Good practice kit?

[endgame00]

I'm looking for a kit primarily to practice with in my apartment. I was thinking about a DM Pro kit, because I like the feel of mesh heads much better and you can get one for $1499... any other suggestions?
Also, do you find that practicing on an electronic kit helps you when you play your acoustic set, or is it counter-productive?

Thanks!

[puttenvr]

Practicing always helps, but I think e-drums and acoustic drums play differently. With e-drums you will have to play more precisely where with acoustic drums you will need to use more power to get a good sound and feel. There is also a difference in feel between the rather bouncy mesh heads and real drumheads. So, if you can: play both.

If you like the DMPro and can get a good deal on it: buy it. Otherwise the Roland TD-8 is a good choise or even the new TD-6 with rubber pads. Perhaps you can even merge the cheaper TD-6 module with the TD-8 mesh headed pads.

[MPCman]

I agree with mr Rob. For technique practicing mesh heads are not ideal (imho).

When I want to practice paradiddles and so on playing mesh heads really sucks since the stick bounce way to much. It almost seems as though the stick comes up again even before I hit the mesh head
You could always buy an extra Remo practice pad for doing this stuff.

If it's about practicing songs and odd time signatures and so on mesh headed edrums are fine.

[jonathanstewart]

having both worlds eletronic and accustic drums, I must concur with what has been said already.

[endgame00]

Thanks guys, you've been very helpful. Because I only get to practice with my band once a week, I'll mainly be using the kit to write new parts and practice the songs. From your experiences, it sounds that an e-drum kit will do ok.

Another option I'm looking into is an 8-piece Pintech ConcertCast kit, and adding a cheaper drum module (perhaps the TD-6, or even the alesis DM5). Any experience with this setup??

[sepdrums]

Hello...

Well, if you can't find any DMPro kits (because they are discontinued and are running scarce) - Hart has a new kit called the Studio Standard... It is basically the same as the DMPro kit, minus the module and with a few other changes like a rack-mounted snare and Hart Ultalite rack/hardware combo...
Very good idea on Hart's part to add this low cost kit to their lineup....the DMPro kit was a good starter and I am glad to see this configuration continue without the Alesis involvement. The Roland TD6 will be a great match for this kit....

Erik
SEP

[Drummersdad]

Originally posted by endgame00:
Another option I'm looking into is an 8-piece Pintech ConcertCast kit, and adding a cheaper drum module (perhaps the TD-6, or even the alesis DM5). Any experience with this setup??

Sorry for the long answer...I started with the Pintech 8 piece with the DM5. The DM5 is pretty worthless even though Pintech hypes it. No velocity control of the hi-hat and big delays with Pintech pads. I later added V-cymbals and a TD-10 and that improved things 10,000 percent. Now that the TD6 is available, this might be a very economical setup (about $850 for the Pintech from ebay -Sepdrums? - and $500 for the TD6 from various dealers like Midwest Percussion). Alternatively, and much better in my mind, is to start with the TD6K Clubkit (about $1079 from Midwest) and add some Pintech pads like the AX13S 14" snare or PD-120 snare and then some CC101ST's as Toms. The Roland kick and hihat pedal with the Club kit are excellent according to reviews on this site. You could then use the extra PD6 pads as ?? or sell them to bring your kit price down. A Gibraltar rack would still keep you well under the $2K point.

FWIW, I've distilled my feelings for Pintech as follows - all products with mesh heads are quality and seem to be designed in such a way as to last. All other products (VK-10, HH10CV, etc) all look like quality but seem to fall apart with use). I've got a 3 month old HH10CV that just stopped working and when I opened it up - it was constructed as if designed by a child - with a rubber contact pad that gets grooved out and can't possibly last more than a couple of months. It is too bad, since the rugged hihat pedal and initial performance make it seem top notch. Lifetime warranty is good, but who wants equipment to fail all the time? Howard

[captain54]

Here's my suggestion on a practice kit;

Used DM Pro from Ebay
Gibralatar rack..350C (outstanding value)
used acoustic kit...(you really only need this for the toms)
Hart Acoustic conversion triggers...
Hart ECymbal II's...chokable crash, dual trigger ride, and hats...
used Fd-7 and used Kd-7 from Ebay
(riks music is blowing out Kd-7's, may have some left)

you can switch up visulites for the Harts E-cymbals, and with the visulites you can use a real hihat stand instead of the fd-7..

you can also switch up and get an accusnare,
that way you have a bass drum and snare left over from the used acoustic kit you picked up...

this takes a bit of effort and smart shopping, but even with all the cables and couple of extra clamps, you can come in well under $2000, and I guarantee this kit will rival the looks and performance of Rolands $4000 plus Session Kit...

