Monday, November 3, 2008

The Simmons SD5K Electronic Drum Kit - A Review

I recently saw a Simmons Drum kit SD5K at Music & Arts and decided to see if it was worth looking into as at least as a practice kit.

Comes with 4 drum pads, kick tower, 3 cymbal pads and a hi-hat footswitch, rack and module, sticks and power pack. Ok, not a bad start. No bass drum pedal. No problem. All cables for pads to module included. Nice.

The first hits on the kit while in default settings prove not bad at all. The ride cymbal was the first not to trigger on all strikes. Switched cymbal pads and still the same. Missed triggers.

Ok, on to the hi-hat. Here's the real test. Do you get a good sound when opening and closing the hats pedal. I was getting ... A GREAT RESPONSE from the hi-hats!!!!! I always heard many other drummers say the HH bites. This one is so close to real. So I tried partial opens and all. I'm shocked. It worked!!!!

Now, the rest. All pads worked and responded well to dynamic playing. Even the kick tower.

The frame is very lightweight.

Even for a practice kit this would be ok. I may just get one for the studio to teach on. For apartment living this will help you get that practice in quietly.

Oh. There is a headphone jack and an AUX in to pipe in mp3's and all.

Music & Arts price ... $499.00 + taxes (In-Stock).
Music 123.com .... $399.00 + taxes and shipping.
Musician's Friend ... $399.00 = taxes and shipping.
Shipping will have an additiional charge because of the box size.

Shop for the better deal for you.

1 comment:

El Gonzi said...

Thank you for this review. Probably the guys who complain about this kit, are metalhead guys or very hard hitters.
I believe too, that is is a good kit.