Frequently Bought Together
Product Features
|
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Related Items
- Most Popular
- Xbox 360 Games
- Wii Games
- PlayStation 3 Games
- Drum Set Thrones
Product Description
Mad Catz Rock Band 2 Triple Cymbal Expansion Kit provides the means for you to drum like the pros do with velocity- sensitive Crash, Ride, and Hi-Hat cymbals (also compatible with Rock Band 3 drum kits). With the easy-to-install mounting brackets, you have total control and can setup your drum kit in any configuration you see fit. Once your drum kit has been customized to your standards, you¿ll be all set to attack your song library with new vigor and achieve the next step in drumming perfection.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
54 of 55 people found the following review helpful
Fun:
Second Update 12/16/2008: UPS just dropped a package from Mad Catz. They didn't fix my broken cymbal, they sent me an entirely new package, cymbal, mounting hardware and all.
No note included saying what was wrong, or anything, just a new cymbal. It looks like it's been handled, which probably means that someone tested it out to make sure it worked right, before they sent it to me (or that it's a refurbished.)
I tried it out, and all seems well. Kudos to Mad Catz for the excellent customer service. Their site says 4 to 6 weeks, and it only took 12 days from drop off, to return. I'm psyched.
Update: After playing for an hour or so this afternoon, it's evident that one of my cymbals is defective. It's sometimes registering two hits, instead of one. I called Mad Catz, and the guy I got was super friendly, extremely understanding, and set me up with an RMA. He said the website suggested 4-6 weeks, but realistically, it's more like 2 to 3. I'll update again when I get the new cymbal to see if it's working properly. I'm glad I didn't just try returning it to Amazon to get another, they appear to be completely sold out everywhere I've checked today. Glad I pre-ordered mine 3 months ago.
My three pack finally arrived last night, and I was psyched to get them. Ever since they were announced, I've been excited about them. The way I assumed they worked, was actually different than how they do work. More on that later.
First, some images, to show how freaking cool they look:
The whole kitHi-Hat CymbalRide Cymbal
The cymbals certainly give the drums the look of a real drumkit (okay, at least a real electronic drumkit,) but how do they play?
They take some getting used to, that's for sure. I just got them last night, so I'm still in the adjusting phase. But right from the get go, my wife said "You look like you're having more fun." Which I totally was. It felt like I was playing more realistically than I had without the cymbals.
When I first bought the cymbals, I assumed that they would just act as extenders of their respective colors. So when you'd hit the blue, it made whatever sound the blue one should at that specific point in time. As Rock Banders know, the drums pretty much all double as cymbals or drums, depending on the part of the song. I was pleasantly surprised that the new cymbal pads are dedicated as cymbals. So, if you hit the "ride" cymbal, it makes the ride cymbal no matter what. Same for the hi-hat, and crash cymbals.
It may throw your brain off, when you hit the cymbal when it's a tom-tom in the game, and you hear the wrong sound, but it won't break your streak, or count against your overall score. As long as you hit the right color, the sound that the game makes doesn't matter.
My favorite thing about the other game, you know, that one I returned already, was that there were dedicated cymbal pads with their drumkit. The Rock Band 2 drumkit, with the Mad Catz add-on cymbal pack (a measely $29.99) is 100% totally, absolutely better than GHWT's, hands down.
The game is more fun when playing drums, with the cymbals. It's more realistic, and more creative. I especially dig that during the "Overdrive fills", you can be a lot more musical with the drums, with dedicated toms/cymbals. If you're a die hard drummer for a Rock Band band, you absolutely need to spend the $29.99 to get these cymbals, pronto.
No note included saying what was wrong, or anything, just a new cymbal. It looks like it's been handled, which probably means that someone tested it out to make sure it worked right, before they sent it to me (or that it's a refurbished.)
I tried it out, and all seems well. Kudos to Mad Catz for the excellent customer service. Their site says 4 to 6 weeks, and it only took 12 days from drop off, to return. I'm psyched.
