Alesis DM5PRO Electronic Drum Kit User Reviews at zZounds

"The Pros and Cons of the Alesis DM5 Pro." submitted May 13, 2009

By a customer from gmail.com

Overall

Sound

Features

Ease of Use

Quality

Value

Manufacturer Support

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: Active Musician

Music Style: Progressive Rock.

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SPOTLIGHT REVIEW

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zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.

Sound: Right out of the box, it sounds decent. The best sounding drum on it is the snare. I give it a 10. The dual zone feature was kinda glithy though. So I eventually just unplugged the rim tap feature from the module. I've never been a big rim tap kinda guy anyway. I really love the ride cymbal too. It's very crisp and clear, but you might need to decrease the sensitivity of the toms. I was getting a lot of crosstalk initially. I give the toms themselves a 9/10. The bass drum sounds great, but I'm uninterested in most of its voices. Seems that it may have double-bass capabilities too. I can double tap the bass with my Tama pedal if I place my foot further from the mallet and it sounds pretty good. The hi-hat serves its purpose but it isn't fantastic. Don't expect to achieve quick Neil Peart-like opening and closing. You can improve it by fiddling around in the module for awhile, but it will never be as accurate as a real hi-hat. 7/10. I use studio headphones to listen to it and to record I just plug it into my mixer. For live sound, I'd recommend running it through a PA or better yet a keyboard amp. Keyboard amps are designed to to produce the highs and lows of a keyboard. Bass amps and guitar amps can't pull it off. Feature: It has 20 preprogrammed drum kits on it. Most are fun to play with, especially the rap one. But I wouldn't consider recording with them. You can download another kit from Alesis but I haven't done so yet. You can make your own kits on here and you even have control over the tone of each drum so its very customizable. Ease of Use: Like most things, it takes awhile to get used to it. But once you get the hang of it its a breeze to operate. Setup was a pain. Make sure you have plenty of room space and be patient. Allow yourself anywhere from one and a half too two hours to put it together. It comes with all the cords you'll need (minus midi cables of course), and if you don't have a drum key, don't worry. It has two of them. No screwdrivers, hammers or hacksaws are required. Most of the problems I encountered were small things I overlooked. So if you get stuck in assembly, don't toy with everything you already did to fix it. It's probably something simple, like improper alignment. I suggest two people for assembly. The bass pedal and expression pedal have velcro on the bottom, so if you're playing on carpet you don't have to worry about it moving around on you. Quality: If everything's tightened correctly, it's pretty sturdy. Sure, the stand sways a bit when you play, but there's no chance of it falling over. The drum heads seem durable. If you live in a building with neighbors below you, you might consider getting a mat to put under it. From someone downstairs point-of-view, the bass drum sounds like someone erratically using a hammer. Value: After playing this kit, I'd buy it again for the exact same price if I had to. It can achieve most of what the more expensive kits do but for half the price. Manufacturer Support: I haven't had to contact Alesis yet for any of their products that I own. I also own the Alesis Micron synthesizer and an 8 channel USB mixer by them and I've never had any problems that I couldn't fix on my own. The Wow Factor: I was sitting in my chair at my computer, I looked over at it and I considered buying it flowers and asking it to come to Maui with me for a weekend. Overall: I don't expect to buy another electronic drum set anytime soon. Don't be discouraged by it on your first play. With patience and a little tweaking you can achieve most of which you have in mind.

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Alesis DM5PRO Drum Kit Customer Review submitted March 15, 2008

By a customer from cox.net

Overall

Sound

Features

Ease of Use

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Manufacturer Support

The Wow Factor

Musical Background: hobbyist

Music Style: Alternative/Metal/Hard Rock/Rap

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VERIFIED BUYER

zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.

