Alesis DM5

[kicksnarecrash]

Anyone have experience with these? I'm looking to buy my first drum set EVER. I think electric would be more practical, I live in a house, but want to be respectful of my other roommates.

[CharlyG]

I am partial to used Yamaha sets. You can get a used DTXpress II or III for around $400 and they blow the DM5 away IMHO. Is money a big deal? I started with a II (love the folding rack!) and I have a nice little kit goin now.....

The issue with the DM5, for me, is inputs. You want the most stereo trigger inputs you can get. With stereo, you get bell bow and edge on three zone cymbals for instance. There is also choking and muting, but I am not sure whether or not the DM5 covers that.

[kicksnarecrash]

Found a $375 used Yamaha DTXpress Electronic Drum Set with upgraded VDRUM Kick.. Is the original pretty poor quality? It's not a II or III like you recommended.

kevin

[CharlyG]

the Xpress doesn't have as many stereo inputs or s(designates pads that have more zones/switches) as the II and III. I would comb cl til I found a II or III, but that's just me

[DLDante]

What's your budget?

Also, don't let the guy sucker you into thinking the VDrum kick is an "upgrade". Unless it's the mesh kick, the Roland VDrum and Yamaha kick pads are basically identical.

[willdrum4food]

Have you maybe considered building your own kit? I recently had the same issue. Just joined 2 bands, and needed to practice at home. However, I live in an apartment, and my cymbals are just too loud. So, I bought an Alesis DM Pro module for $200 and bought some cheap electric cymbals online for $100. Now I have a hybrid kit (acoustic drums, electric cymbals) that won't result in the cops banging on my door every time I play. If you're on a budget, and you can wait to buy your kit piece by piece, I would consider doing that. Saves a little money, but beware, it can also be time consuming.

[VIbes]

I have owned a Alesis DM5 for over 10 years and there is a reason they are still around and sell for the same price new as when I bought mine. Which still works great.
I use mine sometimes in the studio to trigger acoustic drums if I am not getting a good kick or snare sound out of someone else kit.
The triggering system is nice and there are 4 outputs. Main Stereo and AUX Stereo. There are 12 trigger inputs and midi in / out through / and a footswitch input. You can adjust the crosstalk, velocity, and a lot of stuff.
Has a lot of great sounds. If you can find a used one cheap your not going to go wrong with this unit.