[cliff]

Stay away from all things Alesis. I like the suggestion of the TD-6 Club Kit w/ a PD 120 for the snare. It will bring you in at or uder your budget.

[captain54]

There's nothing wrong with the Alesis DM Pro..Its an amazing piece for the money...

You have the option to load your own samples, 6 outputs for unlimited options,
recording and live, hundreds of great sounding kicks, snares,etc...outstanding effects..

Plus you can pick one up for a song right now..I don't give a damn that the company is in reorganization...there's plenty of tech support amongst other DM pro users on the Net..

There is life out there beside Roland, gang..

[endgame00]

Wow, thanks again for all the advice.

Does anyone have any opinions on the DM Pro Kit vs. TD-6 Clubkit vs. Pintech ConcertCast kits themselves?

[Highmtn]

Don't forget the hart epedal. I researched all the ehat pedals available, and after considering all possibilities, I went with the hart pedal for my dm pro hat controller. I had the money in my pocket and was tempted to purchase an fd-7, which was in stock at the music store, but when I looked at those PLASTIC 1/4" jacks I told myself "NO WAY!" I special-ordered a hart epedal and I'm glad I did. The resistance element is a mylar film resistor which is rated for somewhere in excess of a million operations. If I outlast the pedal, it is lifetime guaranteed, so I'm not worried about it. As for the caution to stay away from anything alesis, the hat on my dm pro sounds and plays more realistically than any of the hats I've played on either the td-10's or on the td-8's. All edrums have their plusses and minuses. The pintech hat pedal is a poor copycat imitation of the hart design minus the quality components.

Drummersdad: Some of your previous posts indicated that you thought that the dm pro does not support a CV hat pedal. This is incorrect. The dm pro CV hat performance is superior in operation to the roland td8 and td10, as well as the ddrum4. I've used all the above in live music performance situations and will choose the alesis over the other three anytime. Most realistic playing and sounding. Downside: getting it initially setup is not the most user-friendly thing I've ever done, and R-ing T F M is not much help in that respect, either. I posted a message on the yahoo dm pro user group site with instructions on how to set up the dm pro with a CV pedal.

For a practice setup, a used dm 5 or even an old D4 would be a very practical and economical unit. The dm 5 or d4 do NOT support CV hat pedals, but if it's just to keep your chops up at the hacienda, a switched hat isn't the end of the world. The sliced foam piezo mounting design used in the pintech pads seems to fail frequently, according to posts on this and other edrum boards. But the pintechs are cheap, and can be repaird when the piezos come unglued and fall out or when the foam mounting gets crushed. The pintechs would probably work great with the roland blue foam cone and piezo, for a lot less money than the plastic roland pads.

[puttenvr]

Originally posted by captain54:
Here's my suggestion on a practice kit;

....
used acoustic kit...(you really only need this for the toms)

Uhhh... Why? You can play with pads for practising, right?

[cliff]

capitian54,
I owned no less than 4 DMPros. All were defective and one even triggerd itself with no pads connected. This as well as Alesis' recent unstablness is why I would stay away from their products. Just my experience and opinion.

[Drummersdad]

Originally posted by Highmtn:
Drummersdad: Some of your previous posts indicated that you thought that the dm pro does not support a CV hat pedal. This is incorrect.

Thanks High. I've since been corrected . What do they say? - "frequently wrong but never in doubt?". I've never used a DMPro, but got confused by the sheet that came with the Pintech HighHat Pedal HH10CV. It showed the various Brains with check marks next to those that would provide velocity control with their pedal. There was no check mark next to ANY Alesis module including the DMPro. This might have been an error or some peculiar quirk with their pedal and DMPro (unlikely since it has the same resistive range as an FD-7 when it works!). It is too bad that Hart equipment is not stocked at the various shops. I'd love to try out some quality stuff other than Roland! ps - I have no idea why my local GC stocks the Yamaha kits, since they are always in disarray at the 2 local stores and totally unplayable/uninviting. Yamaha should be the gold standard, like with their Dirt Bikes!