Sound: There are many different sounds to choose from for EVERY playing style that you can imagine. Feature: The package I recieved came with everything needed to play except a seat,headphones, and a bass pedal. Drumsticks were included. The features of the product itself were very impressive with very comfortable playing pads and they are also very very responsive. Ease of Use: The sound of the set is amazing and it provides you with a WIDE assortment of sounds for every single pad and cymbal. The manuel is very clear and the assembally manuel was very easy to follow. Quality: This product is very durable and very reliable to work at full throttle whenever you need it to. The quality is very good with good pads and very good quality hardware. It seems like it will last a LONG TIME for me.....depending on how hard I play it. So far, it has taken all the hard playing of mine very well. Value: This product is absoutly a huge deal for it's price. This set can do so many things that the sets that costs in the thousands can do. IT IS A STEAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Manufacturer Support: I bought from ZZOUNDS so you know it was awesome!!! They helped me with ALL of my questions very quickly and the shipping was a very pleasing experience as well. The Wow Factor: The look of the set just begs you to play it all day long. The sleek black color of most of the set combined with the white color of the pads are a very appealing match and they make ANY room look WAY BETTER!!!! Overall: I expect to be satisfied with this product for at least another 5 years and when i have more money and its time to buy another one i think i will go for a higher priced Roland electric set but until then i now that my AMAZING DM5 PRO KIT WILL GIVE ME ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING THAT I NEED AND MORE!!

53 of 57 people (92.98%) found this review helpful. Did you?

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"Totally AWESOME!!!" submitted June 13, 2008

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Sound: Sounds good but I get a lot of distortion when beating on the bass a lot. Probably just my headphones. Feature: Includes sticks but not a seat or bass drum pedal. I would have gotten a double bass pedal weather or not it included one so this isn't really bad for me. Has a bunch of sounds to use though. Ordering a MIDI-USB adapter in a couple days so I will be able to use my computer to use many more sounds. :D Ease of Use: If you read the instructions for like one minute you will figure everything you need to know out. Easy to customize drum sets and such. I'm not sure if this was just me but I needed to plug the hi-hat control pedal into the 'FOOTSWITCH' input on the module instead of input #9 like the instructions said. Alesis support was very helpful on that issue. American agent that actually knew what he was talking about and not constantly checking out his computer to figure out what to do next. Quality: I give this a 10 based on the price. The stand is very sturdy. But you can't do some of the things you can with a real set. Like choking the symbols. But again great for the price. Value: Great value worth its price plus a couple hundred more! Manufacturer Support: As I stated above Alesis support was awesome! Before I ordered I called zZounds tech support to help me decide which set to get and also called after to find a new amp so I don't need headphones. (blew my old guitar amp with it, not the drums fault though the amp wasn't designed for it.) And both times I had a great experience and all 3 times calling tech support there was barley any wait at all. I don't think I was on hold for over a minute total. The Wow Factor: If I did not own this product I could truthfully say I would do anything to get my hands on it! Overall: Great product, I may buy a second even to add to this one and make a bigger set. Probably will in the future. For now I think I will just buy new pads.

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"Great price, great kit." submitted October 18, 2008

By a customer from gmail.com

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Musical Background: Drummer

Music Style: Rock

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Sound: The sound is great. Many ways to customize with the module. Never owned a electronic kit before, and I must say I was worried about the sound quality. I hooked it up to my computer speakers and it sounds great...I would imagine with an amp it would be much better. Feature: Again, lots of ways to customize. The rack allows for lots of options on where to place the triggers. I have a very "different" playing style, I am left handed but keep the kit set up mostly right handed. I play the hi-hat with my left and snare with my right. I have to keep the ride on the left side of the kit, and I like to keep the crash on the left as well. I'd have to take a picture, but with a little creativity I made it work. Ease of Use: The kit was very easy to set up. If I hadn't been taking my time I think it'd have been up and ready in less than an hour. The module has a great manual. Quality: The rack is very solid. This is something I was also worried about, but all the parts are made of lightweight but strong materials. I play pretty hard, and I had worried about giving a beating to an electronic kit. After a couple days of beating on it my worries are gone. Value: I don't think you could get a better set for the price. Heck, I would have expected to pay more for the set than I did. Great quality and am overall very happy with it. I gave it an 8 our of 10...but really I should have given it a 9 out of 10. The ONE complaint I have about it is that the hi-hat pedal is a little weird for me. I don't know if its just a different feel than a real hi-hat or what, Its just different. But I thought I'd have many more issues than this! I'd recommend this set to anyone looking for a practice set or something to play in an apartment like me. Manufacturer Support: This is for zZounds as I haven't used the support for Alesis (although I've read its great as well). I ordered on the 15th of Oct from CA. The guy I talked to on the phone said it'd ship on the 16th and should be here in a few days (3-5). Boy was I suprised when UPS was ringing my doorbell the 17th with my new kit :D. Great jobs guys!! The Wow Factor: Looks great, thats really all I can say. Looks like a drum kit, not just a bunch of pads. Overall: I am very happy that I went with this kit. I thought about paying around $1000 for a starter Roland kit. I really wanted the "synthetic" heads rather than just hard plastic. I stumbled upon this set, as $1000 was really out of my price range. I couldn't be happier. As I said before, the only reason I didn't give it a 9 out of 10 at the beginning is the hi-hat pedal. And that just may be me. Very happy with my purchase.

