Silverstars should be number one. Best drum set I’ve ever played. So full, warm, yet articulate and cutting. They’re also built like tanks so they’re perfect for touring.
OK all you aspiring drummers. The truth is you can have the ultimate kit by any manufacturer and have the sound man or recording engineer make it sound like shit or a piece of gold. Buy what you can afford and get your chops straight. Listen to everyone and replicate all. Grow from there. Develop your own style. Don't worry about "the ultimate kit". Regardless off price. I've been on tour and in the studio and it really didn't depend on birch, maple, bubinga, or whatever. Learn the craft.
its true.the musician makes the instrument. i remember when i was about 7yrs old my violin was in the shop and i didn't wanna practice because of the loaner i had,when my teacher asked why i didn't wanna practice , i said because the instrument i had on loan sounded awful. she replied, let me see. she picked it up and proceeded to make it sing beautifully. it was then i learned that a master can make ANY instrument sound beautiful.
Nice video, but kind of pointless, don't you think? 5 different drum kits, in 5 different rooms, played by 5 different players, in 5 different styles, with 5 different micing patterns and mic combos, likely with different processing and/or engineers, and probably with 5 different types of heads and tuning; all of it listened to through god knows what kind of speakers or headphones. Besides establishing that these 5 drum kits can in fact potentially sound good, there's little else to be gained by this. Any drums with good heads, good tuning, a good room and a good engineer can sound good. The only way you could ever even come close to being able to tell drums a part, would be to have all the drums with zero variability in external factors. Same heads, same tuning, same players, same mics, and even then, it wouldn't be close to hearing drums live, which is what you should do before buying them.
Ben Fullerton I was thinking the exact same thing, but I'm just to lazy to type a big paragraph, but you sir hit the nail right on it. For the price range they all sounded really good tho
I guess it's more about whether the drum set has the potential to sound good, and if yes, how easily can that happen. I doubt these people would go as far as to hire expensive engineers and use complex mic systems just to sell one of their cheapest drum sets.
The PDP at $1100 is a total rip off.. At that or any of the other drum kit prices shown in this video, you can pick up a used vintage Ludwig, Slingerland, Rogers, Tama, or even Pearl that will blows these kits out of the water.. Unfortunately, most beginners or young drummers are ignorant to this fact.. Furthermore, you can buy any of the mentioned drum kits used for well under $900 as a shell pack, or even as a full pack.. The one that's worth anything in this video is the Pearl Vision Birch..They're quality and durability will long out last any of the other drum kits.. And yes, you can also pick one up used in great condition for around $700.. But don't take my word for it.. This is only 28 years of drumming, live and studio session playing, and engineer tech talking.. Never the less, nice to see that you put up videos like this for young or beginner drummers to check out, and for that i commend you..
blica 1 Durability? What exactly breaks on a drum set? If kept in a temperature controlled environment, the shells of even cheap drum sets will last decades, provided they're made of multiple plies of a hardwood (like virtually all drum sets manufactured today). What in the blue hell are you talking about?
mikper7 What exactly breaks on a drum set ?? What in "blue hell" am i talking about ?? .. Lol ! You're funny.. Well... FYI, not all drums are kept in a humidity controlled, or protected studio environment now, are they ?.. Most young drummers will gig the crap out of these kits making them prone to all sorts of environments, including winters, set-up, tear down, touring, etc..Ever hear of hardware breaking ?.. Yes, i'm well aware that if kept in cases and taken care of , most drums can survive all these types of elements, but i certainly know that isn't the case all of the time..(i also do drum restoration as well, btw.. )This is what i meant by "outlasting" all of these other kits.. Pearl has proven time and time again that they're drums are built to withstand most types of punishment that drummers, environments, and the elements can dish out.. I've used almost every brand of drum kit out there, have gigged and toured for many years, and have seen and done it all first hand..I'm also very aware that there are other drum companies that have a reputation for solid gear..(Tama is another name that comes to mind).. I'm a Ludwig man myself, but in this case, I was just making a comparison with Pearl and all others in this video.. Every drum manufacturer makes gear that is solid, and some not so solid..This is a fact.. My comment was observed regarding this particular video.. That is what in the blue hell i'm talking about.. ;)
Or just save $750 and get a PDP Double Drive, with all Poplar Shells, and it's a 8 Piece Double Bass kit shell pack, so why get the same thing from Tama or Pearl and end up paying for pretty much a very similar kit for $500 more because that is what PDP is about; Amazing drums for an even more amazing price. And if you looked in the description of the PDP kit, it is all Maple Shells, so yeah, it would make just a little bit of sense if Maple or Birch just costed you know, a little bit more from what drum sets are usually made of. And in my opinion, the PDP sounds great, but then again it depends what music you play and how you tune it. So in the end, this comment is completely 100% pointless.