Update: After playing for an hour or so this afternoon, it's evident that one of my cymbals is defective. It's sometimes registering two hits, instead of one. I called Mad Catz, and the guy I got was super friendly, extremely understanding, and set me up with an RMA. He said the website suggested 4-6 weeks, but realistically, it's more like 2 to 3. I'll update again when I get the new cymbal to see if it's working properly. I'm glad I didn't just try returning it to Amazon to get another, they appear to be completely sold out everywhere I've checked today. Glad I pre-ordered mine 3 months ago.
My three pack finally arrived last night, and I was psyched to get them. Ever since they were announced, I've been excited about them. The way I assumed they worked, was actually different than how they do work. More on that later.
First, some images, to show how freaking cool they look:
The whole kitHi-Hat CymbalRide Cymbal
The cymbals certainly give the drums the look of a real drumkit (okay, at least a real electronic drumkit,) but how do they play?
They take some getting used to, that's for sure. I just got them last night, so I'm still in the adjusting phase. But right from the get go, my wife said "You look like you're having more fun." Which I totally was. It felt like I was playing more realistically than I had without the cymbals.
When I first bought the cymbals, I assumed that they would just act as extenders of their respective colors. So when you'd hit the blue, it made whatever sound the blue one should at that specific point in time. As Rock Banders know, the drums pretty much all double as cymbals or drums, depending on the part of the song. I was pleasantly surprised that the new cymbal pads are dedicated as cymbals. So, if you hit the "ride" cymbal, it makes the ride cymbal no matter what. Same for the hi-hat, and crash cymbals.
It may throw your brain off, when you hit the cymbal when it's a tom-tom in the game, and you hear the wrong sound, but it won't break your streak, or count against your overall score. As long as you hit the right color, the sound that the game makes doesn't matter.
My favorite thing about the other game, you know, that one I returned already, was that there were dedicated cymbal pads with their drumkit. The Rock Band 2 drumkit, with the Mad Catz add-on cymbal pack (a measely $29.99) is 100% totally, absolutely better than GHWT's, hands down.
The game is more fun when playing drums, with the cymbals. It's more realistic, and more creative. I especially dig that during the "Overdrive fills", you can be a lot more musical with the drums, with dedicated toms/cymbals. If you're a die hard drummer for a Rock Band band, you absolutely need to spend the $29.99 to get these cymbals, pronto.
48 of 49 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
Fun:
First of all the Mad Catz Triple Expansion Cymbals works like a charm. It adds great depth of play when playing as the drummer in Rock Band.
I've seen several reviews here that says that the cymbals slips when it was hit too hard and sometimes the cymbals double-hits when hit too hard.
Well I found a fix for these problems.
Cymbals Slipping:
You must ensure that the plastic locks that holds the aluminum tube snaps 'locks' into place with the other half of it. There must not be a space in between the two plastic locks other than the circular areas which hold the drum aluminum tube and the cymbal aluminum tube. But be careful once they're locked it can be very difficult to separate the two plastics.
Cymbals Double-hit:
I noticed that one of the three cymbals I got was too sensitive. When I hit it hard, the game registers two hits. You can try this by going to the main menu and assigning the sensitive cymbal into the BLUE (ride) port. Try hitting it hard and you will notice that on the Menu selection screen it will go down from QUICKPLAY -> TOUR -> TRAINING. This is clearly a double hit because it skipped the TOUR on the menu. And for the fix, try loosening up the wing nuts in such a way that the cymbals will bounce a little when hit. This would transfer the bounce force into the foam and not the cymbal sensor. After trying this and testing with songs with lots of cymbals (Dead on Arrival) I noticed that I never missed a note again when hitting the sensitive cymbal.
I hope this helps lots of people having problems with the Mad Catz Cymbals Triple Pack.
I've seen several reviews here that says that the cymbals slips when it was hit too hard and sometimes the cymbals double-hits when hit too hard.
