Hi everyone. I finally took the plunge on an e-drum kit. It was a LONG, complicated journey to get me to this point. I've been a hobby acoustic player since the mid-70s, and making the transition to e-drums has been a unique experience in confusion, excitement and maddening research. I nearly got a Hart Dynamics kit in the mid-2000s, but I just couldn't make it happen. Fast forward to the present. Pouring over all the reviews, forums, videos and official sites, I ended up with more questions than answers as to what was best for my budget and possible future needs. Sure, with $5k to spend, I probably would have gone with a Roland TD-30/50...whatever, but that wasn't possible. So All the mid-$1000k range kits became my target.This is my story.
Alesis does have a big name. They also have a confusing mid-range line in the DM10 series. This caught me up for quite awhile. Remaindered back stock, ebay auctions and a total mess of YouTube videos further clouded my research until I began separating the various DM10 kits and piecing together threads of similarities/differences. In the end it came down to either the DM10 MKII Pro (I wanted the extra pieces and snare stand) or possibly moving to the slightly more spendy Strike (not the pro). Then it became a game of searching for price. I ended up with the DM10 MKII Pro at a good price with no shipping costs (Amazon Prime). Despite all the various warnings about durability (across the Alesis line) and some funkiness with the module sounds, I finally jumped.
Let's be clear: at this price point, this is a fantastic bargain. I wanted larger, non-rubberized heads. I wanted something that could expand and utilize a VST. I wanted as much as possible for the money. As a first time e-drummer I couldn't be happier. My expectations weren't that I'd be getting the absolute best kit in existence; I just wanted to play and explore with room to grow as I progressed. This kit seems to fit the bill.
Setup. The box was large and slightly unwieldy but very well packed and protected. On opening, everything was labeled and easily unboxed. Setting up the rack was easy, and after fiddling with the clamp orientation I got them all lined up in a natural flow for my playing style. I might still adjust how they sit on the rack to make my hits more accurate and with a quicker reach. The clamps seem to have enough axes (X,Y,Z) to make most adjustments possible. A ball joint would be even cooler, but this is what we have!
Module. Within 30 minutes of opening the box, I had the module connected, kit assembled and headphones on. I just went through the presets one at a time to see what was included with the unit. For a first timer, I found the kits to be wide-ranging and easily edited. The interface is rational and clear. I have yet to read the instructions on programming/customization, so I just fiddled with controls as I played a User kit. I didn't save the settings as I just wanted to play with what the EDIT button does and how to make things happen with the triggers, heads and module. I can see where the programmed kits would get to be limiting, but I fully expect to be using a VST (Slate, Addictive or similar) at some point in the future as I progress. Right now, this is all I need.
Perhaps I'm lucky, but I've not had any crosstalk or mistriggered hits. Well, except for the hi hat. That seems to be a sticking point across Alesis, as are the cymbal sounds and bell trigger (on ride). Since I haven't really gone to town on the kit, those things haven't become a big issue, but I can see how they would eventually. I will be replacing the hi hat and cymbals with others once I reach a skill threshold where it becomes a problem/irritation. But frankly, out of the box, this is a non-issue for me. I do see new cymbals in my future.
Head tension: I played for a few hours with the factory tension. Comfortable. But I found that I wanted the snare and bass drum adjusted. The snare I'm used to is very tight and bouncy, so I tightened the snare head on the Alesis to match as close as possible. As for the bass drum, I loosened it due to machine gunning (double hits/bouncing). It's a Tama Iron Cobra double pedal, and I'm still adjusting the spring, beater length and head tension until I get the right feel. This is all personal preference, but almost any feel is achievable. Word of advice: use Evans bass drum patch and/or a non-felt beater. They do mention this in the instructions. The felt apparently degrades the mesh heads quickly. Like velcro. Just a word of warning. I put on an Evans patch and they take the hits from my beaters without affecting the triggering. I tend to bury my beater, and this new feel will take a little getting used to.
A note on making this YOUR kit. Some people seem to be a bit annoyed about how much set up is required to get the sound you want from the Alesis. It's not going to sound like the drums you used to play right out of the box. I don't have experience with owning other brands, just acoustic drums, but here's where I feel like Alesis has a slight edge (especially at the price point): you can tweak and fiddle with all the adjustments to get where you want to be. It takes some doing, but I'm having fun exploring the unknowns. And there are a lot of them. Alesis has done an admirable job of releasing kits in a variety of price points, and their top of the line unit (Strike Pro) might give the other expensive manufacturers some helpful competition. Where Alesis has failed is product differentiation on their mid-level kits, and a rather obtuse approach to getting information about specific models and how they compare/differ. The DM line is a perfect example of number/model confusion. It's like an HP printer. SO many to chose from it just gets maddening at times. To reiterate: At this price point, I don't expect some magical kit that knows exactly how I want it to sound. It takes some work to get there.
That's where these forums come in handy. This community seems like a fantastic resource for troubleshooting the issues that Alesis isn't officially addressing. I look forward to learning about what's possible, and sharing my own adventure as I go along. I've attached a picture of the setup after unboxing and my initial day of playing. Don't mind the cable mess...not velcroing (with the included straps) until I'm sure I like all the positioning.