blica 1 Good comment, fellow drummer. What if you don't want a used kit? Someone might not want that, they want to purchase new, no matter how a used kit could be in great condition and all. I think these kits are decent. look decent defo... It is what it is.
Does the guy in video #3 realize that he is supposed to be giving us a demo of the overall sound of that Gretsch drum set? Pretty much the only parts of the drum set that he played were the bass and snare. I don't think he hit any of the other toms at all, or very, very little.
This was my thought exactly. Irregardless of whether he was aware or not of doing a demo. Someone should have recognized this is a bad demo for peeps to evaluate drums. He hit the toms like twice each. Glad he knows how to play the snare and so into himself and his groove, but this was basically useless as a demo.
He would be right at home with the early 90's grunge drum kit setups, where you only have 1 mounted tom and maybe 1 or 2 floor toms, and 1 crash tops. No, on the other hand, that's probably too much, as all that extra stuff would probably distract him from his bass and snare drumming... Lol
i wouldn't go THAT far bro if that were the case, studio drummers would have u87's u47's and telefunkins instead of DW's and noble &cooly's. Actually the room the drums are in are more important that the mics. I've recorded amazing sounding drums with only mxl 90's for overheads with atm25 on kick and sm57 on snare and senheiser drum mics on toms using only a Mackie dfx12 for phantom power and channel strip. when people heard they didn't believe me, and it was cause of the great sounding room. not to mention my engineering skills.
Drum quality is for road use and stability.Granted a great DW ,Yamaha or Sonor set sounds good in a studio or on stage but with good drum tuning, tape (or not) and real mics I can make any drum sound great. New drumheads go a long way for that...Years ago bill bruford told me screw what drums you play it's how you play...
The instrument and room are the most important things to a good sound.. I disagree with you, there is no way a $300 drum set will ever sound as good as a $3000 dollar drum set providing they are both tuned properly.
The people this video is directed act will most likely not be in a studio and have access to the use of gates and equalizers. You should have recorded this in a garage, the place where they will actually hear these kits after they buy them. Any drum set can be made to sound good in a controlled environment. Good talent behind the kits, nice to see people getting their grove on, thanks for posting! Good vid man, you sir, have one new subscriber!
I actually use a gretsch catalina maple in a professional capacity and it suits me just fine....in fact, I enjoy it more than some kits I've seen colleagues spend thousands more on...there's a lot of good stuff out there in the $1000 range right now...the more expensive kits are nice, yes...but a solid workhorse kit more than does the trick nowadays...these kits are basically the mexican strats of the drum world...a good player can make them sing and you don't feel like garbage every time you get the slightest scratch
Pearl is obviously gonna be no 1 on any list! The Tama silverstar sounded pretty good too. The MCX and Masters Maple Complete series by Pearl also sound amazing as well and they are both around he $1,500 mark. Also the dw clear acrylic set is exactly $1,000. Yamaha too I think makes some pretty good mid level sets.
Im pleased to have an pearl vision VBX kit, all birch with 6plies of birch in 10, 12 toms and 8 plies in 14 tom and bassdrum (20) It is the same except for some small differences with the VBL series is the one currently on the market
This video doesn't really make any sense, yet I keep coming back just to listen to the drums. I mean, seriously, I don't know how you list these drums like this. This video should depend on a lot of things. To determine which drums sound better, it depends on the player, and what they are playing, how it's tuned, the usage of mics, I mean there are so many variables in determining the proper sound of a drum kit. Just speaking my mind, but great video otherwise.
