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Set up and adjusting to your playing style will take some time but definitely worth it in the end. The set is sturdy and the pads are incredibly responsive. If you really want the best scores and most fun with Rock Band.the Ion drum set is a must. Adding the third cymbal also makes it feel like you are really playing the drums.
The kit does come with quite a few zip ties for you to do this and it'll only take you about five minutes, but it's still annoying. My GHWT kit started flaking after playing a few songs and you can actually rub off flakes from the strike zone when you touch it. There's virtually no resistance when pushing the pedal down and it sounds like a door hinge. But folding it up requires you to untighten the screws from every piece you want to "fold" and then retighten the screws when the piece is in it's folded position. A hit on green is a hit on green. It takes about an hour due to all of the pieces but it's a one-man job and not at all complicated. It's three times the price for ten times the quality.
They're registering every hit and don't have any issues with double-registering a single hit. If you have a small living room (like I do) storing this thing away is a nightmare. It's also roughly 1.5 to 2 times bigger. While speaking of wires, I should also mention that this kit is NOT wireless and requires you to plug it into the XBox in order to play.Another thing worth mentioning is the size and weight difference between this kit and the standard RB2 and GHWT kits. I'm going to end up having to upgrade to a Rock Pedal.The drumsticks were also a let down. These wires are significantly longer than they need to be and so you'll have to spend some time trying to wrap them up and hide them.
But, if you're serious about drumming like a rock star and can afford a little discretionary spending, I believe you'll be satisfied with your purchase. You might be put off by the $299 price tag but when you put them next to your GHWT or RB2 drum kit, both of which sell for nearly $100, you'll be able to easily justify the price difference. Each individual drum and cymbal has it's own wire (to connect it to the "brain", which is the XBox controller that sits in the middle of the kit). They do sell an add on cymbal so that you can have three (the kit only comes with two) but I don't see much need for that. Now, I must tell you that I am not a professional drummer by any stretch of the imagination.
This kit probably weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 30-40 pounds, while the other kits might be around 10 pounds. The pedal is awful. It's made completely out of metal, so it probably won't break on you too quickly, but the feel of it is just terrible. They were pretty rough cut and the wood was splintering at the bottom. I did some research on upgrade pedals and it was going to cost me $120+ to get a decent pedal that was compatible with the GHWT drum kit (most upgrade pedals are only compatible with RB2 drum kits). I received my Drum Rocker yesterday and, after nearly six hours of straight play, I can tell you that I haven't the slightest bit of buyer's remorse (I played both Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero World Tour).
Let's get on to the review. I'm getting pretty good at the games, but outside of that I've never touched a drum set. Playing RB2 and GHWT with this kit is a totally different experience. That can be pretty time consuming and nobody wants to move the pieces around once they've found their most comfortable setup. If you leave them level then, yes, you'll have to hit the cymbal and then work your drumstick around it to get back to the drum pads.I should also note that the cymbals are pretty much optional.
Each individual pad weighs a couple of pounds and the strike zone is made of a rubbery/leathery material. This really dampens the sound of you hitting the drum and lets you focus more on the music coming from the television.OVERALL FEELING:Great drum kit. But don't forget the other little things that you may want to buy that will cost you extra:- Upgraded bass pedal: $70+- New drumsticks: $10 - $15- Drum throne: $45 - $50- Third cymbal: $50This premium setup gets expensive fast. So the cymbals are really for decoration and play style preference. I imagine it would obstruct my view of the television and won't add much to the kit beyond aesthetics. When playing right-handed you can bang the green cymbal at the end of your drum fills in RB2 but, playing lefty, your only option is to bang the red drum pad.
My main problem was that the flimsy pedal was keeping me from completely moving up to Hard on drumming. You won't be picking this thing up with one arm and tossing it into the corner. The $299 price tag can be tough to swallow but if you want the best possible drumming experience while playing a band game, this is it. There's no difference between hitting the green cymbal or the green drum pad when playing the game. I'm going to break this up into parts so that it flows a little better.SETUP:Setting up the drum kit was fairly straightforward and easy. The pieces are all clearly marked and the intructions are written in plain english with big colorful diagrams. I've yet to drop a note and it picks up every hit no matter how far off to the edges I am.CYMBALS:I've read quite a few complaints about the cymbals but they honestly work great for me.
