Drum system DM-5 by Alesis.

[superspit]

woah..I never thought I'd be posting here!!!
I'd like to know your practical opinions (if any) on the DM-5 electronic drum system by Alesis.
I'm no drummer (wish I was at times though), but I have convinced myself that buying a 'real' kit with some quality, and with the lack of space I have would just be impractical at the moment.
I record/perform my own music, and I'm getting a little tired of programming a machine/software, or repairing my walls (as drums are being constantly hauled in and out of my small house) as I use drummers and their big beautiful kits....anyway, that's my problem.

The potential 'pro's' of this electronic/human interactive drum system seem to have pre-sold me...but I just don't have the experience with these things.

oh yeah....and what mic should I use......ummm...only fuckin witchya!!

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!

[BlackHawk2029]

if you dont mind your cymbals not being chokeable, the dm5 isnt a bad choice, as my friend has one, but the samples on the machine arent great, although it sounds great run through dfhs via midi. good luck with your quest for a happiness in the studio.

[skyguitarworks]

i have a dm-5 and with a little tweaking you can get a great sound, and it beats the hell out of moving drums in and out.......good luck

[superspit]

Originally Posted by skyguitarworks

i have a dm-5 and with a little tweaking you can get a great sound, and it beats the hell out of moving drums in and out.......good luck

Thanks guys, nice responses....
SGW...yep, we're on the same page with moving shit in and out! And I don't mind 'tweaking' at all.
Does it come with a bass pedal, can I interchange the bass pedal, for eg.?
Are the presets changeable/modifiable?

May I ask what you would consider a good price to pay for the DM-5?

I will either be looking at 2nd hand or new and negotiable prices.

I'm in Oz, btw.
Again, i thank you.

[NRS]

In my experience those rubber pads really start to fatigue your hands and wrists after a while (especially the cheaper ones) and make enough noise to be more distracting than you might might think. Consider throwing a bit more money toward a used mesh pad kit if you can. Pintechs will be among the best bargians in mesh pads.

As for the modules, I'm partial to the Rolands for having some of the better more realistic drum samples of any brand. The lowest priced module is a TD3 but I wouldnt want anything less than a TD6. Again, buying used will likely put this module within reach.

In fact the two above mentioned items are often paired up as a popular budget pro alternative to the much more expensive Roland kits (but without the extra dual zone and dual triggers per pad), so you may be able to find that exact combo match second hand. Should run you well under a grand too and will probably be worth what you might pay over a new DM5 kit.

Another alternative is to go ahead with a cheaper rubber pad kit and slowly expand it with used pintech mesh pads assuming your module has the extra inputs. The rubber ones can then become cool things like blocks, cowbells and roto toms or whatever. Keep in mind the much thinner frame size of that DM5 kit though. It may not take much other standard sized add on drum rack hardware

[mikeh]

I have owned several drums modules, including a DM5. The DM5 has some very usable sounds. I don't know a good current price for the Alesis kit (which if I recall uses Hart pads). I have seen used DM5 modules (and D4 modules) for as little as $100 (the DM Pro runs a little higher and is a better module).

I personally like many Alesis drum sounds better out of the box - than Roland although my Roland TD10 allows for a lot more tweaking than Alesis can offer.

I agree that the rubber pads can cause arm/wrist fatique - and possible damage in extreme cases. I would suggest you consider mesh pads - as indicated, Pintech is a good reasonable cost choice (much less costly than Roland pads). You could looking into buying the pads and the module seperate (although normally buying a "kit" is less costly).

While nothing beats a great sounding acoustic kit - if you don't have a good room and the right mics, an e-kit can be a very logical and effective option.

[fritzmusic]

The DM5 will trigger 16 different 24 bit samples as advertised but getting a cohesive and convincing feel like a drumset from that module as a viable e-kit...well in short, your money would be much better saved up and spent on the newest Roland line of mesh v-drums. I have the DM5 and it's sitting on a shelf collecting dust and I'd almost pay you to take it away after playing my TD-20's.

I had a VERY hard time recording a decent sound from that DM5 and most of the time, I spent more time trying to fiddle with settings to get it to sound convincing when I played on it but never really could achieve that moment with them. It's mediocre at best and again, your money would be better spent elsewhere.

Actually, it's better for live use although mine would arbitraily lock up and the backed-up sounds would all tumble out of it like niagra falls when I filled the memory buffer with 32nd notes. NOT fun to deal with in the middle of a rock ballad. LOL. Didn't matter, though because the unit had a real bad tendency to sound like a machine gun and I never got the dynamics just right from the triggered velocities settings. Sorry, I've just had some extensive BAAD experience and wasted time with that unit and I know it wasn't my fault, ability or lack of knowledge to operate it. Maybe I'm in the minority of users here but I don't see how the quality could be much better from one to the next.

Just go online or to a music store and check the Roland kits out.There's many ways you cheaply can get the brain and DIY the rest. You can also go check out vdrums.com forum for more info and subject-specific reading if you wish. All the guys there are very helpful, approachable and darn creative with the ways they can integrate the electonic v-drum guts into acoustic kits with mesh heads for a hybrid kit that has the electronic sounds but with a real acoustic look but low ambient noise. You should see some of the monster drumsets they convert over there. It's the new "Pimp my Kit" for drummers...

