Tadpui
Well-known member
Funny that the e-kit geeks are taking over the tail end of this thread
That's OK, I live in a glass house here. I love my little Yamaha e-kit. Since the last time I played a real kit was over 12 years ago, I don't know the difference in feel between hard rubber pads and a drum head stretched across a real shell. I'm a guitard through and through, so at least bass comes somewhat naturally to me. But the drums have been a tough mountain to climb. I'm still in the foothills. Post-performance editing is the only thing that makes my drums presentable, but I'm only getting better and requiring less and less piano roll futzing all the time.
As far as samples, I have to side with minerman and miro here. I have EZD (1, then 2), SSD4 Platinum, and SD2. They each have their merits, but SD2 seems to put it all together in an intuitive way that just makes it the best balance between ease of use and quality of samples. But be prepared to drop some cash on a couple of expansion packs because by default it only comes with the one kit. It's a fine kit and all, but once you play it a little while you start to hear it on the radio and on streaming sites and on commercials and on television shows...
Keep an eye out for sales (SD2 and all of the SDX expansion packs were on sale all summer this year) and you can get a good deal. A solid e-kit paired with a solid sample library is a pretty attractive option for those of us with limited space, or in my case limited skill.
That's OK, I live in a glass house here. I love my little Yamaha e-kit. Since the last time I played a real kit was over 12 years ago, I don't know the difference in feel between hard rubber pads and a drum head stretched across a real shell. I'm a guitard through and through, so at least bass comes somewhat naturally to me. But the drums have been a tough mountain to climb. I'm still in the foothills. Post-performance editing is the only thing that makes my drums presentable, but I'm only getting better and requiring less and less piano roll futzing all the time.
As far as samples, I have to side with minerman and miro here. I have EZD (1, then 2), SSD4 Platinum, and SD2. They each have their merits, but SD2 seems to put it all together in an intuitive way that just makes it the best balance between ease of use and quality of samples. But be prepared to drop some cash on a couple of expansion packs because by default it only comes with the one kit. It's a fine kit and all, but once you play it a little while you start to hear it on the radio and on streaming sites and on commercials and on television shows...
Keep an eye out for sales (SD2 and all of the SDX expansion packs were on sale all summer this year) and you can get a good deal. A solid e-kit paired with a solid sample library is a pretty attractive option for those of us with limited space, or in my case limited skill.