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I've got an Alesis DM-5 that I used for my homemade drum pads. Although they work pretty well, I feel it would be fun to have a "real" kit. As you've probably guessed, I'm not a drummer, but like to go at it sometimes. I am not in a position to spend lots of money on this: I would prefer staying in 500-1000$ range.

So, I've looked around the net a bit and come up with a few alternatives:

* Alesis ION drums. I've seen these IRL and they did not impress me. But they are cheap.

* Millenium MPS-300 (aka Medeli DP-626). These look pretty good, but reviews on the net vary from sad to fairly happy users.

* Roland SD-3 kit. I don't think I can buy this kit without the SD-3 controller and I don't really want that one. Otherwise it seems like a reasonable kit.

* Hart Dynamics Prodigy. Their entry level kit which seems really good and a reasonable price. Not too well represented here in Sweden though. They also have the Virtouso kit which could be a choice if the quality motivates it.

It feels like the other Roland and Yamaha alternatives are out of budget (except if I go secondhand, but that is not an option here).

So, I am looking for any comments on these kits. Have you tried any of them? Do you recommend any? Any kit I should stay away from?

thanks for listening.

hart is real good stuff. the roland choice is also good, but i'd get the good pads(vdrum) if i went roland.

thanks for *quick* answer.

So HD seems like a good choice. Do you have any experience of Prodigy and/or Virtuoso? It looks like Virtuoso is closer to their pro stuff while Prodigy is on its own (basic) level. But will this matter much (to motivate the price difference of some $500)?

the better pads are much nicer, more responsive, feel better and false trigger less. if you plan to keep them a long tiime, get the better pads. if you just want something, but it's not too important, get the cheaper ones. if good drummers are going to be using them, get the better pads. you need to make good drummers happy.......

the older i get, the less junk i want. i always suggest getting the best stuff you can.....

ebay might be a solution...

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: garyb on 2005-08-21 23:21 ]</font>

If you have the trigger->MIDI converter already, try building some DIY pads before buying expensive ones. They all use some form of piezo transducer usually, really cheap to buy.

On 2005-08-22 06:31, darkrezin wrote:
If you have the trigger->MIDI converter already, try building some DIY pads before buying expensive ones. They all use some form of piezo transducer usually, really cheap to buy.

I have built my own pads (based on pie forms and mouse pads from IKEA) and even though they do quite a good job with the DM-5 they are not like a real kit. They sound a lot, does not provide a good feel and are a pain to get on a rack. Probably things I could fix with some more work, but I just don't have the time for it...

Yep, if you're going for a 'realistic' feel then you can't get away from buying some proper mesh-head pads. A friend of mine claims success with a generic snare shell with mesh head and ddrum trigger, although I've not tried it out personally.

However, if you don't have time to mess about and you want proper results, you're just going to have to buy some Roland or ddrum mesh heads pads. I'd love to try out some Hart stuff too but they are pretty hard to get hold of here in the UK too.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: darkrezin on 2005-08-22 13:11 ]</font>

the roland and ddrum pads mentioned are GREAT.