Yamaha DD55 Digital Drum Kit

Feature:
I am giving this a slightly low rating because although it comes with foot pedals (the key to allowing you to play it with the same skills an acoustic kit requires) they are really, really poor. You can use all sorts of third party pedals in place of the ones it comes with. I bought a Roland KD-8 kick trigger and a quality acoustic kick pedal and the difference was absolutely massive. Has a very solid feel on the right foot now. I am looking for a replacement for the hi hat pedal now.

Quality:
Mine has held up really well over time.

Value:
I'd say it's a decent value, but as the technology on electronic drum kits improve this will lose value over time. Considering that this has been around for quite a few years already, back in the day it was impressively before its time.

Sound:
It sounds decent. I play through a bass amp. It has nice variety with tons of unusual sounds like whistles and woodblocks. Obviously inferior to a well-miked acoustic kit, but I fool tons of people with it. I think the crash symbols are the weakest sound.

Ease of Use:
It really is easy to use. I record with it and it just goes directly into the sound card with very little noise. Just turn it on and start hitting stuff.

Overall:
I am a guitarist and I use this in place of software or a drum machine to get drum sounds on my home recordings. It's brilliant in that you can build up a ton of actual drumming skills while playing it, and it's incredibly easy to record with compared to an acoustic kit. It can also be extremely quiet (can play with headphones) which is a really nice feature. It helps that I am not a drumming looking for massive expressiveness... I am a guitarist looking for basic, solid drum rhythms on standard rock tunes.

Feature:
Too many to mention, but here are a handful: 1) I've always been jealous of guitarts, because they can bring an acoustic to a campfire and jam away, and I'm stuck with just some lame ass bongos. This thing is very compact, and it runs on batteries. 2) So many digitally recorded actual drum sounds, your head will explode. Hand percussion sounds excellent, too. 3) You can plug it straight into a recorder, just like a guitar, and it sounds awesome on the recording. Not fake at all. 4) Get creative! I plug it into my guitar effects pedal for insane sounds. 5) This is the biggest one for any drummer... PEDALS FOR THE HI-HAT AND BASS DRUM!!! The ONLY reason I bought this is because I didn't have to hit a pad to get a bass drum sound. Plus, if you don't like the feel of the pedals it comes with, or if you want to play double bass with ease, you can buy and use the foot pedals that Yamaha sells for their full size electronic drum sets, and use those.

Quality:
I'll keep it short. It's a ten. It would be embarrassing to play on stage with this, just because it can never duplicate the look of a real drumset in the minds of rockers. But, every drummer that has busted my balls while I was plugging this thing in for a quick jam, has dropped their jaws when they see how realistic this thing sounds and feels.

Value:
You want the feel and sound of a real set, with the ability to take it anywhere and jam with your guitar buddies, now you can. Buy this.

Desirability:
Couldn't care less about the "sex appeal". I'm a drummer.

Sound:
The sound on my 4 track recorder sounds like a perfectly mic'd drum. My only complaints are minor. There should have been more cymbal sounds. If you listen through headsets, they sound great. I personally agree that the sound is a little weak through the built-on speakers, but what can you expect from those things. I own a bass amp, and I plugged my DD-55 right into it like a guitar, and the sound is shockingly realistic. No buzzing or anything. Through the headphones or amp, the sound is a 10.

Ease of Use:
Plug 'n' play, baby. Manual is easy to understand. Move any drum to any pad. Adjust each pads volume, if you want. Very user friendly.

Support:
I haven't needed any, which is a good thing. I've beaten the hell out of it for going on three years now, and still haven't had anything go wrong.

Overall:
If there was a 20 to vote on this, I would have. One word of advice that I cannot emphasize enough, though. People always complain about the sound out of the on-board speakers... give it a rest! Spend $50 - $75 on a bass amp, you cheap bum, and you'll never complain again. Before, if I wanted to jam at my friends house, I had to lug my entire set over, only to have to play very quietly, because it was too late at night. Now I pick up and go in a flash, and can play as hard as I want, and all I have to do is turn the volume down. I love this thing.