Well I found a fix for these problems.
Cymbals Slipping:
You must ensure that the plastic locks that holds the aluminum tube snaps 'locks' into place with the other half of it. There must not be a space in between the two plastic locks other than the circular areas which hold the drum aluminum tube and the cymbal aluminum tube. But be careful once they're locked it can be very difficult to separate the two plastics.
Cymbals Double-hit:
I noticed that one of the three cymbals I got was too sensitive. When I hit it hard, the game registers two hits. You can try this by going to the main menu and assigning the sensitive cymbal into the BLUE (ride) port. Try hitting it hard and you will notice that on the Menu selection screen it will go down from QUICKPLAY -> TOUR -> TRAINING. This is clearly a double hit because it skipped the TOUR on the menu. And for the fix, try loosening up the wing nuts in such a way that the cymbals will bounce a little when hit. This would transfer the bounce force into the foam and not the cymbal sensor. After trying this and testing with songs with lots of cymbals (Dead on Arrival) I noticed that I never missed a note again when hitting the sensitive cymbal.
I hope this helps lots of people having problems with the Mad Catz Cymbals Triple Pack.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
Fun:
I think it's great to expand the RB2 kit--just four pads and a pedal--using cymbals to add some variety to playing the tracks, but these come up a little short in that area.
Admittedly, they're something of a bargain when you compare them to real electronic cymbals, so the question becomes whether the shortcomings are worth the price.
Ultimately, I'd say these are for two types of player:
1. people who are really starting to get into drumming and are wondering if they'd want to take the big leap into the Ion Drum Rocker.
2. people who want to expand their Rock Band gameplay.
In the end, I'd say they really don't serve either group completely. They're a lot louder than the standard RB2 pads and have a tendency to come loose if you hit them a lot, so they're not really comparable to the sort of professional experience you get with the Ion.
The other aspect is a bit trickier to explain. While the cymbals add a lot of flash to fills and free-form playing by being mapped to their own sounds (Yellow - Hi-Hat, Blue - Ride, Green - Crash), giving you eight total sounds in those modes, that flash doesn't carry over to the songs themselves.
In the main of the song, the game only knows you're playing Yellow, not that it's the Hi-Hat. As a result, you end up listening to the song while you play to determine if you're on the "right" target for the sound that's coming out...is that green note a Tom or a Crash? This adds an extra layer of complexity to playing and requires that you learn the song a bit differently from if you're just playing the drum pads.
The volume of striking the cymbals is kind of a turn-off, too: now that Harmonix has delivered a much quieter drum kit, adding the cymbals suddenly makes it about as loud to hit as the RB1 kit had been. It's not bad if you've got the volume up, but if you're playing at night and trying to keep the noise down, you may find yourself hearing the tap of your sticks against the cymbals and little else.
The last minus is the way they mount. The hardware is secure enough, though a bit difficult to assemble exactly as directed and very difficult to disassemble, but the design of the cymbal mounts doesn't work quite the way the instructions imply. Supporting the cymbal is a wedge that serves the dual purpose of keeping the cymbal's active edge turned toward you and which also allows it some tilt. The problem is, to get it to tilt, you need to loosen the nut that secures it in place. Given that that nut likes to ride the vibrations and unscrew itself while you play, getting it loose enough to allow for significant tilt can be pretty frustrating.
As a result, they end up mounted more-or-less horizontally, which takes away from the "real drummer" experience they're supposed to be providing.
Admittedly, they're something of a bargain when you compare them to real electronic cymbals, so the question becomes whether the shortcomings are worth the price.
Ultimately, I'd say these are for two types of player:
1. people who are really starting to get into drumming and are wondering if they'd want to take the big leap into the Ion Drum Rocker.
2. people who want to expand their Rock Band gameplay.
In the end, I'd say they really don't serve either group completely. They're a lot louder than the standard RB2 pads and have a tendency to come loose if you hit them a lot, so they're not really comparable to the sort of professional experience you get with the Ion.
