Monitor??

[Toker41]

Hi all,
I have just picked up a V-session set. I'm really not a drummer in any way, shape, or form, however the price was just way too right. Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone could suggest a somewhat cheap way to monitor them. Someone suggested a keyboard amp would do the trick. I was thinking maybe a Line6 guitar amp, because that would be useful in a number of ways in my small, very modest home studio. I am presently playing them thru an ART SGX2000 preamp (yes I know it's crap...it was free!), and a marshall 9000 power amp with a Marshall 2x12. This is not sounding too good. I'm guessing it's the Art. Would a small PA be a better choice?

[Rythmstik]

Do NOT use a guitar amp! They just can't handle it. A small keyboard amp is your best bet, given the circumstances you describe. A bass amp will work too, although not as good for the highs, like cymbals. There are a lot of options, give the most xlnt search engine a try...

[flurbs]

Hi, congrats on your purchase and welcome to the club.

When you hear an acoustic drum kit, you're hearing a full-frequency spectrum instrument, from the very lowest rumble of the kick to the sparkle of the cymbals. Edrums replicate these sounds digitally, and as a result of that, need equipment that can reproduce that whole spectrum.

If you imagine the range you can hear divided into quarters, guitar amps reproduce only the middle 2, and bass amps reproduce only the bottom two, which is why they sound awful with edrums. Plug a CD player into one and you'll find the same thing. You need either a ful range PA system or powered cabinet, or a full range combo, such as a keyboard amp. Bear in mind also that the sound of any high end digital musical instrument is only as good as what you're playing it through. Pro gear yields a pro sound, non-pro gear doesn't.

I highly reccommend (for Keyboard amps) the Roland KC300 or KC500. The KC100 doesn't have quite the balls of the other two. For powered PA cabs, try Yamaha MS400, JBL Eon15s, (loud, but sound quality is somewhat questionable) or particularly the Mackie SRM450 or EV SX250.