I'm not sure they were played in the same room? Tuning and mic,s are different. It's kinda hard to judge for sure under all the different circumstances.
I'd get the grestch catalica birch. A zildjian a custom symbol pack. My favorite heads and sticks, and call it a day. I don't if that would be over budget, but it would work for me.
Grab yourself a Tama superstar maple or silverstar birch kit. They are both right around $800 new for the shells. Get used midgrade hardware such as cymbal stands and snare stand. Then spend money on high quality cymbals of your choice. Me personally i like Zildjian A customs and some K dark thin crashes. Finally make sure to get a quality pedal or double if u choose. Even if you buy it used thats fine. A high end iron cobra powerglide will last you at least 10 years so the $400 is worth it. And get a snare for the genera of music you play if the kit doesnt include one!
This is cool, but without hearing the kits recorded in the same room on the same recording gear it's really impossible to make a side-by-side comparison.
+Simone Messaggi I believe he is meaning that these drums have been mic'ed and equalized... there for the natural sounds of these drums are not being shown as they should be.
+Serguiy Kondrashov My Silverstars sound awesome with Vintage Clear Emp's on top and clear Amb. on bottom. Therefore, they sound fantastic mic'ed. My only mark against them is that the wrap and tom mount are just ok. But the price point is what it is. I would say the snare drum is the weak link of the SS kit. The drums themselves tune easy and sound awesome.
I agree, you can mic a $600 drum kit, and after tuning, mixing and compressing, it will sound like a $3000 kit, I knew a guy who owned a recording studio, he did this all the time
They have a Tama Silverstar set up in the studio on my music high school and I have spent many hours on it and it's an awesome kit! Prob one of the best in the price range, I'm thinking of buying a kit like it or a Superstar classic and put a set of Evans G2's on em
i have the Superstar classic blue burst not a pro Level kit but i take it on every gig People in the audience dont cear about the price tag on the drums and With good drum heads and decent cymbals and alot of practicing yoy wil SOUND LIKE A PRO
The most important sound making part of drums are the HEADS in my opinion. You can buy a $10,000 set, but if those heads aren't right and TUNED RIGHT, it can make a world a difference. I've only been playing for a year and a half by the way.
I agree. Also how frequently you change both the bottom and top heads is also important. Surprisingly, many of the brand heads that came with the kits in these videos sound pretty decent. I got a Ludwig CS combo for my first set which had horrible horrible brand heads. Pretty good set, but some damn horrible factory heads.
"In your opinion heads make the set!" LMAO who are you Peggy Hill? This has been known since humans in Pangea stretched some animal's skin on hollowed out wood and thought " Hey, this skin is much better sounding and last longer than what I was using. Not only that but I can change the pitch without changing the skin by stretching it, or loosing it". I agree people are less focused on heads, but I've put heads on a Ludwig set from the 70's and it's almost the opposite so long as their tuned to the shells. Some cheaper kits now you can save your cash for the cymbals/stands/heads/equipment. 300 bucks for a five piece PDP full plug and play birch wood set including hi-hat, crash hybrid plus stands and all the pedals! Sounds like a deal to me just to have at another house. Electronic drums are addictive and too rich for me to continue forking out cash on. Bruford's set from "'89 ABWH An Evening of Yes Music" was my muse and those old Simmons SDX's were decades ahead of their time. I did what Danney Carrey did when he revised he's set during "Anema" and added a few at first, then blew money I should have spent on a car. Seems a few people have this passion with hexagon electric drums and replicating Bruford's sets form ABWH, Yes and DreamWorks.
