Wow... This is a great thread. I've been playing drums for 20 years, so take what I'm saying with a grain of that. hehe...
I started getting serious about recording my drums about a year ago. The recordings I made sucked pretty badly. Then I found this forum about 8 months ago, and my recordings have been steadily improving ever since. Comments that "recording acoustic drums is expensive" are definitely true, but then again, if you're trying to get the same sound out of electric drums, you're likely gonna pay more. I almost bought a $5000.00 Roland Electric kit some years ago, but decided to spend $1600.00 on a nice acoustic instead. Even with the kit included, I haven't spent on my studio what I would have spent on that electric drum kit, and I'm getting some pretty good results! The mics I use are mostly sub-par. I've been told my room is far from a "good recording space", and I'm sure I'm doing lots and lots of things wrong. But I'm thoroughly enjoying the ride.
Also, something to consider is - if you use electric drums, and you want to record your other instruments, a lot of the drum mics you would otherwise buy could be used on other instruments... So, if you go the acoustic route, you'll most likely end up with a better studio situation, AND better skills to record things correctly.
Anyway... I started a thread some time ago with the latest attempt at recording something in my basement, and have got good comments. If you want another guy's opinion and recordings to back it up,
please visit here, and give it a listen.
Everything was recorded acoustically, and I had a blast doing it.
Also - if you can record acoustic drums and get them to sound half-way decent, you'll be able to record anything. It just takes a little time and practice, along with a few bucks. Talk to Greg L, and listen to his stuff. His mics are far from "industry standard", and his drum recordings are phenomenal. They are just as good, and in some cases, better than stuff you hear on the radio.
Anyway... Great thread.... Thanks for asking the question and starting the poll.