Ion iED01 Electronic Drums - Adequate?

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bongolation

bongolation

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Has anyone had a go at this set?

I've been trying to come up with a small, light set for my home studio to MIDI patch directly into the computer to run Drumkit From Hell or another velocity-layered drum program. The box on any set is irrelevant beyond being able to do that. Will it?

Does this set have velocity-sensitive pads? Choke rim on the cymbal pad?

I've gathered that this is a light-duty set, but I'm easy on this stuff. I just need to know if it'll work for the modest requirements I have. At $270 shipped from some discounters, the price will cover a lot of minor shortcomings.

Here they are.
 
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i don't know if they would be very good for a main set in a studio but i ordered some for a late night practice/backup kit in my studio for when my real drums arn't enough...i'll let you know how they sound/work ect ;)

EDIT: just realized you have a home studio, i think this set would work great! :)
 
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Bong, there was a recent lengthy review in SOS mag if you run a search there:

http://www.soundonsound.com/

The review's actually quite positive, with the bang-for-low-buck value high. I remember that the brain for the Ion is the Alesis sr-16.

Best,
J.
 
TravisinFlorida said:
check out page 6 of the manual:
Click to expand...
It doesn't actually tell me what I want to know, but there is a MIDI-out, which is at least suggestive that it might work as a straight controller -- which is what I'm after.

The strange part of this is that I saw a different .PDF of the instructions last night and it showed a totally different box! It had MIDI in and MIDI out/through. :confused:
 
I think the best deal on these at the moment is from Amazon.Com -- $279.99, w/free shipping minus an additional 5%. Here it is...but I have to pay sales tax from Amazon. :mad: I wonder if I can get that price-matched somewhere. Suggestions? MF doesn't carry them.

[later:] Whoa. Amazon isn't charging tax for some reason -- so I ordered them. US$265.99 -- delivered!
 
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bongolation said:
Yes, it's there -- but it's not accessible to me, though. :(
Click to expand...

Sorry, Bong. I forgot that SOS blocks some reviews online for about six months. I read it in a bookstore and just remember that the review was surprisingly positive. The machine seems to be a useable set-up if low cost is a major concern. You may want to check out the Alesis sr-16 since that's the heart of the sounds. If I recall, the main criticism was the lightweight construction (as expected at this low price point) and flimsy pedals.

J.
 
I too, am interested in this kit, certainly someone on this forum must have access to SOS, and could give us the basic rundown of the article?

The problem I have with the kit, from reviews, is that sometimes it doesn't trigger when it should, or double or triple triggers (in rapid succession) for things like the bass drum.
 
jesterscourt said:
I too, am interested in this kit, certainly someone on this forum must have access to SOS, and could give us the basic rundown of the article?

The problem I have with the kit, from reviews, is that sometimes it doesn't trigger when it should, or double or triple triggers (in rapid succession) for things like the bass drum.
Click to expand...

Ditto on all points...
 
I saw the user complaint about multiple triggering of the bass pedal in a customer review that showed up on a number of sites. That's consistent with a broken/shorted piezo and I have seen it discussed before in threads about the defective cymbal pads that Roland had in their early V-drums, which cracked internally and did all sorts of multiple triggering weirdness. I think that that may be either preventable or repairable in these pedals, or at least a warranty fix. [shrug] Considering the abuse electronic drums take, I'm surprised this sort of thing isn't more common.

It looks to me as though these are merely made up of stock pads for both drums & cymbals, so there are probably no choke rings on the cymbal pads. Unfortunate, but I think I can live with it at the price. Additional pads are going for 2/$49 to fill out the set if it turns out to be any good.

I can see that this set is somewhat on the flimsy side compared to $1600 Roland drums, but it's just going to be set up once semi-permanently at home. If this set's merely good enough to hold up under light use purely as a velocity-sensitive percussion MIDI controller in my home studio, I'll regard it as wildly worthwile. :rolleyes:
 
Interestingly, this set is marketed in the UK under the Alesis name. Strange.

Yep, it sure looks like the brain is a SR-16. I still don't know for sure if this can be used as a straight MIDI percussion controller, though. I've been told that all such known units can be as that's a very fundamental function, but with my luck... :rolleyes:
 
bongolation said:
Interestingly, this set is marketed in the UK under the Alesis name. Strange.

Yep, it sure looks like the brain is a SR-16. I still don't know for sure if this can be used as a straight MIDI percussion controller, though. I've been told that all such known units can be as that's a very fundamental function, but with my luck... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I'm sure there is something here.... somewhere... ;)

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&safe=active&q=alesis+SR-16+midi&safe=active
 
peritus said:
I'm sure there is something here.... somewhere... ;)
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I found an SR-16 .PDF manual online and on page 41 there seems to be an answer to my question. It appears that MIDI function includes straight triggering of external devices.
 
Google Groups Link

According to George Lawrence, it's a pile of steaming shit, nothing more than a toy. I kinda figured it was too good to be true, things of this nature generally are.
 
the SR-16 does'nt have trigger inputs. it has little trigger pads. it does look like the SR-16 though.
 
jesterscourt said:
Google Groups Link

According to George Lawrence, it's a pile of steaming shit, nothing more than a toy.
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That was a relatively content-free thread. You can break it easily. So what? I already know that. I wouldn't be gigging with it. The only criticism that was meaningful for me -- and it's not even clear that it was referring to the same item -- was that there was some sort of latency issue. THAT would be fatal in my application, so I cancelled my order until I can get to the bottom of that.
 
Here's an idea you may of already thought of....

I saw these at Best Buy yesterday and scoffed at the price (don't remember it at the moment). I had look at them online and realized the markup...

However (as an angel appears on each shoulder).....

It would be cool if you went to a local store ... Tried it out... Took it back... and if you liked it... Order one online... Then we'd all know how useful it was... I'd do it, but I'm pretty much broke at the moment...

Just an idea....

Then again... bongolation could just fill us in.... :p
 
peritus said:
It would be cool if you went to a local store ... Tried it out...
Click to expand...
If these were anywhere locally where I could check them out, I would in a heartbeat, as all I'm really concerned about is the latency issue (which I suspect is BS, as there's no technical necessity for more than about 10ms uncompensated latency). I can get that scienced out in ten seconds with earphones.

All these things have to do for me is be a better percussion MIDI controller than a cheap keyboard. Enough silicone glue can take care of everything else. ;)
 
peritus said:
Here's an idea you may of already thought of....

I saw these at Best Buy yesterday and scoffed at the price (don't remember it at the moment). I had look at them online and realized the markup...

However (as an angel appears on each shoulder).....

It would be cool if you went to a local store ... Tried it out... Took it back... and if you liked it... Order one online... Then we'd all know how useful it was... I'd do it, but I'm pretty much broke at the moment...

Just an idea....

Then again... bongolation could just fill us in.... :p
Click to expand...

Lol... big error... I mean msblaze...
 
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