I know this video has been uploaded in earl 2014. But you should check the new Pearl Decade Maple. It definitely tops all the drum kits in this video, and for cheaper!!!!!!!
also i just bought a Yamaha stage custom birch kit and it sounds BEAUTIFUL!!! The snare cracks! The toms are round punchy and full of sustain, and the kick is MUAH! buenissimo!!! and i got it on clearance for 530$ out the door WITH the performance guarantee and free stick club card from guitar center.BOOYAH!!!! forgot to mention that i have a brand new DW collector series maple kit that cost 5k and rivals the yamahas. am actually going to re-record some tracks using the new stage custom kit
So in my humble opinion, #1 certainly sounded best. Whereas #3 was too much hi-hat and snare drum to really them. #5 didn't sound to bad and #4 sounded ok.
Man, I sure liked the sound of the the Tama's. I know the're in different rooms with different mic's etc, but man, to my ears those did it for me. We sure didn't have these kind of resources back in 1963 when I bought my first set of Ludwigs. Thanks guys for taking the time to do this. '
Yup I just bought the pdp maple concept red to black fade, suspension mount and maple shells but the factory heads are Evans and unfortunately I have to play a rehearsal with stock heads once, they aren't bad, it's going to be triggered
I've just ordered the Gretsch Catalina Maple 6-piece, picking it up in two days! It comes with Remo coated ambassadors, but I might buy some different heads because that's where you can really get a great sound from these kits.
True but there's issues with the old one i have, toms lose everything due to the arm brackets going inside the drums poplar 16x16 sounds like shit ,so i had to doctor everything with o rings and moon gels good skins and certain skin will make a difference but doesn't always help.
The drums all sound good, but to get a "true" comparison, one would need the same drummer playing all 5 sets, using the same heads, mics etc. in the same room. That said, if people are looking to buy, the video does give people an idea of what the various drum kits sound like
I found the Pearls to sound the best, and the PDP's to sound the worst....but all in all, they all sound like intermediate kits. You can hear a difference between Visions, Silverstars, Meridians, and Catalinas to Masters MCX, Starclassics, Saturns, and Renowns.....don't let anyone tell you drums are drums.. I've owned countless $700 brand new kits, and now I own 2 $1800 kits(Masters MCX and Starclassic Performer b/b).....and there is a difference! BUT, if they wanted to do kit sound comparisons the right way, they would've used the same drummer on each kit in the same place without mics.....then you could hear a difference. Drummers are just like guitarists....the sound of the instrument has a lot to do with who's playing it.
I think the Mapex Armory series (6 pieces) should be on here. Paid around 1100 $ at my local music store before taxes and it is overall an impressive kit for what i paid
You never know, he might just be being himself completely and coincidently he sounds like Jojo, but people DO have idols, if the guy wants to be like him, maybe he should. Everyone has an idol they'd wish to be like, so just lay off a little yeah? No intention to be a dick.
I have an 8 pc Meridian Maple. It sounds nothing like that in person. Very lively, full and punchy. Bass drum packs a wallop and the hardware is solid. I hit very hard and have never had a problem with hardware wobbles.
This video didn't do the Mapex any justice at all. I've got the Mapex Meridian Birch in a 6 piece configuration and the kick drum is absolutely killer, really beefy with one heck of a punch.
mapex bass drums just sound bad. i hated mine and every other mapex ive tried ive never been happy with the kick. my Pro Ms started to fall apart after a couple tours too
Where did they get these prices? The Silverstar 5-piece is ~$600, the M5 isn't sold anymore, but when it was, it was $600, the Concept Maple is now $700, Gretsch's Catalina Club is $800, Mapex's Meridian Maple is ~$800, and Pearl's Vision Birch is as low as $500.
