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2Box Drumit 5, FIVE YEARS LATER

Started by Murgen, April 17, 2017, 11:36:54 AM

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Murgen

Hello Folks,

When 2Box was introduced there were drummers criticizing the hardware of 2Box. There was even a forum on which positive feedback was and is a nogo (no wonder 2Box drummers never go there again).

So, I bought my kit almost 5 years ago and it is time for a review on hardware quality. Since I performed maintenance on the pads I made pictures from those. On request I can post other components.

Module with extension-cable and 32 GB SD-card.
Holding great, no issues whatsoever. Still holds one of the original cards I burned in summer 2012 on Lustars conversion software from those days. There is a truth in keep it simple, I usually play with 3-4 kits and they are in the card and all works well!

Hihat
This is IMHO the weakest link. I replaced the hihat with a GEN16 14-inch buffed a couple of years ago. Somehow the 2Box hihat and samples from my favorite kits did not go well. I had sounds that should not be there and never bothered to figure out what exactly was wrong. Important side-note; I practice a lot and prefer a real hihat because I used to play gigs on a Pearl MHX kit with Giant Beats (looking for a band in NL at the moment).

Cymbals
I have 3 2Box cymbals and all three work well and the rubber seems to be in good shape (my kit is positioned in a drum cabin without direct sunlight

Toms and snare
Here we go.



I took the pads apart and cleaned them. Notice my toms still have the original mesh-heads. They resisted 5 years of beating. Only the kick and my snare have new mesh heads (I play with nylon tipped 2B's !) .

However, the 2 most used pads both miss one little plastic hook on the side facing to me. They broke of and disappeared. This is actual wear and tear, it does not influence the use of the toms but it created some damage to the mesh-heads.







I also checked the triggers, solder-joints and foam and all in good shape!



I continue with the chapter of the little rubber O-rings. Never use rubber for tensions, only for pressure. I ordered O-rings via Ebay a year ago and for less then 7 euro's 50 O-rings were send to me from HongKong. I replaced some rings 2 years ago but decided it was time to replace them all.

This is a picture of the old rings (on the kit since 2012):



As you can see, many are still in one piece but lost their flexibility quite some time ago. Especially the rings facing the drummer were broken, I have to say that the broken hooks on 2 toms probably put extra tension on the rings.

Kick and Mk2 rack
Both kick and rack are in good condition, everything is in one piece. Again, I rarely have to move the kit but clamps, holder, all in good condition.

As you may know I added an extra bar and a stand to fix my kick (no wobbling in my drum cabin). All in perfect condition.

Kick-pedal and hihat standard are from Pearl, no issues either.

GEN16
Both module, cabling, pickups and lights are without issues. So are the GEN16 cymbals (14 inch hats both with a pickup, 2x 16 inch crash and a 20 inch ride). I went back to the original Julia software because it enables me to tweak and tune a lot more then the toy-software Zildjian has now.

Altogether, in april 2012 I paid 2300 euro's for my 2Box. A Roland TD20 costed 2.5 times more in 2012. The 2Box features and sounds are 5 years later still superior to Rolands TD30 and TD50.

Verdict: Value for money!
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2Box Drumit 5 Mk2 since 2012

Coda

+1 karma for you for the great review  ;D
I don't have any 2box hardware except the module and I'm quite confident to say I'll still be playing it in another 5 years from now :)
I just gotta replace the 2box hihat with a gen16 :( It works well enough, but it just doesnt feel right, and I find that I cannot fully trust my own DIY hardware, especially the stuff I hit the most (I had to resolder the jacks on both my DIY hihat and my Krigg kick this week).

xxl1966

Great review !

