Electronic physical drums

[Denty]

Hi there. Wanting to get a drum set mainly for my daughter but has to be electronic (noise/headphones). Alesis, Roland and Yamaha have been suggested. Want a realistic physical feeling, some say Yamaha is better than Alesis for this. Any comments or guidance much appreciated.
Thanks
Denty

[andychap]

I got real drums. Got them for myself but ended up giving them to my daughter, she plays better than me.

They are not too noisy with some damper pads and a quilt stuffed in the bass drum

[Ryan Bennett]

Hey Denty!

The drummer in my band currently practices with a very nice Yamaha set, he's purchased additional pads, and uses one on his Acoustic kit, for a sample pad, which runs directly through the brain of his D-Drum.

I'm not a drummer, but the kit has some great feel, and response. Many different sounding kits to choose from. I recommend Yamaha, but If you can get a great deal on a Roland, don't turn it down.
He spent about 4k on his electric kit.

Musics a beautiful thing, and its great you gentlemen have passed it on to your younger ones.

[SadOldGoth]

Most Alesis stuff is for beginners, you can get them from £200-£300 new. Most Yamaha stuff is in a different price league but is better/easier for playing. You won't see someone with an Alesis drum kit on stage but with Yamaha or other even more expensive stuff.
Also depends what kind of sounds you want to get out of it. Some have sound modules more for the electronic crowd, others lean more towards a 'realistic' drum sound - depends what you want.
It would be good to know how much money you want to spend. This could settle the question what you're going for.

SadOldGoth

[kerry and casio]

As with most things, the more you pay, the better the product.

[al_diablo]

As with most things, the more you pay, the better the product.

I would say this is particularly important for electronic drums.

A decent general rule of thumb would be: at the very least make sure you have a mesh snare head rather than a rubber one.

What is your budget?

[Denty]

thks for the replies. my budget was £500 tops providing SWMBO doesnt find out in which case its £250. As said its for my daughter (beocomes a teenager in coupla weeks) who's being taught at school now for 18mths and seems to be doing ok. i dabble keyboards with low version cubase cos i'm a dinosaur anolgue desk and open reel sort of bloke,, so as well as being quiet, and electronic set doesnt need 7 mics to capture the sound!!! been a useful expereince, looking at roland and yammy, can now appreciate their target audiences. maybe though i have to go the ordinary practise set with monster damping to start with or until SWMBO gets so pi$$ed off she grants a budget increase!!!!
again, thks for the input, has helped tremendously
denty

[haga]

Hi, I played drums in a band 30 years ago but got out of it when they went Country & Western, last year I decided I wanted to play again, as I don't want to play in a band again and just do it for my own enjoyment I did a lot of research before I bought a Yamaha DTxpress III special, I can listen to any music thro the headphones and play along and practice without bothering neighbours or her indoors, looked at the Roland range but they are expensive, glad I settled on the Yamaha, the feel is as close to a proper kit you'll get, got the basic kit from e-bay for £450, upgraded a few bits from other dealers but am thoroughly enjoying my drumming again (and no, I still don't play country & western, lol)
type in Electronic drums on ebay and have a look
haga

[smokingbeagle]

Roland's V-Drums are undisputedly top of the heap, but you'll pay for 'em. As has been said before, try to at least get a mesh snare head; other things to look out for are chokeable cymbals, stereo snare and cymbal pads (means you can get a normal snare sound as well as a rimshot, and a ride cymbal bell sound as well as the normal sound), MIDI in AND out (some will only have a MIDI out, which is fine for 'recording' what you're playing but you won't be able to play it back through the kit's 'brain' - not sure how important MIDI would be to you at the minute but it's a real useful thing to have)...

I don't think you'd get EVERYTHING on that list within budget, but as always when you're on a budget it's picking out what's most important to you. If it's going to be played live at all, I'd put chokeable cymbals at the top of the list, if it's mainly recording the MIDI capabilities, and if it's mostly a practice tool for exploring the capabilities of a kit the stereo pads.

The Traps E450 kit has a lovely feel, as far as I know it's the only kit in the price range that has mesh heads throughout, and it has the MIDI in and out, but I'm not sure about the cymbal pads being stereo or chokeable.

There's a kit called the SessionPro DD506 that looks intriguing, seems to have almost everything you'd want at what looks like a ludicrously low price:
http://www.guitar.co.uk/drum_kits/17...ctric_drum_kit

Never played one though, so can't offer first-hand advice. Doesn't look like the snare's mesh, but you get everything else.

The Roland TD3 kit's right on the edge of budget, but it's the closest you'll get to having everything you'll need (mesh snare head, MIDI in & out, stereo snare, chokeable cymbals). If you can stretch to it (if SWMBO (wot?) doesn't get involved, then), that's the one to go for. If not, check out the Traps or the SessionPro.

[smokingbeagle]

Oh, just found the SessionPro for less than £350 new & delivered on ebay - puts it towards the top for me.