How I wish I can make the kick drum of our drummer sound like the one on the first drum set.he is a good player but I think he does not how to tune it.i know cero to nothing about drums. I've tried many different microphones and I just can't make it sound like that.i can believe he paid close to 2000 dollars for his drums and sound that bad :(
Hola robertaco98! Sure it's worhtless to own a good drumkit if he ain't gonna tune it properly... tuning drums isn't that hard but it takes some practice, there are countless drum tuning videos on youtube like this: Tuning Your Toms - Free Drum Lessons And then there's some interesting devices that make tuning even easier like the tunebot, check it out! www.amazon.com/Overtone-Labs-TB001-Tune-Bot/dp/B0088DXS14/ref=as_sl_pc_tf_til?tag=simmessacom-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=ZCRIBPFY62GIC42V&creativeASIN=B0088DXS14 And remember, the drum sound has a lot to do with the player as well ;) Hope I provided you with some useful informations! Hasta pronto! S.
robertaco98 The problem could be that their isn't a pillow along the bottom of the bass drum, but the drummer at the beginning could have just been using triggers
Brendan Cooke he wasn't triggered. I have a 7 piece silverstar double bass and the kicks do sound like that when tuned properly. It only cost me $999 and it is one if the best sounding kits on the market only beat by its big brother Tama starclassic b/b
Cant comment on your drummer's tuning but a 2k kit tuned and hit well is going to sound better than the this Tama, period. That Tama kit was mic'd with Audix D 12 mics which SIGNIFICANTLY alter and hype the sound of a drum. Its also probable that while the shells were not technically triggered they were probably treated with additioanl compression in a DAW. doubt they used a real-to-real analog machine to capture that audio! So what you heard on the Tama kit is not what the kit sounds like. Hope that helps give you some peace and perspective regarding your drummer.
the first drummer did an AMAZING job considering he was going through opiate withdrawal. I'm 99% certain he was sick. poor guy is a trooper. God bless him and i hope he is well.
Al R And you should hear it with good heads on it. Those PDP heads aren't great at all, especially for 16" floor toms. Throw some Pinstripes or EC2s on it and it's a dream.
If it was a toss up between a Catalina kit and a renown kit. 24x14 bass drum. I'd get the Catalina. No question. And spend the difference on something like a Gretsch G4000 or broadcaster Brass snare. And/or some decent cymbals. Catalina kits sound amazing. 24" bass drum is a beast.
These vids are pretty useful even as everyone has pointed out when you change the room, the mics, the drummer, and everything changes. The PDP maple sets have a reputation for being brittle. Everything comes down to the player though.
Agree with your choices and the Pearl Vision VBL is a surprisingly good set for the money. Like the tom mounting hardware better on the PDP and the Tama.....but the Vision is better sounding. I've played them all.
Hi Alex, I'm glad to hear that, choosing a kit is hard at first, I suggest you check out as many live kits as possible. UA-cam videos are OK but seeing it first hand is way better! S.
I can say that the Vision does sound good, mine is a similar Session from a couple years before the Vision came out, and it sounds great, especially the bass.
find any Sonor drumkit under $1,500 and it will sound better than that - but to be fair Birch sounds better in recording which would explain why the Tama sounds the best here.. The pdp is nice too.
Proper mixing, effects, and EQ can make a $500.00 Pearl Roadshow kit sound as good as most of these. Maybe retitle as Decent Drum Kits for under $1500.
Here's a good thought for the best sounding kit under a grand... in fact under 300 quid... second hand 80's pearl maple n birch kits, if you can get hold of them :)
I definitely love the sound of the birch kits over the maple. Maple rings too much. I especially liked the Pearl Vision and Tama Silverstar kits even though they were miked up.
PDP is great! Pearl Vision is also a great drumkit for the price as well as the Tama kit! Yamaha Stage or Tour Custom would be a good set also! for the price i never really tried best drumkits.! I had a Tour Custom ( Not the Rock Tour) the maple shells are good quality and hardware is also good and i played a couple of times live with it and it was a badass kit for the price!
Ok this is really specific but on #3 the top tom is tuned to D#, the middle is A#, and the floor tom seems to attack at F# and decay to D#. How in the world did he tune the 14" floor tom to do that? Or do you think the floor tom is 16"? That would make more sense.
Silverstars should be number one. Best drum set I’ve ever played. So full, warm, yet articulate and cutting. They’re also built like tanks so they’re perfect for touring.
