Has anyone tried the Ion IED-01 electronic drum kit.

Mr songwriter said:
...Not sure if I'm posting in exactly the right forum here, but I've been looking at Electronic Drum kits and this one seems surprisingly cheap for what you get, does anyone know if there's a catch?

http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--IONIED01
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In a word?

Junk.

I saw on in a store - they are plastic pieces of crap.

Any serious strike on one of the pads would either break the pad or the clamp holding it onto their "rack"


Tim
 
Tim Brown said:
In a word?

Junk.

I saw on in a store - they are plastic pieces of crap.

Any serious strike on one of the pads would either break the pad or the clamp holding it onto their "rack"


Tim
Click to expand...

Ah right, I've only seen it on the net up til now and I was wondering about how tough it might be. I'm researching this on behalf of a drummer who is quite a heavy hitter too, so :( the only problem being that the next cheapest electronic drum kit (which will presumably have better hardware) costs about twice that price, and I don't think he wants to spend that much dough.
 
I tried one out at BestBuy.
The pedals were a joke - just nondynamic switches. The pads were also toys.
The module looks like a modified Alesis SR-16, and is the best part of the kit.
For the money, it's a real ripoff. It supports the saying "you get what you pay for".
If you want something cheap and better, go to Costco and get the Yamaha
DD55C ($199) complete with stand and throne. Plus the little Yamaha bassdrum footpedal is at least dynamic.
 
Songwriter, I've never seen this machine, but the current issue of SOS mag (online or in-store) has a lengthy review of it. SOS is usually pretty good about weighing pros and cons, one reason I enjoy the reviews there. In this case, this cheapo e-drum set gets a surprisingly positive review--value for dollar. And yes, Vectron's right that the sound module is an Alesis 16.

On the other hand, I own a Yamaha dd55 and use it all of the time in my home studio. A great little toy-like machine capable of excellent sounds 'IF' (a big IF) you know how to play drums and have little space nor money. As a drummer, I like it much more than the standard drum machines I've tried although I'll move up to a full kit as soon as I have a larger room.

Best,
J.
 
Thanks Vectron and Jeffree: sounds like I should avoid the IED-01 then, I'd also been looking at the DD55, which I've seen for about £170 ($290?) one plus point being that it's made by Yamaha, which is a brand that I would have a bit more faith in than Ion. As far as the magazine review goes, I would have to check through the mag first to make sure there weren't any full page ads for the product being reviewed :)

The drummer that it's for has been playing for 20+ years and he can do pretty well on my Dr-3, so I would hope that the DD55 wouldn't give him too many problems. He's only recently bought a £1500 kit which he's only had a chance to play three times in about four months- it's way to loud for him to play it in his house. I did read a few reviews of the DD55 on Harmony Central where a few people were moaning about bits falling off though, and someone also said you can sometimes accidentally trigger adjacent pads if you hit a pad too hard. Mind you, it is pretty cheap. Has anyone else had any good/bad experiences with the Ion or the DD55?
 
By the way, Song, here's the review that led to my checking out the dd55.

http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/drums-percussion/yamaha-dd55/417247/

From my own few months of experience, the review's pretty much spot on. Just make sure that your drummer undertands that this "set" will take some adapting to, including lots of practice before recording. For what it is, it works admirably, but it's quirky... small pads, triggering sensitivity, etc. I'll have a new tune, using the 55, done by early January if you want to hear some samples. Just PM me after the holidays.

J.
 
frankieballsss said:
Its sold at best buy for god sakes, if that doesnt raise red flags for you.........
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The Ion? or the DD55? if it's the former, I've already gone off the idea of that one. I do kind of realise that a £300 drum kit is not going to be as hardwearing as a £1000 one, but I suppose I was just hoping if you didn't play it too often or hit it too hard, you might just get away with it.

Jeffree: Cheers.
 
Good luck, Monsier Song. Either choice is a compromise, a work-around solution that responds to limited space and money. Drumming is a secondary instrument for me (I've been a session guitarist for many years), but the dd55 works better for me than a drum machine, primarily because I like to "play" my drum parts if I'm working at home. The moment I have a large studio space and money to spare, both of which will come, I'll be picking up a real set of drums. No question there. Until then, I'm satisfied with what I have and can recommend it, but only for special cases like mine.

By the way, speaking of discount stores, I hear that the dd55 is selling at Cosco for $200, stand included. Two of my recording colleagues have already picked one up there although they probably wore a disguise while doing so. ("For me? No way! It's just a stupid Christmas present for my kid...")

Let us know how it all goes for you, eh?

J.
 
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