My experience after one year with 2box

[DocBrown]

Hi folks,

I'd like to share with you my experience after more than a year with a 2box kit. I'm afraid it's not as good as you may think.

I got my kit by august '13. I have to say that I got a great deal, it was used, but in MINT condition for just 1000 â,¬ (+ 300 km travel!). Previous kit was a 2004 Roland TD-3, and I also have an acoustic Tama Starclassic.

I started to use it with a hard rock cover band, and it was great to have so many high quality sounds so I could have different kits for '80s, '70s or '90s songs. I downloaded all sounds from 2box site, and my first problem was that there wasn't enough space in it's internal memory for all of them, so I did the card extension hack and everything was ok. I think (as many of you) that the brand could do things better just by making the card removable with just an slot. Anyway, module was great, and I could import my own sounds, what was really good for a band I joined later where I play custom electronic sounds only.

First problem came with kick pad. It started to fail randomly, until the point I had to resolder it first, and change its piezo later. Finally, I bought a Roland one, much more solid. Since then, problem dissappeared.

Some time after that, hi-hat started to fail, not responding well while opening-closing, no matter how many times I try to calibrate it. It's not a major issue since I don't use my kit live with acoustic sounds, but it's there.

I'm a hard-hitting player and I play a lot of rimshots on snare, so, as you can imagine, rim rubber under the plastic piece is almost destroyed.

Last problem came with one cymbal, when stopped responding, no signall arrived to module. I disassembled it and I discovered that ceramic was broken, and I had to resolder it.

Beyond these problems there are other minor things that I'd like to comment related with hardware. Some parts seem just a joke. First one are cymbal holders. What the **** is that? You can put cymbals the way you want more or less, but shouldn't it be easier include just a couple of standard boom arms? It should not alter the price, I have seen cheap ones for just 10 â,¬ or so.

Other one is hi-hat attachment to rack. Ok, hi-hat stand (and kick pedal, of course) is far away top-quality Tama-DW-Pearl-YourFavoriteBrand, but it's stupid to design a piece where you have to totally remove its nut to detach the stand.

And what about snare stand? Is it a snare drum stand or an accessory for your Stacey Malibu? Of course, its lower bolt is over...

Rack is fine, except for clamp's rubber which breaks and gets legs dirty, and its lack of memory locks. I prefer Gibraltar style with memory locks and no rubber at all.

I thought I was buying a professional kit at good price, but I think (except for the module) it's just an expensive amateur kit. I think I'll keep its module and will be moving on Roland pads which are more solid than these.

Anyway, that's just my opinion and experience. Thanks for reading and sorry for grammatical incorrections.

[hemiboy]

For me real cymbals , or gen 16's, and a to e , but if I wanted a smaller footprint, pure e kit, I would lean towards a 2 box module with a pintech phoenix snare and concert cast toms, gen 16 buffed bronze cymbals, amd jo hat, and a gibraltar rack 

[Murgen]

I'm wondering if there is a quality difference in hardware before and after 2013 for the Mark II? 2Box had delivery issues back then and as far as I know they changed things (other factory?).

The difference between the OP and me is that my 2Box is permanently in my drumcabin and I'm not a hardhitter (but hitting everything with 2B sticks). Therefore I can not argue with him aka you and can only agree with you: the module is your thing, get proper hardware for the rest. Why not switch to real toms with triggers and the same for cymbals.

[sandman]

As the original OP pointed out, he is the root of his own problems. What most drummers don't understand is you have to alter your approach when playing an e-Kit as opposed to an acoustic kit. You can slam as hard as you can but you will never get out what you put in on an e-kit. The module in itself is still one of the best I have ever come across in 40 years of drumming. I have owned the original Simmons SDSV, SDS7, SDS9, SDS1000, Yamaha DTXtreme IIs, Yamaha DTXTreme III, Yamaha PTX, Ddrum 4.0SE and find the 2Box module beats them all. As for the rest of the E-Kit like pads and cymbals, E-Drums weren't built to be pounded on like the 800 pound gorilla in old classic Samsonite Luggage Commercials.
If you're a heavy hitter, you would best be served using the module with simple drum triggers mounted to your acoustic kit and forget the pads.

[mechanevil]

That sounds horrible. I have an Alesis kit at present and everything has held together for three years. Any genuine problem with the 2Box hardware, or does the OP hit too hard for his own good?

[Murgen]

Last one, hardware is much better than those plastic TD3 racks. I still use the snare standard, it serves its purpose. Still, gigging with the rack might be different, never tried it.

[DocBrown]

I said I play hard, but I'm not Mike Terrana, nor I play with hammers. Rack is ok, but hi-hat and snare stands are not at the same level. Using an acoustic kit with triggers is not an option, just because I also use my 2box at home.

As I said before, this was just my experience: 15 months, one pad replaced, another repaired and another one damaged. This is a (not so) pro drumkit, not for children; it has to support millions of hits with wood sticks.

[Murgen]

I said I play hard, but I'm not Mike Terrana, nor I play with hammers. Rack is ok, but hi-hat and snare stands are not at the same level. Using an acoustic kit with triggers is not an option, just because I also use my 2box at home.

As I said before, this was just my experience: 15 months, one pad replaced, another repaired and another one damaged. This is a (not so) pro drumkit, not for children; it has to support millions of hits with wood sticks.

I do not disagree with you because you certainly mentioned the weakest points of the kit. The pedal and hihat standard are nice to have but most of us use better hardware. Standard for snare is not bad, I still use it. The snare rim and rubber rings are a flaw in the design, should and could have been better. Cymbals are okay for me. I prefer gen16 hihat instead of e-hats.

Still, if I would gig with the 2Box, I would use the module and trigger snare and toms.

[DocBrown]

What are gen16 made of? Are they noisy? Are they ok for playing at home? I've never seen them "in person"

[fulrmr]

What are gen16 made of? Are they noisy? Are they ok for playing at home? I've never seen them "in person"

They are made of B8 Bronze with either a Nickel coating or a Buffed Bronze coating. If you are looking near "silent" like rubber...then no you don't want these. They are however  much "quieter" than a traditional A cymbal....and they do of course play and feel like A cymbals. Instead of a thwack or thump when you hit them you will get a cymbal-like tone instead but much quieter. They are not triggers but do have their own Digital Cymbal Processor(DCP) and software so that you can customize your own sounds to your liking. The Direct Source(DS) pickups facilitate the connection to the processor. The Buffed Bronze series has much warmer base tones to build on than the Nickel. Of course these can also just be played "acoustically" without the DCP.

[Murgen]

They are made of B8 Bronze with either a Nickel coating or a Buffed Bronze coating. If you are looking near "silent" like rubber...then no you don't want these. They are however  much "quieter" than a traditional A cymbal....and they do of course play and feel like A cymbals. Instead of a thwack or thump when you hit them you will get a cymbal-like tone instead but much quieter. They are not triggers but do have their own Digital Cymbal Processor(DCP) and software so that you can customize your own sounds to your liking. The Direct Source(DS) pickups facilitate the connection to the processor. The Buffed Bronze series has much warmer base tones to build on than the Nickel. Of course these can also just be played "acoustically" without the DCP.

Could not have said it in a better way

[DocBrown]

Thanks fulrmr. Perfect answer