OK all you aspiring drummers. The truth is you can have the ultimate kit by any manufacturer and have the sound man or recording engineer make it sound like shit or a piece of gold. Buy what you can afford and get your chops straight. Listen to everyone and replicate all. Grow from there. Develop your own style. Don't worry about "the ultimate kit". Regardless off price. I've been on tour and in the studio and it really didn't depend on birch, maple, bubinga, or whatever. Learn the craft.
its true.the musician makes the instrument. i remember when i was about 7yrs old my violin was in the shop and i didn't wanna practice because of the loaner i had,when my teacher asked why i didn't wanna practice , i said because the instrument i had on loan sounded awful. she replied, let me see. she picked it up and proceeded to make it sing beautifully. it was then i learned that a master can make ANY instrument sound beautiful.
Nice video, but kind of pointless, don't you think?
5 different drum kits, in 5 different rooms, played by 5 different players, in 5 different styles, with 5 different micing patterns and mic combos, likely with different processing and/or engineers, and probably with 5 different types of heads and tuning; all of it listened to through god knows what kind of speakers or headphones.
Besides establishing that these 5 drum kits can in fact potentially sound good, there's little else to be gained by this. Any drums with good heads, good tuning, a good room and a good engineer can sound good. The only way you could ever even come close to being able to tell drums a part, would be to have all the drums with zero variability in external factors. Same heads, same tuning, same players, same mics, and even then, it wouldn't be close to hearing drums live, which is what you should do before buying them.
Yeah, the video gives a good idea of what the kits sound like, but the best presentation would be to eliminate all factors except for the kit.
I agree Ben, but even under different conditions each kit has its own voice and I think these are all incredible kits for the money!
Ben Fullerton I was thinking the exact same thing, but I'm just to lazy to type a big paragraph, but you sir hit the nail right on it. For the price range they all sounded really good tho
Dead Right!
I guess it's more about whether the drum set has the potential to sound good, and if yes, how easily can that happen. I doubt these people would go as far as to hire expensive engineers and use complex mic systems just to sell one of their cheapest drum sets.
The kit I most wanted to hear was played by some bozzo who either simply refused or was incapable of playing anything but the kick and snare.
haha
I totally agree 100% I was so pissed
The fact that tha Yamaha Stage Custom and Sonor 3007 aren't on this list is criminal.
agreed!
I have a 3005 and it outshines more expensive kits all the time.
Both great sets.
Yamaha Stage Custom is a great kit. Especially for the price!
I thought that Mapex kit (#2) would leave the room after it finished dancing all over the place...
Patrik Gustafsson thought the same
My thoughts exactly! Completely distracting. How could make a video of that crap and think anybody is going to want to buy them.
Had great sound though - IMO.
LOL!!!
@@bishlap and sexy appearance too... 👍
I don't think the 3rd guy playing the Gretsch Catalina was energetic enough! 😂🤣
That guy on the Gretsch kit, aha makes me want to buy that kit now.
Haha yeah, I wonder if he listens to Jojo Mayer......
+xXx_Pokemaster Cyro_xXx how is it? u change anything so far?
+Matt Bellamy a fucking clown!!
+zambagrande yeah, cringeworthy
Maybe that's why Gretsch hired him
The drummer on the kit #1 (Pearl Vision VBL) gave not only the best grooves, but also the best facial expressions. I vote for #1 kit.
The guy on the Gretsch kit didn't play the whole set enough.
He also looks like a dick!
Sticks and stones, sticks and stones!
Adam Kensington
he did - but yes playing drum'n'bass isn't useful for a demo.
the guy on the gretsch kit, was an actual fucking lunatic
i thought the same...horrible part for a Kit Sound Video
The PDP at $1100 is a total rip off.. At that or any of the other drum kit prices shown in this video, you can pick up a used vintage Ludwig, Slingerland, Rogers, Tama, or even Pearl that will blows these kits out of the water.. Unfortunately, most beginners or young drummers are ignorant to this fact.. Furthermore, you can buy any of the mentioned drum kits used for well under $900 as a shell pack, or even as a full pack.. The one that's worth anything in this video is the Pearl Vision Birch..They're quality and durability will long out last any of the other drum kits.. And yes, you can also pick one up used in great condition for around $700.. But don't take my word for it.. This is only 28 years of drumming, live and studio session playing, and engineer tech talking.. Never the less, nice to see that you put up videos like this for young or beginner drummers to check out, and for that i commend you..
