Digital Drums: Can't Beat It For Beginners

Pacific Digital's DrumXtreme mutes practice sessions--with applause.

Jesse Cordoza, PCWorld.com

Encouraging a child's musical creativity is a mixed blessing--especially in the early practice stages--but Pacific Digital has crafted a solution to the noise and space issues that face aspiring drummers.

The basic DrumXtreme USB Digital Drum Kit--the DX-100--carries a list price of $299. The kit includes a pair of wooden drumsticks, five electronic drum pads, and one pedal for kick-drum simulation. The assembly is more manueverable and requires less space than a conventional acoustic drum set. It hooks to your PC through a USB port. Sound plays either through your PC's speakers or into a headset, and your sound level is easily adjustable from a whisper to the loudest volume your PC's audio system can handle.

Quick Look (and Listen)

For the DrumXtreme, Pacific Digital has borrowed from other sound-stifling ideas, notably electronic pads, which have been around for a while. Typically, pads are pretty expensive and have other significant drawbacks, such as a general lack of sensitivity and an inability to sound enough like "real" drums.

But the DrumXtreme USB Digital Drum Set tries to tackle these problems, and it adds an instructional dimension to its software. You can also purchase a DX-50 upgrade kit for $49 (list) to add another pedal for double bass drum or hi-hat, along with an additional cymbal pad. Or you can buy the expanded DX-150 configuration for $329.

The set comes with an audio CD that provides some nifty songs for the beginner to play along with. You can adjust the mix between the music and what you play on the kit, as well as change the sounds that are triggered.

A couple of the Asian-themed drum sets are sure to be among the hands-on favorites. Also of particular note is the reverb programmed into several sets, which produces a nice "room" sound. Some even give you the impression you're rocking out in a huge symphony hall. The accompanying CD also provides applause, which can definitely hype up the beginning drummer. Added to the play-along features, these effects make an attractive package for drumming newbies who want to learn faster but keep it fun.

A Few Considerations

The capability to hook the audio output to headphones will undoubtedly be an attractive feature for families (my parents would've appreciated something like this when I was in my learning/youthful-aggression mode). The DrumXtreme USB Digital Drum Set's price makes it less expensive than starter acoustic sets of reasonable quality, which run in the neighborhood of $350. The DrumXtreme is even a workable practice set for more intermediate drummers.

On the downside, like some other digital pads, the DrumXtreme's pads are not as dynamically sensitive as an intermediate player would like, and they lack MIDI capabilities. But who said these pads were for pro-audio geeks? However, Pacific Digital says it plans to offer a software upgrade to enable MIDI output to music programs in the third quarter.

One caution: The review set arrived already assembled, an advantage not extended to most buyers. Pacific Digital downplays that challenge.

"There are five nuts and bolts for each of the five drum-pads, another five for each rod connecting the pads to the frame, and more nuts and bolts for the clamps that hold the frame together," says Robert Horton, a Pacific Digital spokesperson.

"Assembly should take about 35 minutes using the included screwdriver, but can be shortened to about 20 minutes by using a cordless power-screwdriver," he says. Of course, your results also vary with mechanical aptitude.