Customer Reviews

Ion Computer Drum Kit Nic

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

First, I wanted to say that the product pictured here is not the actual product being sold. Apparently, Ion has updated this set as the design is a little different. The heads are circular now, instead of the "D" shape that the picture implies.

In previous reviews I've seen for this set, users say that the pads slip while playing, and that the plastic wing nuts break constantly. As for the wing nuts, I've tightened them down about as much as I can all over the drum set and have not had one break... or even feel like it was going to break. The bolts themselves are metal with a thick, solid plastic head. They bolt not into plastic, but into a metal nut on the other side of the plastic clamp. Since I can tighten them down so well, I haven't had any of the pads slip while playing.

Unfortunately the software it comes with is crap. It's the least configurable software I've ever dealt with. I've tried EZdrummer, and Session Drummer 2 with it but despite the "unconfigurable-ness", the included software interfaces with it the best.

I've managed to pull off pretty decent drum rolls on this, but while the software isn't sophisticated enough to make it sound like an acoustic drum roll, the pads are sensitive enough to pick up every hit. It takes a little time to learn how the pads need to be hit in order to give you the best sound out of it.

The foot pedals are still pieces of crap however, but they can be fixed. There's a video on youtube entitled "USB Drum Kit" where the user makes modifications to an older version of this drum kit, including the pedals.

All in all, if you want to learn to play the drums, or want to keep practiced, this is a pretty good buy.

Pros: Cheap
Uses home computer
variable drum sounds
Can use headphones
Can fold to a wall

Cons: drum heads don't create good rebound
annoying to assemble even with instructions
Clamps slip during use
pedals don't create a good enough feel

All in all its not a bad kit. Fine for beginners to get some practice on but if you want that authentic feel its just not going to cut it.

This was our 12 year old son's Christmas present a couple Christmases ago. (Edited Sept. 2009: He still uses this two years later and is now a drummer in band.) It's great because it's a quiet way for our little drummer to "rock out" without disturbing us or the neighbors. We can hear the tappity-tap-tap that is the equivalent of the rubber training pad for snare drums that school bands use for drum practice, which is pretty quiet outside the other rooms. Our 12 year old likes it because he can tinker with the different sounds and even plug his iPod headphone into one year and the drums headphone on the other to hear himself "playing" along to his favorite song. This feels much more like an entry level "real" drum set than a cheap electronic toy.

I bought this for my boyfriend for his birthday and he loves it! He wanted to learn the drums but we live in an apartment, so an electronic kit seemed like a good place to start. I have no experience with drums, so I cannot really make a very relevant review aside from saying that he is already getting pretty good and has had no issues thus far.

For the money, it can't be beat. I bought it 4 days ago, and thus far have not experienced any of the problems I've seen mentioned in other reviews. The bass pedal and the hihat pedal don't double-hit, and the pads themselves don't shift around. (Maybe ION has improved upon the original design?)

I use it with OS X 10.5 to control either GarageBand or a freeware program called SimpleSynth. (I'm not sure if it works with earlier versions of OS X, though.) It works just fine right out of the box, except for the crash cymbal's "choke" feature, which is an additional switch on the front of one pad which will mute the crash cymbal when grabbed.

It may need a bit of customization: the pedals tend to slip around, so I duct-taped mine to the floor. For anyone experiencing the bass pedal's double-hit, there's a video ("USB Drum Kit") on YouTube telling you how to install a capacitor that'll correct that problem.

All in all, I'm wildly happy with it.

I purchased this for my fiance and he is very pleased. We live in a townhouse and needed a way for him to record the drum tracks without getting us evicted. These are an excellent solution. He has been able to get so much done on them and I can barely hear a thing. They have a great level of sensitivity and usb right into your gear. Recommended!

I was hoping I could try to play a little on this kit. I play guitar, but I'd love to learn to drum. You could start out learning a few beats on this kit, and it's fun for kids, but that's about as far as it will get you. A real drummer just couldn't live with this setup. That said, you can't beat something up too bad when it's this cheap. Just have reasonable expectations. It's almost a toy, and not really a full blown instrument.

It was a piece of cake to put together. Not very good instructions, but it was a total no brainer if you're mechanically inclined at all.

The software is REALLY bad. I installed it on a new (at the time) Vista machine and the latency (time between hitting the pad and hearing the sound) was so bad it was completely unplayable. There was probably a 300 to 500ms delay. I then installed it onto an older XP machine and the latency issue was gone. Unfortunately, even on the XP setup, if you scroll through more than 6 or 7 of the preset kits it starts to give you memory errors. Just looking at it you can tell it's cheap lame Asian made software that was thrown together.

The kit itself has some issues in that the clamps that hold the pads to the rack are plastic. They can't be tightened enough to actually hold securely. (I'm positive they'd break) It wouldn't be too hard to drill small holes and use screws to secure everything, but I was never that committed to the set to bother.

On the plus side, the pads seemed to track well. The hits were accurate, with no doubles and few misses. Once I installed on an older computer, the latency went to zero, as it should be. One neat feature is that you can build your own kits using other drum samples, so if you've been using something like Acid or Fruity Loops you can use single hit sample files in this software.

I bought this kit for a beginner thinking the tutorial would be a great way for someone to get a start without formal instruction. Well the tutorial, when you finally find it on the software is very lacking and not at all user friendly. So let's just say I was very disappointed with the software part of the kit, and that was my primary reason for chosing this particular kit. Also finding support from the company that makes the product is all but non-existent. So buyer beware!!!!!

I bought these as a sort of experiment to see if they would just be a fun way to practice my drumming, or if I really could use them in my home studio. So far I've been mostly pleasantly surprised. Setup was relatively easy - I had them put together and the software installed in about 2 hours. In addition to the USB out cable, there is also a MIDI out jack, so you CAN use them as MIDI triggers (contrary to what I read in one review online). As far as sound quality, they sound as good as the samples you are triggering. Troll the internet a little and you'll find tons of free drum samples. Setting up a custom kit with the included software was super-easy. Sure, there are only 7 velocity levels, but for most rock purposes this is fine. My only complaints are: 1. There aren't quite enough pads to have a full 5-piece kit with crash, ride, and hi-hat, so you'll need to sacrifice one of the rack toms to use as a ride cymbal; 2. The "choke" function on the crash cymbal pad doesn't work; 3. There's no way I've found yet to add a bell sound to one of the cymbal pads; 4. The kick and hi-hat pedals have sensitivity issues (triggering when you don't want it, but no velocity variability); and most importantly 5. I can't seem to get the MP3 export option to work (this is the most major issue if you're using them in a home studio). But for $150, you really can't do much better.

Bought drumset for my son - He is able to enjoy drumming without disturbing the whole household. We have not had any of the issues listed in other reviews - but bear in mind you would treat this item like any other electronic device and not beat on it like a true drum set. No complaints and would recommend it for other "in house" drummers who like percussion as a hobby or just want to practice some new riff's.