[superspit]

wow!...you guys are great....thankyou so much for that info..,..it will be considered very carefully.
What's going to make this a little harder is that I'm not a drummer, this kit will be used by drummers who will be working with me on my music, in my little studio.
I hope that what ever I get will be universally liked, and physically easily adjustable to each drummer's liking!!..(without smashing my budget)

Tip of the hat to you all!
Kindest Regards,
Superspit.

[Mistral]

I am not a "drummer" per se either, but I recently bought an electronic drumkit. The first kit I researched was the DM-5, ultimately I decided against it because I found some better kits that were just barely within my price range and I read many bad things about the DM-5's not standing up to sustained hard playing. You might think that "oh I'm not gonna hit the drums very hard anyway" but trust me it really helps you get a better feel sometimes when you can really bang on em. I would have bought the Roland TD3's but they were a BIT too steep in price. I settled on the Yamaha DTExplorers. I am very pleased with my purchase, it has a ton of features, and is expandable. Even these sway the tiniest bit when I really wail on them. So I can't imagine being satisfied with the DM-5's.

[Creamyapples1]

The DM5 is a solid piece, and yields some very good sounds if you have the time and inclination to sit and tinker with it. Good routing options and tons of inputs. It held up well with playing, my only complaint was the plastic wing nuts that it came with. Don't get me wrong, they work, but as I was breaking mine down to ship off for a trade with another forum user, they were crumbling in my hands as I was loosening them up. Not a major deal as they include hex screws and an allen wrench in the kit. I'd suggest throwing the wingnut screws away and using the hex should anyone decide to get one. Other than that, well worth the money.

[superspit]

Hi Mistral and CA1...and thankyou....

I've done a little research (prompted from the new knowledge I've found via you guys), even bought the latest 'sound-on-sound' mag, page 30 (USA/international edition) to read about the review on the DM-5.....and, um....I'm a little dissapointed.
The unit looks good, for the price, and appears strong enough for the very little work I'd expect it to do, but.......it appears to have only stereo outputs.
I need seperate or at least 4-6 assignable outputs to go into my desk (to simulate my recording technique of a mic'd-up kit, and record seperate tracks)...bummer. (I'd prefer >6-8 outputs,..dreaming?)
But I did notice on the DM-5 that there are two extra 'aux-outs'.? (analogue?)
Could you guys tell me if I could assign different insruments to the stereo/ aux outputs...ie...snare to left, bass to right, the rest put thru aux's so my desk can do all the actual kit mixing???
This would give audio control back to me, which i must have.

I guess you realise now what it is I'm trying to do...this really is going to be used as a recording kit only, with seperate 'instrument' outs, I was hoping.

Thanks again guys, much respect to you all.
Superspit.

[Mistral]

Does it have MIDI out? I pretty much remember that it does.. that would give you the most recording flexibility. I don't know enough about the DM-5 brain to tell you whether you can assign the audio outs in that manner. Anyway I highly recommend recording with MIDI and then assigning the midi to something like Drumkit From Hell.

[Mistral]

I should note that not even my Yamaha kit has more than an analog L and R output as well as a stereo headphone jack, plus MIDI. This is because these are budget kits and MIDI is pretty much accepted as the way to record em. Some higher/mid range kits like some of the Rolands might have more outputs.

[superspit]

Originally Posted by Mistral

Does it have MIDI out? I pretty much remember that it does.. that would give you the most recording flexibility. I don't know enough about the DM-5 brain to tell you whether you can assign the audio outs in that manner. Anyway I highly recommend recording with MIDI and then assigning the midi to something like Drumkit From Hell.

Hi again Mistral....yes, DM-5 does have midi out....but I would not be using it as this is not how I record; (everything goes thru my desk prior to hitting the Delta's):I only use midi occasionally for some modern key sounds, as I have 2 beautiful old analogue synths. (poly6 and Jupiter, oh, and some old 'pre-set' midi Yamaha, that has a great, full size, slave keyboard!!).

But....I re-read the article in SOS, and there is apparantly a Stereo L+R and an AUX L+R which are fully assignable!!

4 analogue outs should do me just fine...thanks for getting me to re-read the article mate!!

Kindest Regards,
Superspit.

[superspit]

Originally Posted by Creamyapples1

The DM5 is a solid piece, and yields some very good sounds if you have the time and inclination to sit and tinker with it. Good routing options and tons of inputs. It held up well with playing, my only complaint was the plastic wing nuts that it came with. Don't get me wrong, they work, but as I was breaking mine down to ship off for a trade with another forum user, they were crumbling in my hands as I was loosening them up. Not a major deal as they include hex screws and an allen wrench in the kit. I'd suggest throwing the wingnut screws away and using the hex should anyone decide to get one. Other than that, well worth the money.

Hi CA1..!...yes the article in SOS appears to concur with what you say, by way of the fittings.....mmmmmm....tricky, ..tricky.
So on your experiences with DM-5, what would you say a reasonable price would be to buy it, retail/secondhand....just your view?
I thank you.........Superspit. (oh shit...I'm in AUS$)

[Creamyapples1]

I got mine retail for $499.99 (USD) with free shipping. Seemed like a pretty good deal to me considering most other kits go for well above that.

4 assignable analog outs. Midi out. Headphone jack. The kit came with everything you need, from the cables to hook the pads up to the unit, to the bass pedal, to a pair of sticks. I was pleased.

[Schloo]

Originally Posted by fritzmusic

I'd almost pay you to take it away after playing my TD-20's.

Really? Ship it to me.