"The 2Box features and sounds are 5 years later still superior to Rolands TD30 and TD50"  ;D

As i'm looking to build my own triggers for a conversion project and i will probably buy a 2box 5 or 3 module I would like to get more details on the piezo setup of 2box.
I would appreciate it if you could help me.
In your pictures it looks like the piezo bottom is directly touching the meshhead ? Is that correct ?
Can you tell me the size of the piezo ?

thank you !

welshsteve

I can confirm the piezo in snare does directly touch the mesh, under the overlap of the "2box" logo of the snare pad with the piezo crystal facing down as you look at it from a playing position. Someone on here asked about replacing for a larger piezo. I wouldn't do that! Smaller maybe, but not bigger. I did it with a 30mm piezo and it was too hot for the module. Loads of double triggering also. You can get a replacement piezo from 2box but given the time it takes etc and cost, I'm sure just a 15mm from any anywhere would work as well, try a few out if in doubt. They don't cost much anyway.
My Hovercraft is full of Eels!

xxl1966

thx for the reply.

Are they only 15mm in diameter ? I assume toms are the same ?
Rim trigger must be very tiny !

Coda

I use 20mm on my cymbals and either 20 or 30 on my shells including the rims. They cost about 50c/50p each.

Murgen

Call me a Sunday drummer. My kit has a relaxed life since I'm not in a band and been doing other things lately, apart from trying to get rid of a shoulder injury.

However, occasionally I drum and I try to sit behind my kit at least 90 minutes per week.

I did my maintenance today (taking the pads apart and inspect mesh-heads, rubber rings, clean the wood-chips and general cleaning up).

I have a snare (12-inch) and 4 pads (10-inch). Last review I told you 3 little plastic hooks broke off (3 pads, front hook facing the drummer). This time I took out my glue-gun for an experiment. On the place where the little hook was I put some hot glue, then sticked the ring there and put some more glue on the ring. Not too much, just gentle like Bob Ross would do. There, you see. I have to test this a bit further but assembling and disassembling the pad again showed everything stayed in place for now.

The snare was in excellent condition.

In total I replaced 6 broken rings and replaced 3 more with cracks in the rubber. Not too bad for a total of 30 rings. Using rubber rings is a design error. One of these days I want to look for a replacement that is not from rubber.

Anyway. On hold is my project to update the SD-card. My daughter decided to buy a house and I have been busy lately. But next post will be about the new card, made by Lustars software.

A bientot as the English woud say,

Uncle Murgen
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2Box Drumit 5 Mk2 since 2012

Murgen

Quote from: Murgen on March 14, 2020, 01:42:27 PM
Last review I told you 3 little plastic hooks broke off (3 pads, front hook facing the drummer). This time I took out my glue-gun for an experiment. On the place where the little hook was I put some hot glue, then sticked the ring there and put some more glue on the ring. Not too much, just gentle like Bob Ross would do. There, you see. I have to test this a bit further but assembling and disassembling the pad again showed everything stayed in place for now.

After some bashing sessions 2 out of 3 glue-blobs came loose. Back to the drawing-board (they don't hinder player btw).

Uncle Murgen
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2Box Drumit 5 Mk2 since 2012

Murgen

Heya, long time no post. Still going strong, not much time to play, maybe 30 minutes per week. This happens in covid time with no band (or band-aspirations), 60 years old with a large programma to manage. I don't even take time to rerun Lustar's software to get smaller BFD3 files and I know I need to make a new SD-card, the current one is now 9 years in service. :)

I also consider to do a A2E conversion when my MkII hardware is done. Perhaps a new Drumit5 module with a converted Pearl MHX (12-14-16-24) in silver sparkle. It is in storage since 2014 and I have all the hardware to put it up.

I keep my 3 2Box cymbals and as long as the Gen16 keeps running I stick to it. I'm very displeased with Zildjian regarding the way they treat Gen16 customers. Unresponsive, incompatible software since MacOS is full 64-bits. I wired both hats and that is the best sounding part, ride and 2 crashes are not as good as you would like to but perhaps triggers and a second module to keep using those.

Anyway, I'm fine, it is just a time squeeze.
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2Box Drumit 5 Mk2 since 2012