blica 1 Durability? What exactly breaks on a drum set? If kept in a temperature controlled environment, the shells of even cheap drum sets will last decades, provided they're made of multiple plies of a hardwood (like virtually all drum sets manufactured today). What in the blue hell are you talking about?
mikper7 What exactly breaks on a drum set ?? What in "blue hell" am i talking about ?? .. Lol ! You're funny..
Well... FYI, not all drums are kept in a humidity controlled, or protected studio environment now, are they ?.. Most young drummers will gig the crap out of these kits making them prone to all sorts of environments, including winters, set-up, tear down, touring, etc..Ever hear of hardware breaking ?.. Yes, i'm well aware that if kept in cases and taken care of , most drums can survive all these types of elements, but i certainly know that isn't the case all of the time..(i also do drum restoration as well, btw.. )This is what i meant by "outlasting" all of these other kits.. Pearl has proven time and time again that they're drums are built to withstand most types of punishment that drummers, environments, and the elements can dish out.. I've used almost every brand of drum kit out there, have gigged and toured for many years, and have seen and done it all first hand..I'm also very aware that there are other drum companies that have a reputation for solid gear..(Tama is another name that comes to mind)..
I'm a Ludwig man myself, but in this case, I was just making a comparison with Pearl and all others in this video..
Every drum manufacturer makes gear that is solid, and some not so solid..This is a fact.. My comment was observed regarding this particular video.. That is what in the blue hell i'm talking about.. ;)
Or just save $750 and get a PDP Double Drive, with all Poplar Shells, and it's a 8 Piece Double Bass kit shell pack, so why get the same thing from Tama or Pearl and end up paying for pretty much a very similar kit for $500 more because that is what PDP is about; Amazing drums for an even more amazing price. And if you looked in the description of the PDP kit, it is all Maple Shells, so yeah, it would make just a little bit of sense if Maple or Birch just costed you know, a little bit more from what drum sets are usually made of. And in my opinion, the PDP sounds great, but then again it depends what music you play and how you tune it. So in the end, this comment is completely 100% pointless.
blica 1 Good comment, fellow drummer.
What if you don't want a used kit? Someone might not want that, they want to purchase new, no matter how a used kit could be in great condition and all.
I think these kits are decent. look decent defo... It is what it is.
blica 1 You sound like a real smart guy you should really yourself. No thats the problem you like to hear self knock other peoples sh!t.
the pearls and tamas are both good sounding drums
I totally agree with you!
Does the guy in video #3 realize that he is supposed to be giving us a demo of the overall sound of that Gretsch drum set? Pretty much the only parts of the drum set that he played were the bass and snare. I don't think he hit any of the other toms at all, or very, very little.
Well, I don't even think he was aware he was doing a demo.😂
This was my thought exactly. Irregardless of whether he was aware or not of doing a demo. Someone should have recognized this is a bad demo for peeps to evaluate drums. He hit the toms like twice each. Glad he knows how to play the snare and so into himself and his groove, but this was basically useless as a demo.
He would be right at home with the early 90's grunge drum kit setups, where you only have 1 mounted tom and maybe 1 or 2 floor toms, and 1 crash tops. No, on the other hand, that's probably too much, as all that extra stuff would probably distract him from his bass and snare drumming... Lol
@ LEGO: +1, and the Meth probably didn't help.
He looked like he was ate up with goofy. I was really interested in hearing what the whole kit sounded like. He pissed me off!
a $300 drumset can sound fabulous in a studio with good mics...
i wouldn't go THAT far bro if that were the case, studio drummers would have u87's u47's and telefunkins instead of DW's and noble &cooly's. Actually the room the drums are in are more important that the mics. I've recorded amazing sounding drums with only mxl 90's for overheads with atm25 on kick and sm57 on snare and senheiser drum mics on toms using only a Mackie dfx12 for phantom power and channel strip. when people heard they didn't believe me, and it was cause of the great sounding room. not to mention my engineering skills.