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"Amazing drum set for a great price, couldn't be happier" submitted January 20, 2009

By a customer from yahoo.com

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Musical Background: Active Musician

Music Style: Alternative/Metal

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VERIFIED BUYER

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Sound: The sound is absolutely amazing, as long as you plug it into a good system or a nive pair of head phones you will feel like you're on acoustic drumset. It's very responsive to every not hit. I'll be replacing my subwoofer for this to get the full feeling of a kick drum. Feature: Lots of different kits avaiable and ability to tune the set to your specific needs. Ease of Use: The manual is clear, it's very playable. The interface is pretty easy from the get go, even without reading the manual I was able to configure it to my needs having never used one. Quality: The product seems quite durable, all the parts that need to be metal for strength are. Does not feel cheaply made what so ever. Value: I am absoultey astounded at the quality of product I received for such a cheap price. I am already recommending it to a friend who's looking for a set to give his father for a gift. Manufacturer Support: Haven't talked to support The Wow Factor: The design is actually very nice looking, the way the drums are set up as well as the symbols you feel as close to an acoustic set as you can get. Overall: I forsee being very happy with this product for a long time. Couldn't have gotten a better bang for the buck. If it were ever stolen I'm sure I would be replacing it with the same set. Works great for playing in my apartment when an acoustic set just wouldn't be an option.

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"Solid e-kit from Alesis." submitted April 2, 2009

Jon from zZounds

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Musical Background: Musician

Music Style: Various

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ZZOUNDS CREW REVIEW

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Sound: Alright selection of kits, much wider selection of sounds. Frankly I thought a lot of them sounded pretty cheesy, but I think that comes with the territory. The velocity-sensitive pads are a nice touch, and would be even better for a drummer with a better touch. Feature: It really does let you tweak the sensitivity of the triggers pretty admirably. There's nothing else too fancy on this item - no rhythm trainers or anything like that - but they do let you customize your kits intensively, so I can't fault it. There are no tutorial-based features, though - not even a metronome. You might want to get tutorial software if you're looking to this for learning. Ease of Use: On the one hand, once you've got it hooked up to speakers, you hit the power button and you're ready to go. Great! On the other hand, the manual/assembly instructions are opaque and in at least one instance ask you to do things incorrectly. Questionable! The set up does take a while - for a non-drummer such as myself probably around 2 hours or so. Get a friend to help you put it together, though. It's a fun experience, like when Larry and Balki built that gazebo. Quality: The pads all feel solid. They don't really feel as good as drum heads or mesh pads, but they are a step up from hard rubber pads you'll see on other kits. The hi-hat pedal sticks, though, and that's a serious problem when you're trying to use it in time. Value: Though my opinion of this kit might not seem that high, I do have to say it's a really great value - especially if you know how to get the most out of it with MIDI triggering. Overall: I think this is a great first electronic kit, though drummers looking for a more fully-featured item will probably have to move up to at least $1000.

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"great product for a great price!! can't leave home without laying down a beat" submitted April 19, 2009

By a customer from live.com

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Musical Background: Aspiring musician

Music Style: Metal

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VERIFIED BUYER

zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.

