First Kit in the States? I think it might be me - First Impressions

[Steve]

I got my kit here in the US yesterday from Absolute Music in England who did a great job for me - Tim was on top of everything,   Couple notes The four bass drum screws to mount the kick to the plate are not in the box, 2 box needs to fix that. Note: a generic power converter from UK to US does not work, I had to hit radio shack for a new power supply. I have played and owned a lot of electronics over the years and still have a ddrum 3 whch I can''t bear to sell but the sounds of the 2 box are amazing. I am going to test it against my ddrum 3 side by side this weekend but it is impressive so far. The rack is great I think with the exception of the snare basket that needs a work around. I don't see it holding up, it wobbles and I kit hard and would use a regular snare stand if I was giging regularly. I have no double triggergering after adjusting, I think some may be getting a bit of bouncing casuing the double tiggering. My left tom will trigger the cymbals a bit so adjustmetns are needed. I never played electronic cymbals before but I calibrated the hi hat like the manual said and it is not too bad but not like the real thing.  I find myself making slight playing adjustments that are not a big deal.

I will post a video a some point to really help people hear this kit with a real groove and the nuances that so many other videos do not have. The electronic drum market has the TD-20 very overpriced but quality built and then just lower cost stuff that just does not sound good. The old ddrum 2 beats even the TD 20 with the exception of cymbals. So the 2 box kit fits nicely in the market between a true real pro quality kit rackmountable and the rest of the unbearable sounding kits everyone else makes. The Roland plays very well, the kits feel balanced I see a lot of volume and gain adjustments ahead of me to get some of the 2 box kits to feel balanced and more organic. I am just getting started but the sounds are impressive and this is the unit to have.

[a700256]

Mine arrived via DHL this last Monday Jan 4th from Studio Exchange in the U.K. Paul over there is the best and the funny thing about it is that he actually posted an ebay auction for U.S. delivery last fall. It ran for about a month and he only required a 10 percent down payment to hold it until the next batch arrived. With that in mind, those of us in the states who really wanted to get a kit should have explored all options, including ebay and may have had one by now! The nice thing about getting a kit form the U.K. is that we do not have to pay a VAT tax, just shipping, which brings the bottom line cost down to a really affordable level.

[drew]

How much are you guys paying for them? The price I was quoted was around $2800 including shipping.

[a700256]

I believe with the conversion from the US dollar to British pounds my total cost with shipping was $2400.00 USD.

[Steve]

yeah $2400 - $2500 - $2800 seems a little high

[sugiken]

I just got mine earlier this week from StudioXChange in UK too. Their service is great! Mine got shipped via DHL and the price with shipping is ~2250 US$.

I am still in the process of getting the kit sound right...I bought an adjustable output (3.5V,6V,9V etc.) power adapter from Best Buy and set it to 9V hoping I don't need a voltage converter (UK to US). With that, I am able to turn on the module and navigate through, yet I am hearing just noise from the headphone when hitting the pads 

Has anyone seen the same situation before?

[fishmonkey]

I am still in the process of getting the kit sound right...I bought an adjustable output (3.5V,6V,9V etc.) power adapter from Best Buy and set it to 9V hoping I don't need a voltage converter (UK to US). With that, I am able to turn on the module and navigate through, yet I am hearing just noise from the headphone when hitting the pads 

you are thinking about it all wrong.

whatever the mains voltage is, the power adapter you use should be putting out 18V AC, at 9VA.

[Evy]

Glad to hear you americans are getting some 2box kits!  Here in canada they have them, i'm getting one for 2400 plus tax, so around 2700.  Sounds like you are getting some killer deals tho.  However I do have the benefit of not worrying about power conversion and if there is a problem I can just take it back to the store.  Have fun and enjoy the ridiculously real maple tom sounds, incredible!  IMO they need to produce better snares tho.  Anybody care to compare the 2box to a Dm10 pro?  My local on the other hand won't carry the Alesis stuff.

[hwasser]

I use a poweradapter, from GP to EU poweradapter, no problems at all

[sugiken]

Thanks for the replies. I just bought a transformer and a UK-to-US plug to use the original 2BOX power adapter, and it WORKS and no more noise! Now I need to focus on getting the crosstalks, hi-hat calibration, volume etc. sorted out. And of course I need to focus on ENJOYING it!

[fishmonkey]

don't forget to update the firmware to version 1.10 if necessary...

[sugiken]

Hi US Drumit 5 users (especially the potential ones),

I just want to share what I bought to replace my previous transformer-converter-Drumit5adapter setup which was very clumsy and the transformer kept drawing energy even not in use...

The power adapter I bought to replace is:
http://www.markertek.com/Power-Related-Equipment/A-C-Power-Supplies-Equipment/412-218054.xhtml?412-218054

The page contains the tech specs for the adapter as well. If the page goes dead, the product name is "Mouser Electronics Plug-In AC Adapter" with P/N 412-218054.

With this I can just plug from the power outlet directly to Drumit 5 without transformer nor converter. Now I can really rock on the kit without worrying the transformer being too hot!

Hope this helps,
To

[Slap the drummer]

Evy - I've played the DM10 Pro.  At UK prices I thought it was very good value.  The surge cymbals felt good (but then I suppose they would wouldn't they!).  The pads I liked as well in comparison to Roland and Yamaha sets in same price range, but personally I don't think it works using a 'real' skin like that on a small head - you need a full size head for the skin to really work.  It felt a bit cramped and slow.  There's no comparison with the 2box pads, which for me feel superb - I don't even notice them.

The Alesis rack is good value.  And I thought the sounds were pretty good too, at least in h/phones - a PA would expose their artificial nature very quickly.  They can't touch the sounds you can get with the 2box tho.  I don't know (or remember now) what "dynamic articulation" is but it only works up to a point, you can still hear that the sounds are triggered samples (imho).

What really put me off was the pad triggering.  All the pads had a different degree of responsiveness, and tho I was able to adjust the settings to even them out a bit, I still felt they were a bit unreliable (the occasional dropped hit etc), and there was one which if you really whacked it, it suddenly woke up and took your ears off (not good in headphones!).  Maybe a faulty kit, not sure.

At half the price of the 2box (UK), worth considering if you can't afford the 2box.
Otherwise there's no real comparison though, the 2box really is in a different league altogether. 

Hope this is of some help.

[Slap the drummer]

P.S.  forgot to say, the DM10 is very loud and has the potential to annoy your neighbours - a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your point of view.

[Evy]

Thanks for the reply Slap, but that was posted in July and I have been beating the hell out of my 2Box since then!!  Be that as it may, I still haven't tried a DM10 Pro...and don't have to!  Nothing can touch the 2Box!