The other aspect is a bit trickier to explain. While the cymbals add a lot of flash to fills and free-form playing by being mapped to their own sounds (Yellow - Hi-Hat, Blue - Ride, Green - Crash), giving you eight total sounds in those modes, that flash doesn't carry over to the songs themselves.
In the main of the song, the game only knows you're playing Yellow, not that it's the Hi-Hat. As a result, you end up listening to the song while you play to determine if you're on the "right" target for the sound that's coming out...is that green note a Tom or a Crash? This adds an extra layer of complexity to playing and requires that you learn the song a bit differently from if you're just playing the drum pads.
The volume of striking the cymbals is kind of a turn-off, too: now that Harmonix has delivered a much quieter drum kit, adding the cymbals suddenly makes it about as loud to hit as the RB1 kit had been. It's not bad if you've got the volume up, but if you're playing at night and trying to keep the noise down, you may find yourself hearing the tap of your sticks against the cymbals and little else.
The last minus is the way they mount. The hardware is secure enough, though a bit difficult to assemble exactly as directed and very difficult to disassemble, but the design of the cymbal mounts doesn't work quite the way the instructions imply. Supporting the cymbal is a wedge that serves the dual purpose of keeping the cymbal's active edge turned toward you and which also allows it some tilt. The problem is, to get it to tilt, you need to loosen the nut that secures it in place. Given that that nut likes to ride the vibrations and unscrew itself while you play, getting it loose enough to allow for significant tilt can be pretty frustrating.
As a result, they end up mounted more-or-less horizontally, which takes away from the "real drummer" experience they're supposed to be providing.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
So much better
Using these cymbals is soo much more fun than just the drum heads. I really suggest getting them. They can take a real beating too!! Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr.Blah
Much Better Than New MadCatz Cymbals
This product is great. I am having issues with one of the cymbals double hitting occasionally. I have to tighten/loosen it at times and it fixes the issue for at least a full... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Matthew A. Roberts
Great addon for an already fun game
The cymbals set really made the drum experience twice as fun. Make sure you buy the triple set to maximize the cymbals experience instead of just the double. Read more
Published 12 months ago by topzki
Great product, adds a bit of realism
These additions are a lot of fun, makes it a bit more realistic. The porblem is I've played so long without them that I forget to use them sometimes lol.
Published 12 months ago by Big D
Make the most realistic rockband instrument even better
The main reason I fell in love with the drums was because in Rockbands 1 & 2 it was the most realistic instrument of all (not counting the mic). Read more
Published 13 months ago by Daniel Bjorndahl
Neat to have, but not that funcational.
I could never get these to work right... When plugged in, you either hit the blue cymbal or the blue drum. Read more
Published 14 months ago by bbeers
awesome, but a little cheap materials
First of all, I suggest buying this product, it make a huge difference in the game experience :)
After an awesome month playing with these cymbals I could see the effect of a... Read more
After an awesome month playing with these cymbals I could see the effect of a... Read more
Published 14 months ago by a.hogemann
Pretty good set of Cymbols
You could never go wrong with this set. Easy install and I love to play it. I put some duct tape on the ends to prevent the rubber from wearing off. This means I play this a lot. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Rob VanWijmeren
I love these cymbals!
These cymbals are great for the people that choose the drums first thing! They are difficult to play at first, but you'll get the hang of it! Read more
Published 15 months ago by RockBandDrummer
Rock Band 2 Triple Cymbal Expansion Kit
I got it for a friend. He likes it and says it really adds to the fun of the game. I don't play video games so I can't provide a first-hand review.
Published 16 months ago by BHoll2
Customer Discussions
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192250339_.gif){kind=small}
Listmania!
So You'd Like to...
Look for Similar Items by Category
- Video Games > PlayStation 3 > Accessories > Controllers > Drums
- Video Games > Wii > Accessories > Controllers > Drums
- Video Games > Xbox 360 > Accessories > Controllers > Drums
|
