Yamaha DTX522K Electronic Drum Kit

Very pleased

I'm very happy with this drum set.

Nice... with a few hickups...

Researched a lot of drums before purchasing this kit. Have had this kit for almost 2 months now. Wanted to get back into playing again after a 20 year break. Not a professional drummer... just like to learn, play and have fun. Went with electric instead of acoustic because of the noise. This certainly meets that criteria. If you get an electric set... I recommend going with a good set of headphones. I went with Audio-Technica.. as this was recommended by many people I talked to. Also, I purchased a 4yr extended warranty through Asurion, offered at checkout, if you can afford it.. I would do it. Anyhow... here are just a few pros and cons I found with this set. Hope this helps...

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Pros:

- Many good sounding kits to select from. Sounds really good with headphones.

- Toms, cymbals, hardware all feel pretty durable.

- While playing... hitting the toms, cymbals and kick isn't annoyingly loud. (doesn't bother me with headphones on;)

- Able to add additional toms, cymbals or kick. Wasn't really sure how to do this at first. Took some time to figure out. I've added two (TP65) toms and will probably add an additional tom and cymbal. You can add a TOTAL of 4 toms, cymbals or kick. You can split the 3 tom inputs and there's an additional input in the kick. To do this you will need a mono cable and a L/R splitter to stereo cable, to split each tom. Once you add the new tom, there are instructions in the included book that tells you how to change the voice/sound of the tom/cymbal.

- I cast my tablet to my TV and watch/play along with uToob. I have the output speaker cable on the tv going to the module. So, I can listen, watch and play. Search drumless songs on uToob.. it's a blast.

This is a pro and a con... the kit is very compact, which is good for me... but, for someone tall... or accustom to playing an acoustic set, this may be an issue for them.

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Cons:

- After only playing for about 40hrs on the set... the kick stopped working. Actually.. it didn't completely stop, I just had to really stomp on the pedal to get the kick to trigger. Changed cables.. drum kits and still continued to have the issue. Because it's still under warranty... I called Yamaha customer service. They walked me through checking a couple other things.. but nothing worked. They said they would get another kick sent out. Ok... great. However.. they didn't tell me it's on back order for over a month. Ok.. so now what. Like I said.. I'm not in a band... I don't have any gigs coming up. But, I do have an $800 kit sitting in the basement that I would like to play. Not much fun playing without a kick. So, I'm going to order another kick. That way I'll have a back up when one or the other break.. I can keep playing while I'm waiting for a replacement.

- Ok.. next issue. Now the snare drum is starting to do the same thing. Again, it doesn't stop working all the time.. but it does stop working. I continue playing... probably another 10 hits.. then it works again. I think I'll wait until I have a kick to start playing again before I work on replacing the snare. I'll use one of the toms as a snare while I'm waiting for the replacement on that one.

- I don't think this set would suit the advanced player looking to get into an electric set. I would probably go with another brand or up in model numbers - if you have the money.

- Snare drum clamp/post that attaches to the frame does not stay in place. After a short time, I find the snare at a 45degree angle. I'll have to look into how I can keep the snare from rotating down. I'm not a hard hitter... the frame is just smooth.

- The kick moves away as you play/kick the pedal. I initially put a rug under the kit to help keep the kick from moving. It does have spikes that should keep the kick from moving... but, all this does is tear up the carpet. So, what I had to do is put down rug tape under the carpet -so the carpet doesn't move-, then I put a piece of 1/2" x 6" x 3' wood between the base legs and the kick. Looks hacky, but it does the job.

- The app they offer only works with apple. Plus you would need a pricey cord/adapter to use the app. Seems they would make an android app that is usb to micro. Maybe they'll have something down the road, if enough people ask for it.

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I was going to give it 3 stars because of the issue with the kick and snare, but I figure... the pros out way the cons for this set.

- 4 solid stars.

So, if you're looking for a mid range value electronic drum set... this would probably work for you.

That's my two cents on this set. Hope it helps.