer. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I acquired this kit from my local Yamaha dealer drum shop. I paid 1100$ (Can). I have had the kit for about 2 months. Obviously the first big appeal is the fact that it can be played in silence, which is great for the people I live with. I've been playing drums for about 3 year but have never had the opprotunity to practice as much as I have had with this kit. I also like the fact that creating, editing and saving drumkits is very easy, this is a very user friendly kit. The control unit comes with many different audio ins and outs which makes it easy to hook up head phones, speakers or use the kit for home recording purposes. I also enjoy the fact that any pad can be assigned with any sound. For instance, I can have a ride cymbol in my top right tom and snare in my high-hat, its wide open. The control module also has a audio in right on the front which can be used to play along with songs for a computer or CD player. The biggest downside is that there is no way to import new drum sounds. There is a very limited number of different high-hat, cymbol and bass drum sounds. The good news however is that because the sounds can be altered, many different sounds can be made from the existing sounds. The high-hat control is also a downfall in that it sounds and feels nothing like a real high-hat. The unit came with 3 boxes and was very easy to set up. No tools are required and the best part is that all the cables came pre-labelled. Once together I found the kit to be very stable and easily adjustable to fit my playing style. I like the fact that the controls are close at hand and tearing down the kit is as easy as setting it up. For the first 15 minutes playing the kit I thought I had made a major mistake and was very unhappy about my purchase. I thought it felt strange and that the drum kits it reproduced sounded fake. Upon playing the kit more I realized how great it is for silent practice. I also realized that the terrible sound I was hearing could be easily adjusted. I also came around to the feel of the kit, the pads don't have as much give as a regular drum kit but it is very easy to compensate and get used to the kit. By altering existing kits and sounds I now have a number of custom kits which sound great and are fun to play. Each has their own style and different characteristics. I really love the kit now and couldn't imagine being without it. I hoghly recommend it to beginners and professionals alike. Warning: As I also own an acoustic kit I was already in possesion of a drum stool, drumsticks and a kick pedal. However NONE of these items are included with the kit. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this from Bedrock Music, Crawley, because it offered so much more than an acoustic kit could ever do. The unit is excellent, with over 90 preset kits to play on and many preset songs to play along with. When you get to grips with the many features you can create your own kits and import or create new songs/recordings yourself. All in all this is excellent, not only in its compact yet stylish design but also in its playability and the features it offers. The only fault I have found so far with this kit is the price it costs in the first place, but even then it is still relatively good value for money when you consider the features it offers. The quality is fantastic, as you would expect from a Yamaha. The 7-ply 3" mahogany drum pads are excellent and the triggers generally work straight off. The DTXtreme unit is well designed and feels sturdy when it is being used. This kit is excellent, well worth the high price it costs. The variety of kit types make playing more enjoyable while the quality is easily good enough to meet recording studio needs. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com