I played a few songs with them and just couldn't get comfortable. Even so, I felt stifled by the Guitar Hero World Tour (herein referred to as GHWT) drum set. As a result, I've been playing with the gimmicky Rock Band 2 aftermarket drumsticks (see Rockband Rubber Tip Drum Sticks - Yellow Flames). Yes, they are stiff, so you won't be able to strike through (one of the more common complaints) but I just tilt the cymbals downward which allows me hit the edge and drop my arm back down to the drum pads in a fluid motion. So, in that aspect, this kit doesn't fully support the "lefty flip".PEDAL / DRUMSTICKS:This is the category that made me give this kit only four stars. So for lefties like myself the experience will be a little different than it is for righties. That won't be happening with this kit.
The pads are also 100% accurate. That's enough story. That solution is a little unrealistic if you plan to use this drum kit frequently.DRUM PADS:Man, these things are sturdy.
What I like about those is that they come with rubber caps to put on the end of the drumsticks. For that, I figured I may as well spend the few extra bucks and get a whole deluxe drum kit. Again, it all depends on how you like to play.My big gripe about the cymbals is that you can have a cymbal for every color except for red.
I don't imagine this thing breaking down anytime soon. My biggest gripe would be the mess of wires. They say you can fold it up for easy storage and, yes, that's true.
I was a bit nervous ordering this drum kit because I was afraid of Ion's tech support which, from other reviews, seems to be terrible. The drum pads are very responsive and we beat the hell out of them. On our weekend jam sessions I used to sing because my buddies don't care to. It's so much fun.The kit is extremely sturdy and yes, takes about 40 minutes to put together.
You actually feel like you're really drumming, very cool. I've heard the bass pedal is sub-par from other reviews but I find it adequate. I've got a Rocker Pedal on order so we'll see how that goes.Once you're up and running there's really nothing you have to do within the game, it's plug and play. After two months of abuse it's still kicking just fine, there's obvious markings on the drum heads but that's expected. I immediately took it to the free for all drum trainer in Rock Band and went nuts with it. I took a chance and put my money on Amazon to help me if anything went wrong.I've had this kit for 2 months now and it is unreal with Rock Band.
maybe a bit noisy. Knock on wood this set will continue to rock.If you've got the money and you're still using the stock drums, set them aside and get this kit. I've put down the mic in preference for playing the drums now. The construction is good, combining metal and plastic.
I haven't had any issues with the cymbals, pads are much better quality, great right of the box. I really need to play a lot more to tell if it is really an issue or not. I have been thinking about buying this for a while now and pulled the trigger on it about a month ago. The only issue i have is that that the foot pedals sticks slightly if I press it down at an angle. [.]. There is no comparison between it and the regular drums. Way better in every way.
I kicked around the idea of purchasing this for several months before pulling the trigger. There are ways to rig a Roland setup into your XBOX, but it's not worth the money. Well, I'm pretty critical of things, and a real stickler for quality and I'm extremely impressed by this product. I thought, man that was a bad idea, my ion drum rocker is going to feel Fisher-Price like after that.
It takes a game that I loved playing before and makes it 10x more enjoyable. Where was I going with this. The overall feel of this drum set, the recoil, the bass pedal, the cymbals. Rockband 2 is just Soo much fun now, this drumset is a real treat to play on. the fact that everything can be adjusted (angle / height of drum heads) is amazing. I suppose I was skeptical because of the high price tag, like what if it sucks, did I just waste $300.
Oh yes, you're reading this wondering should I buy, and I would say most definitely. I'm just upset that I waited so long to pick one up. I was at Sam Ash last week playing on the Roland TD-9 (MSRP $2500) and I really liked it. To my amazement, it's very sturdy and for a product that's 12% the price it feels to be about 50% of the quality (That's a win in my book).
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