Sound: The sound quality I get out of this thing is amazing, although the crash gets interrupted every once and a wile (although I have played a roland and had the same problem). Other then that the other problems are an easy fix with the tunable flexibility alesis offers!! Feature: Like I said they make these tunable and very easy to customize to the sound you desire... Ease of Use: I looked at the manual briefly and threw it aside I'm a man I need no instruction Quality: Its very sturdy and meant for abuse witch is precisely what drums are made for Value: Over all if your not looking to spend 2500 on a roland this is the set to go for the price Manufacturer Support: The only support I delt with was zzounds... and they were great The Wow Factor: Oh yea its got sex appeal I've spent hours on it Overall: I had a problem with a defective cymbal but zzounds was great and helped me solve the problem right away

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"DM5! Is it worth it? I think so." submitted March 6, 2008

By a customer from hotmail.com

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Musical Background: Active Musician-Recording Artist

Music Style: Rock

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Sound: I bought this just for practice at home when not gigging. I use the V-Tour from Roland as my primary effects kit along side acoustic drums. This is a great practice kit, but i guess with some fine tuning could be ok for live situations. the hats took some work to get used to and would cut in and out, but i think i tuned it enough so they are working ok now. pretty easy to set up. overall, i rate it an 8 out of 10. Feature: kit came with everything i needed to set up completely with the exception of the kick pedal, which, for a seasoned musician, you would want to use your own anyway. hat pedal is nice. there is NOT a smooth transition from closed to open hats!!! i haven't figured that one out yet. Ease of Use: If you are a beginner with electric kits, read the manual! If you are seasoned, it should be pretty easy to figure out. Quality: i like the idea that this kit is $599. and it has the quality that it does. i haven't owned it long enough to tell you how well it would hold up to the rigors of the road and because i use it just as a practice kit, it could last forever, maybe. Value: I have over $4000 invested in my Roland V-Tour, so yes $599 is justifiable. Manufacturer Support: Haven't had to use support. The Wow Factor: This is just a practice piece for me. Overall: If you're thinking about buying the DM5 PRO KIT, go ahead!!! It's worth the mere $599 for a kit like this. AGAIN, i use mine for practice purposes only and don't endorse this product for anything else.

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"Good for the money, and for home use." submitted March 20, 2009

By a customer from mac.com

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Musical Background: active musician

Music Style: multiple styles

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Sound: Sounds are great. No question. Feature: Lots of features and tweakability. Ease of Use: Preset kits are nice. Fairly easy to adjust parameters. Quality: I think the product is made well. But it occasionally "overloads" and needs to be "rebooted" as it locks up. Frustrating. I'd hate for this to happen in an actual performance situation. Value: Good value.

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"A REAL REVIEW" submitted February 12, 2010

By a customer from YAHOO.COM

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Musical Background: PRODUCER/DRUMMER/ACTIVE MUSICIAN

Music Style: POP/ROCK/ ALTERNATIVE

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VERIFIED BUYER

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Sound: LAMEST ELECTRONIC SET EVER! GOT IT BRAND NEW AND ALL THE TRIGGERS WERE INACCURATE... SOUNDED PRETTY LOW QUALITY... Feature: I WISH IT HAD MORE OPTIONS AND PRESET SOUNDS... IT DID NOT INCLUDE THE MIDI CABLES OR MY MAIN OUTPUT CABLES... Ease of Use: TUNEABLE HEADS ARE ALRIGHT, BUT IT DID NOTHING FOR ME BUT ,MAKE MORE NOISE... Quality: CHEAP QUALITY DRUMSET... FEELS LIKE A KIDS TOY Value: ITS WORTH THE PRICE IF YOU WANT A WALMART STYLE DRUMSET Manufacturer Support: GOOD COMPANY The Wow Factor: LOOKS DECENNT, FEELS CHEAP Overall: IM ALREADY RETURNING IT

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Alesis DM5 Pro Kit Electronic Drum Kit with DM5 Module

User Ratings

"The Pros and Cons of the Alesis DM5 Pro." submitted May 13, 2009

Alesis DM5PRO Drum Kit Customer Review submitted March 15, 2008

"Totally AWESOME!!!" submitted June 13, 2008

"Great price, great kit." submitted October 18, 2008

"Amazing drum set for a great price, couldn't be happier" submitted January 20, 2009

"Solid e-kit from Alesis." submitted April 2, 2009

"great product for a great price!! can't leave home without laying down a beat" submitted April 19, 2009

"DM5! Is it worth it? I think so." submitted March 6, 2008

"Good for the money, and for home use." submitted March 20, 2009

"A REAL REVIEW" submitted February 12, 2010