Customer Reviews

Rock Band 2 X360 Drum Set

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

So my rockband 1 drum kit has been through the wringer. A broken pedal, dented pads, and cracking legs ... the thing is showing its age. When I picked up the wireless drums I was hoping for a decent step up in quality, and Harmonix delivered.

Big changes: pedal, drum heads, and teh unwired.

The drum pedal comes with a stock metal plate, so you won't have to go to pedal medals to pick one up for yourself. Unfortunately Harmonix only half ... uh ... "did" it since the hinge, which is another notorious break point in the design, is identical to the rockband 1 pedal. Based on it's appearance the RB2 pedal is identical to the RB1 pedal, with only the inclusion of the plate. Don't expect wildly different performance, and if you really want to avoid a headache go ahead and purchase the pedal medal hinge replacement now to take care of the pedal's only weak point. All in all though, the metal plate is a significant improvement over the pure plastic of the RB1 pedal.

The drum heads are waay better this time around. They seem slightly larger, but don't take my word on that, and are made of a different material. Sticks have a really nice bounce off of the surface, and there are inner and outer rings to help you hone in on the center of the pad with every hit. The outer ring is slightly harder, more rubbery, and the inner ring has a shiny surface that has a very elastic feel to it. Playing on these, whether just tapping or really tearing into them, is a much better experience. You don't have to work so hard to get your sticks to bounce which is nice, and the *thwack* of drum on pad has been seriously quieted. The pads are easily the nicest upgrade, and you should have a great time hitting these things for at least a couple of years.

These drums are also wireless, which pretty much means they behave just like any other 360 d-pad. Nothing more to say than that.

Another reviewer pointed out that the sticks included with this kit are genuine Ludwig sticks, which is a nice bonus. Oddly my RB1 set came with some pro-mark 747's, which are slightly heavier and, to me at least, have a slightly better heft because of the weight. If you've been playing with the RB1 revision one sticks, which feel like they're made out of balsa wood, then you will love the Ludwigs. On the other hand if you have revision two drums with the pro-mark sticks you'll likely want to stick with them.

As noted elsewhere Harmonix didn't exactly reinvent the wheel with the RB2 drums, but all of the little improvements, and in the case of the drum pads a BIG improvement, make the drumming experience much more fun. The game itself is fodder for another review, but if you're a RB drummer you should do yourself a favor and pick this kit up. Honestly, you will not be disappointed.

I purchased the standalone drums at a local GameStop the day they came out to use with Rock Band 2, and its been a very pleasurable experience. There was a problem where they would turn off randomly, however, after replacing the batteries with some rechargable batteries I purchased the problem seems to have disappeared, leading me to believe the batteries it came with are defective, but this isn't a problem with the product itself, so I won't knock it a star for that. The pads are quieter and much more sensitive, and you'll find yourself double-tapping the bass pedal a lot until you get used to it, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The sticks it comes with are authentic Ludwig sticks and not cheap imitations like the ones that came with the original Rock Band. There are expansion ports for up to three cymbals to be connected, but since the cymbals haven't been released yet I can't comment on that aspect. Overall a very good drum set and a definite improvement over the first set.

The RB2 drum kit is a vast improvement over the RB1 drum kit in a number of ways. First, it's more sensitive as well as strike-sensitive -- so the harder you hit, the louder the sound is (but only for free play). With more sensitivity comes less frustration from missing notes that you know you hit but the game didn't register. The construction of the drum pads is also improved. No longer are you striking on hard plastic that will eventually crack. Now, you strike on some kind of foam material that has a rubber membrane on top.

The bass pedal is also improved, but still not perfect. With my original RB1 pedal, I had to glue a thin piece of wood on top of it because it cracked in half. The RB2 pedal now has reinforcement to it in the form of a thin metal plate that goes over the top. However, the plate ends at the hinge, which may be the breaking point. My pedal has stood up to many hours so far, so we shall see how well it goes.

In addition to the improved durability, there's a few other key features that add to the overall improvements. Of course, it's wireless, so that's nice. Battery life is pretty good. There are also 2 connectors on the back for hooking up "cymbals", but those are sold separately.

So, I have owned my RB2 drum kit for about 3 weeks now and I play it fairly often (especially since Beatles RB came out). There is already some damage. As I mentioned before, the pads are covered with a rubber membrane. In the middle of the rubber membrane is a flexible plastic sticker or something. Anyway, after banging on that plastic piece, it tends to stretch it out (much like stretching a plastic bag). And that causes it to bubble up. So, depending on how hard you hit, you may or may not miss some notes because of the bubble. It haven't really noticed it start to effect anything, but it's definitely a noticeable flaw in the design whether it leads to failure later on or not.

