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2Box SpeedLight kit First impressions

Started by edcito, February 27, 2020, 06:05:05 PM

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edcito

Took delivery of my new toy today: the 2box speedlight kit. It comes in 2 boxes, one with the pads and one with the rack and module. I was more curious about the hihat and ride, the hihat is one zone and the ride is 3 zone and triggers beautifully. The texture of the cymbals is similar to the atv cymbals. The toms and snare are tiny and have a single ply head, they trigger perfectly out of the box. The module came with os 1.34.1.
The rack is pretty lightweight, the mounts for the toms and snare are the same mounts as for the original drumit 5 pads, they are hex rods, which is a minus since you’ll need a yamaha or pearl hex mounts if you want to change them.
The included hihat stand is quite flimsy, you cannot expect more for this price. The hihat pad sits atop a plastic tray with foam on it. The actual controller is a plastic movable part attached to the pad itself. It triggers ok and needs more fine tuning so you get clean chicks and splashes. I’d say replacing the hihat stand is a must. The kick pad is the same texture as the cymbals, soft.

Since this is basically a drumit 3, there is only one small mounting guide for the rack, no additional instructions included. The hihat pad came without the clutch attached so you have to do it yourself.

I made a video of the unboxing and hope to put in on tutube tomorrow.

welshsteve

I local shop to me has one in, I'll be checking out on Monday. Though I know what to expect, but more interested in the cymbals and hihat system they got going on. I hope it does well for them.
My Hovercraft is full of Eels!

edcito

Many will hate the small pads but in general the kit feels solid, well except for the kick pad, which dances all over the place but nothing that some velcro can't handle. the biggest surprise to me was the single zone hihat.

edcito


welshsteve

I had a check out of the speed light kit today and had a play on it for a good few hours. Going from my pads to that is a bit of a adjustment due to the pad sizes, but after a while I found it okay, like I say adjustment.

The ride and crash cymbals although small, played lovely. Especially the ride, really clean separation from bell to bow to edge. And sensitive. You only have to tap the bell to register a trigger. Lovely rubber playing surface too! If they did these in larger sizes, say 16" crash, 18" ride etc I think ATV would have some competition.

The hihat also felt really nice to play but I was a bit disappointed it's a single zone pad. I wonder what the thinking it behind that? It uses the 2box trigger algorithm so I presume it works of the magnet system like the original. Apart from the single zone, it was very nice to play.

Out of the box I found the settings on the shy side, in other words, all the curves were set to POS1 or higher. I adjusted them to NORM and made some gain adjustments and I got it to play very natural.

The snare pad is great, small, but great. Again the separation between rimshot and center hits was clean.

The rack is adequate, but small! It looks like this kit is really aimed at kids to teenagers. If you were tall you'd struggle to get this high enough to accommodate ones playing.

The module of course needs no introduction.

Overall, I say it's a great kit, but not really something you'd feel confident to gig with.

My Hovercraft is full of Eels!

edcito

I told you you would love the cymbals, they feel very much atv-esque and play beautifully, as soon as individual pads are available I'm going to get all 3 10" toms and mount them with yamaha hex mounts so they sit higher. I didn't think about changing the curves, I did change them to norm as well and yeah it makes a difference. The hihat pad feels sluggish at first but when the surface of the tray gets molded it gets much better.

Matfarsan

Ordered a Speedlight today without being able to test it so Im really hoping to like it.
I already have a Roland TD-30 at home som this is gona be a drumset that I can use with my band.
From what I´ve understand is the hardware not as exclusive as Rolands dito but hopefully it will work out well.

edcito

Cool, I hope you like it. For those in Europe, the seller “keepdrum” on ebay has it listed for 1299â,¬ but it accepts offers for 1200â,¬. Good price if you want one.

tsss27

Seems that the ride cymbal pad is the highlight here, from all that I've read so far. Hopefully they sell them separately and they don't break easily (like the older 2Box ones apparently did.)

ninogui

Quote from: edcito on March 04, 2020, 06:31:52 AM
I told you you would love the cymbals, they feel very much atv-esque and play beautifully, as soon as individual pads are available I'm going to get all 3 10" toms and mount them with yamaha hex mounts so they sit higher. I didn't think about changing the curves, I did change them to norm as well and yeah it makes a difference. The hihat pad feels sluggish at first but when the surface of the tray gets molded it gets much better.

Hello Edcito
Are the mounts you are refering to the Yamaha tpcl500 ?
https://uk.yamaha.com/en/products/musical_instruments/drums/el_drums/rack_attachments/tpcl500/index.html

edcito

Hi, no, those are ugly and the plastic is very hard, I meant these: https://www.thomann.de/gb/yamaha_cl945a_clamp.htm?ref=intl&shp=eyJjb3VudHJ5IjoiZ2IiLCJjdXJyZW5jeSI6IjQiLCJsYW5ndWFnZSI6ImVuIn0%3D
Since I have the clamps already I just need these, cheaper...

ninogui

Ok I see

Sorry for the silly question but you meant with the speedlight default clamp hardware you just swap the mount with these (3 for the toms ?) and you are able to get them higher like let´s say at least 10-20 cm ?

Height adjustment will be important to me in a teenage size kit I guess, as I am 1,81 mt tall

edcito


junkmale

I am very interested in this kit, but the one thing holding me back is the build quality.  I have heard various opinions on this topic.  Some say the kit is solid and others say the toms, snare, etc.... are not as good of build quality as Roland for example.  I used to have the Roland TD-9 kit and use it live on weekends with my band for a long time.  I found that kit was built strong rack and pads wise.   Can anyone who knows both tell me if they compare?  Are they the same quality or is one better than the other?  My intention is to use this live as I am 52 years old now and getting tired of lugging my heavy equipment out of the basement for gigs.  LOL  :)  Thanks in advance for any help. 

ninogui

Quote from: edcito on March 19, 2020, 08:49:43 AM
Short demo of the kit by andertons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG8OuN1oJM4

Thks Edcito
This is really the only full kit demo video I´ve seen so far. Sounds really good to my old ears.

Can anyone confirm if the kit includes printed manual for the unit, or is the pdf the only one ?
thks in advance