Excellent bargain.

Sound
This unit if used responsibly will be a useful learning tool and performance vehicle. The unit I worked with before turning it over to the person receiving it as a surprise gift was fine. The pad feel was a little britte but certainly no worse than the more expensive yamaha desktop drum units. I experienced no cross triggering. The brain is a somewhat dumbed down SR-16. Remember that drum machine did not have a foot closing hi hat sound!

Features
No USB but that was not the purpose of this unit since it is for fun and the hobbyist market even though there are some professional features. One can set up the pads for congas and hand percussion and the triggers seem fine with finger tip tapping.

Ease of Use
I think programming it would be quite daunting to hobbyists who are reluctant to study owner/operator manuals but those familiar with the Alesis SR-16 will be fine.

Quality
One disappointment was that the kick pedal socket takes only a foot switch not an actual trigger pedal. ION should not use the word foot pedal or triger but only foot switch. One would expect the hihat socket to take a foot switch but by ION using the term pedal one can be mislead. Still just using a foot switch for a kick sound seems OK after awhile. For most pop and rock stuff a consistent level is what is desireable so being limited to one fixed level shouldn't… read more be a problem. If one wants subtle kick inserts choose a soft kick sample as a tradeoff. Having an input to mix a MP3 or CD feed works nicely. There are actually two audio outs in pairs. Another somewhat disappointing discovery was when hooking up a pedal switch for a kick sound the pad assigned for a kick sound is not "freed up". You don't gain a pad for other samples to be assigned to it. the samples are most likely the same for the SR16. Midi documentation is very sparse so don't expect this unit to be an answer to inputting a complex interface with your computer even if you buy a separate USB interface. It is a very attractively priced percussion station for fun and education.

Value
Worth every cent of the $130!! The package is complete and should be a wonderful introduction to pad drumming. Fun at parties particularly if one puts it on a high stand and plays the pads with fingers. I believe one can assign trigger modes to the samples so when you cup slap a conga it should cut off the ring if setup that way.

Manufacturer Support
It is highly unlikely that the company ION would dedicate any staff to mollify the customer base who picks this up for $130. Those who stated the pads failed are most likely decibel junkies and expected too much from the build integrity. Play it lightly and it should last. For the price I wouldn't be afraid to open it up and cut out the pads and mount them separately. I assume there are standing piezo transducers glued and wires leading to the CPU. If so it could be repaired.

The Wow Factor
I highly recommend this for responsible curious hobbyists.

Musical Background:
professional musician

Musical Style:
all styles. read less