Electronic Drums?

[Vanncad]

Hey all,

I'm seriously thinking about getting a set of electronic drums.

I'm looking at either Roland or Yamaha (kits under $1000).

Does anyone have any suggestions or experience with any their lower-end kits?

I've been checking out some YT vids and it seems some people run them through some computer software to get a better sound.
Do the cheaper sets require additional software to sound like acoustic drums?

Any info/advice is greatly appreciated.

[flyon90]

I have the Alesis DM5 kit, its about 500 USD, very flexible can do great acoustic simulation as well electronica sounds or odd percussion sounds (conga, eastern drums, and about 40 other weird percussion patches) I used the DM5 on almost everything i've posted here.  I have also used the Yamaha DTXpress and was pretty impressed, Simmons makes alright kits as well.  Rolands sound pretty good but are way too expensive for what you get in my opinion. 

[Blooby]

Most of my posts have the Yamaha DTXpress IV.  There is a $1,000  version, but the Special has a hi-hat that responds really well (for $1400?).  It can be heard on all of my live Museum of Oddities posts (not me playing...that's for sure), including oldrottenhead's latest offering about illness.

Blooby

[Oldrottenhead]

mike (flash harry ) has a roland kit, im sure he will read this and respond.

[Saijinn Maas]

My nephew got a Simmons kit just this past xmas. He's already had to replace at least two pads and two others are starting to go. They sound fairly decent, but I think the quality is suspect.

I've been looking at the Roland kits myself... The mesh kit though. but that's a bit more than you price range you mentioned. The DTXplorer kits sound great I thought. Though I am a little weary of the padded sets over the mesh sets.

The only thing to be aware with some of the lower kits is that while the sound module can give good drum sounds, the triggering tends be a bit less than accurate. But that's where I am right now with all this too, so I am looking forward to hearing from anyone who replies to your post.

[Vanncad]

Thanks guys,

I am understanding that the mesh pads are better, but they seem to jack the price up quite a bit.

Flyon - I read that the Alesis have some triggering issues on the high-hat. Have you had any poblems? Also - can you choke the cymbals on the Alesis kit?

Blooby - Thanks for the info. Your jams sound pretty class to me, so that is why the Yamahas are on my radar.

[64Guitars]

I don't have any advice but I thought I'd air a pet peeve...

I hate those cymbals that are shaped like a pizza slice.

They probably work just fine but they look ridiculous.

Cymbals should be round, even on an electronic drum kit.

Just my...

[Tony W]

Most of my posts have the Yamaha DTXpress IV.  There is a $1,000  version, but the Special has a hi-hat that responds really well (for $1400?).  It can be heard on all of my live Museum of Oddities posts (not me playing...that's for sure), including oldrottenhead's latest offering about illness.

Blooby

The price dropped on the specials, and after hearing them, I'd highly recommend them. I found a set on craigslist for half the price of a new set. My buddy Steve bought them and they are well worth having.

[flyon90]

I have read a little about it online and as far as trigger issues on the DM5 go you have to tweak the sensitivity settings on the pads so that they don't trigger easily and/or too loud, if you like to hit hard you would want to set it lower for instance.  Factory settings are quite high (factory setting was about 50 on every pad I now have it at about 30) so if you don't adjust the sensitivity you can trigger the high hat when you hit the snare for example.  So in short its not a problem with the equipment itself it is a problem with the settings.  And yes the hi-hat is chokable, btw the cymbals sound really realistic for such a cheap unit.  I recently bought a dual zone snare pad (for rimshots) from Alesis and though I haven't gotten around to it yet it is possible to replace the stock mylar head with a mesh head.      

[Flash Harry]

I have a Roland TD9EK, with mesh heads but rubber pad kick drum.

I agree with 64 as far as the pizza slice cymbals go, but the rubber round ones don't feel too real either.

Overall the kit sounds and plays really nicely, it has a good selection of kit sounds to play with, each head can be tweaked and swapped as you wish, you can put WAV files onto USB data keys and play along with the song.

You can record onto the memory of the 'brain' and you have Midi in and out, headphone jack and left and right stereo outputs.

Sounds are really great, you don't get the dynamic range of an accoustic kit, but I just smack hell out of them anyway so my skills don't extend to extreme ends of the dynamics.

The mesh heads are sturdy and have a 'natural' feel, the frame is good and solid and the thing is a good compromise when compared to an acoustic kit. You can choke the cymbals and there are at least two or three different qualities of sound out of the cymbal pads depending on where and how hard you hit them.

However, be aware that these are not as silent as you would hope. Even the mesh heads are audible. The bass pedal is very audible in the rooms below. Ask my wife.

And the neighbours knocked on my door one night at 2am asking me to stop.

So I did.

I am thinking about getting a compressor to help with recording to the MBR I have, it's easy to crash into the clipper.