Overall I am happy with the new kit. I was never able to achieve 100% on any songs using the RB1 kit. With this kit, I know that if I don't get 100%, it was my fault.

If you don't really want to buy the bundle for Rock Band 2, I would definitely recommend at least buying the drums. These are the best part of the game, and the new ones are flawless.

Pro: Wireless, very little loss of signal from what I can tell. Redesigned to bounce up better. Appears to be built much sturdier than the original drums. Comes with real Ludwig drum-sticks.

Con: Metal foot-pedal doesn't seem all that sturdy, after playing Painkiller or Panic Attack you feel like this pedal might break....

Just buy this product.

Bought one kit from Amazon, and it worked fine for about 5 songs. Then in the middle of a song, it disconnected from the Xbox. Only the buttons (not the actual pads) work fire drum strikes. This could only be resolved by pulling out the batteries and reinserting. I returned it to Amazon within a few days.

** Also to note, if you have the first gen "Roadie" drum pedal it won't work with this kit without a circuit board level modification.

Second set, almost the exact same issue (now when it disconnects, only the blue and green pads go out#. Researched all over for a fix, tried many #most people think it's related to the battery compartment design, however I've found at least one instance where someone had the same issue using a "direct current" fix), none have worked for me so far.

Apparently there are two versions of this drumkit, both models I had were "SL" (the more problematic according to Harmonix boards). I also have the cymbal add ons, which suprisingly will still work when half the pads disconnect? Very odd.

Speaking of which, here's plenty of reading as to why you should really think twice before buying these (http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22922), and note, these issues affect both the XBOX 360 and PS3 platforms (which leads me to believe it's a core drum design issue). Also note, NO ONE from either EA or Harmonix have even commented anywhere in this 100+ (and growing) message thread.

Buyer beware.. I feel like I threw 80 bucks out the window (we use the RB1 pads 100% of the time now). I REALLY love this game, but this experience has definitely left a bad feeling towards it for me.

I have had the new rock band 2 drum kit for about 5 months, not a lot of time on it, and the pedal broke similar to the rock band 1 foot pedal. Near the pin at the base of the pedal. Also the rubber covers on the pads are "bubbling up" they have not broke yet, but the center is a air pocket under the rubber cover, this creates a loud pop when you hit them, due to air in the pocket being compressed.

Any one else seen this issue? have a fix. I fixed the rock band broken pedal but screwing a peice of metal on top of the break to reenforce it, it has worked fine since.

The thing that is sad to me about this product is, it is not really that much better then the first set. I did get it due to the yellow pad on the first set cracked inside, so i had to replace it. But with the rubber cover on the 2nd version bubbling up, i fear this one will break as well.

I'm extremely happy with this new drum kit when compared to my RB1 kit. It is quieter and doesn't drop random notes. The wireless is a big plus, I get over 20hrs with rechargeable batteries, the velocity sensitiveness is pretty cool as well. Now, I found small flaws with my set. Some pads were "double hitting" the notes every once in a while and would have minor "cross talk" issues. However, I have since fixed the problem. I tightened (or loosened)up the screws holding the sensors down (under the drum head) and I even added the Official Rock Band Drum Silencers on and I have not experienced any problems at all. This set is a definite buy.

Bought this drum set as a replacement for the orginal Rock Band drum set, which by the way only lasted 2 months, and I am not impressed much by this one either. It works just fine, but the blue pad sounds different from the other three. Almost like it is cracked, but I can not see any damage. The yellow sounds off also, but in a different way. It looks like there is not much quality control at the manufacturer. A good point about this set, the Rock Band 2 drum kit (standalone), is that the sound is a little bit softer that the first set, but it is still way too loud overall. Would I buy another one of these, NO. I would rather save up and buy the ION drum set, or some other set. I do enjoy playing RB 1 & 2, and the GH games. No problems with the games, just the drums.

I had both the Rock Band 1 and now the Rock Band 2 drum kit. I was always afraid the Rock Band 1 peddle would snap and the noise of hitting the controller drove me crazy.

The Rock Band 2 Standalone Drums are much quieter, no more clackity clack. The rubber heads are more sensitive and have better bounce back. The drum kit is wireless so make sure to get some AA renewable batteries.

The rock band 2 drums are way better than the rock band 1 drums. First of all, the pads are much quieter. Also, the metal drum pedal is resistant to almost any type of drumming. Overall, they're great and a must for any drummer unless of course you get the Ions.