Looking at getting electronic drums

giggsy

http://johannesburg.gumtree.co.za/c-Sports-Leisure-musical-instruments-Medeli-Electronic-drumkit-new-with-warranty-R3500-W0QQAdIdZ367547950

That's the set I am thinking of getting. I know its entry level... and I have to get electronic... and anything I buy is eating out of my GAS budget so I dont want to spend much. Anyone tried these? I am a total beginner and the kit will also be used by my 5 year old

costafonix

Hey Giggsy, my son has the bigger model (4 Cymbals), and he's quite happy with it. You're near my area so pop in sometime and try it out if you like?

AlanRatcliffe

Fine as a starter kit. Pretty good price too.

giggsy

Thanks guys and thanks costafonix for the great offer, may take you up on that! The problem though is that I have been offered a second hand Alesis DM5 kit for a bit cheaper... I think its a better kit, but the cons are that its used and that its located a 2 hour round trip away in and I just dont have the time this week

AlanRatcliffe

DM5, without a doubt. It's more giggable and durable than the Medeli.

giggsy

Alan Ratcliffe wrote: DM5, without a doubt. It's more giggable and durable than the Medeli.

Again, thanks for your input Alan, always appreciated. I could also get a DM6, for more than the DM5 and in better nick, but I made the mistake of thinking that a higher number means that its better, but through researching it doesnt seem so but I cant find a definitive answer.

AlanRatcliffe

Oner of the reasons the DM5 was so cheap is that the DM5 module is a very old unit. A good one, that was standard kit in studios and even on stage 15 years ago, but by today's standards the sounds are a little dated. Alesis repurposed them to come up with an affordable but decent electronic kit to slip in pricewise under the excellent but relatively expensive Roland kits.

The DM6 is a newer module, with updated sounds, smaller footprint and a more user-friendly interface. The kit itself is better looking with a less utilitarian feel to it and a simpler setup. The hi hat is much improved over the DM5 (my biggest problem with the DM5) - still not comparable to the real thing or a Roland, but usable. Also you can expand/upgrade pads and triggers to the better models from the DM10 easily enough. You can even use Roland pads, so you could get a Roland Mesh snare and use the stock snare as another tom or a better ride cymbal and move the stock ride to second crash duties.

So, not bad starter kits at all. They also come with a serviceable kick pedal and a pair of sticks (which none of the more pro kits come with), but remember to budget for a drum stool too.

giggsy

Alan's reaction when he sees a post from me :'(

? Okay... so Alesis over Medeli, DM6 over DM5, but what about the Yamaha DTXpress ii?

AlanRatcliffe

Giggsy wrote: Alan's reaction when he sees a post from me :'(

Nah - Don't often get to talk drums around here. ?

Okay... so Alesis over Medeli, DM6 over DM5, but what about the Yamaha DTXpress ii?

Never used Yamaha drums before, and to be honest, I'm generally biased against Yamaha electronic instruments thanks to some bad experiences 15-20 years ago. Could be totally unfounded these days (and they make great guitars, pianos and acoustic drums).

giggsy

Another quickie... would I need a new amp (because then I would probably give this whole thing a miss) or could I play the drums through my Roland Cube?

AlanRatcliffe

You need clean, full range amplification like a PA system, powered monitor, bass or keyboard amp. Headphones are the most cost-effective way of getting up and running (especially for practice). My kit I use headphones or studio monitors most of the time.

You can use the aux input on your Cube, but it's not going to do well with the kick sound at any appreciable volume.

Arno-West

On a different note.....Alan, how can I get my latency as low as possible when playing Roland V-Drums through either EZ-Drummer or Superior Drummer. I use a USB midi-cable and there is about a 11 millisecond latency/delay when the drums are played live. I've read that if you can get your latency down to about 4 millisecond, it's as good as cheese.

It's not serious, when we record takes, the drummer just plays using the on-board audio of the kit and I record the midi then process it afterwards, but it would be seriously cool to be able to play a mundane Electronic kit through EZ or Superior with no latency at all.

Also, guys with electronic kits can use a laptop and USB midi-cable and play like that live and not ever have to worry about mic-ing up drums or getting a sound....mega-kwaai.

AlanRatcliffe

Arno West wrote: On a different note.....Alan, how can I get my latency as low as possible when playing Roland V-Drums through either EZ-Drummer or Superior Drummer. I use a USB midi-cable and there is about a 11 millisecond latency/delay when the drums are played live. I've read that if you can get your latency down to about 4 millisecond, it's as good as cheese.

It's not the MIDI delay you have to worry about (midi spec is below 1ms), it's your computer to audio interface latency that make all the difference. If it's a dedicated and audio optimised machine and decent interface, you shouldn't have a problem. The same latency settings might not work for a multitrack recording, but one host/VSTi or standalone program should be no problem. I could get <4ms for Guitar rig on an Acer 1.6GHz P4 laptop with an Edirol UA-25 and a stripped down installation of Win XP, so a more modern computer shoiuld have no problems.

It's not serious, when we record takes, the drummer just plays using the on-board audio of the kit and I record the midi then process it afterwards

I do exactly that myself. ?

Arno-West

Alan Ratcliffe wrote:
Arno West wrote: On a different note.....Alan, how can I get my latency as low as possible when playing Roland V-Drums through either EZ-Drummer or Superior Drummer. I use a USB midi-cable and there is about a 11 millisecond latency/delay when the drums are played live. I've read that if you can get your latency down to about 4 millisecond, it's as good as cheese.
It's not the MIDI delay you have to worry about (midi spec is below 1ms), it's your computer to audio interface latency that make all the difference. If it's a dedicated and audio optimised machine and decent interface, you shouldn't have a problem. The same latency settings might not work for a multitrack recording, but one host/VSTi or standalone program should be no problem. I could get <4ms for Guitar rig on an Acer 1.6GHz P4 laptop with an Edirol UA-25 and a stripped down installation of Win XP, so a more modern computer shoiuld have no problems.

It's not serious, when we record takes, the drummer just plays using the on-board audio of the kit and I record the midi then process it afterwards
I do exactly that myself. ?

My soundcard for home set-up is not as high-end as the one at Audio Architects - hence roundabout 11 milliseconds is the best I can get out of it...but at AA we use the Fireface 800 and a dedicated Mac system and we still battle to get the latency for drums to about 6 m/secs...

Long ago I got a junk e-mail from somebody who distributes R.E.T Percussion in SA. Apparently it's a 1/4 scale kit (real drums) which triggers it's own interface with EZ/Superior/BFD/Oceanview already pre-loaded and NO latency. I deleted the mail cos at that stage I wasn't interested, but now for the life of me, I can not find these guys that distribute RET amd I've googled a lot....

Any help on the matter?

sharonzaz

With your FF800 you should be abla to drop your latency
all the way down to below 1 ms.

The highest setting I ever used in a gig on my rme multiface
Was 3 ms and even that is too much.

I been using superior drummer for a long time like that.
11 ms is too great to play with drums.

AlanRatcliffe

Arno West wrote: Long ago I got a junk e-mail from somebody who distributes R.E.T Percussion in SA. Apparently it's a 1/4 scale kit (real drums) which triggers it's own interface with EZ/Superior/BFD/Oceanview already pre-loaded and NO latency. I deleted the mail cos at that stage I wasn't interested, but now for the life of me, I can not find these guys that distribute RET amd I've googled a lot....

Any help on the matter?

R.E.T. Stopped trading a couple of years ago. They were expensive and the triggers were very loud (as were their shills on forums).