Drum quality is for road use and stability.Granted a great DW ,Yamaha or Sonor set sounds good in a studio or on stage but with good drum tuning, tape (or not) and real mics I can make any drum sound great. New drumheads go a long way for that...Years ago bill bruford told me screw what drums you play it's how you play...
mastermindmusics Good Points, room is important..lets not forget the drummer...is he hitting the sweet spots on the drums. etc...
***** this video is deceiving cause each set is recorded in a different room
The instrument and room are the most important things to a good sound.. I disagree with you, there is no way a $300 drum set will ever sound as good as a $3000 dollar drum set providing they are both tuned properly.
That kid playing the Gretsch kit played the crap out of that snare but not much else. What the hell. Lol
I bought the Pearl VBL's as a practice kit 2 years ago.. I now pretty much use it for all my gigs.. LUB EMMMMMMM
Tuning any kit properly, will immediately improve the sound of even the cheapest kit.
i was about to say the same thing!! very true my friend =]
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***** Yes, of course. But there is a huge improvement between tuned and not tuned.
The people this video is directed act will most likely not be in a studio and have access to the use of gates and equalizers. You should have recorded this in a garage, the place where they will actually hear these kits after they buy them. Any drum set can be made to sound good in a controlled environment. Good talent behind the kits, nice to see people getting their grove on, thanks for posting! Good vid man, you sir, have one new subscriber!
+Hivolt Arc Thank You, nice suggestion btw!
LOL and don't forget to add sound of angry parent and or neighbor yelling "quiet!"
+Hivolt Arc I think it's just stock video from each of the manufacturers.
+Hivolt Arc I don't have to worry because I live in the country
I actually use a gretsch catalina maple in a professional capacity and it suits me just fine....in fact, I enjoy it more than some kits I've seen colleagues spend thousands more on...there's a lot of good stuff out there in the $1000 range right now...the more expensive kits are nice, yes...but a solid workhorse kit more than does the trick nowadays...these kits are basically the mexican strats of the drum world...a good player can make them sing and you don't feel like garbage every time you get the slightest scratch
Pearl is obviously gonna be no 1 on any list! The Tama silverstar sounded pretty good too. The MCX and Masters Maple Complete series by Pearl also sound amazing as well and they are both around he $1,500 mark. Also the dw clear acrylic set is exactly $1,000. Yamaha too I think makes some pretty good mid level sets.
tama silverstar was eq'ed out of existence
Im pleased to have an pearl vision VBX kit, all birch with 6plies of birch in 10, 12 toms and 8 plies in 14 tom and bassdrum (20) It is the same except for some small differences with the VBL series is the one currently on the market
It's a terrific value, I think!
What about the Yamaha stage custom?
I agree
+Tj Medeiros own one of them. amazing kit
Marcello Granata i own one of them too! i have been more than happy with it!
Tj Medeiros I
Yamaha or Ludwig .. both quality sound, both readily available in standard 5pc for under $1500 USD
This video doesn't really make any sense, yet I keep coming back just to listen to the drums. I mean, seriously, I don't know how you list these drums like this. This video should depend on a lot of things. To determine which drums sound better, it depends on the player, and what they are playing, how it's tuned, the usage of mics, I mean there are so many variables in determining the proper sound of a drum kit. Just speaking my mind, but great video otherwise.
Thanks, I think there's a bit of magic involved!
+Simone Messaggi I liked the Tama Silverstar it sounded so nice!!
WereFromUrFace you can make anything good just watch rdavidr
WereFromUrFace and the heads
I'm not sure they were played in the same room? Tuning and mic,s are different. It's kinda hard to judge for sure under all the different circumstances.
I'll save you 11:42 of your life:
Buy a $500 set with decent lugs and hoops. Then spend the remaining $1000 on some good cymbals and a nice snare.
charldaughter recommendations?
Trevor get Dream Bliss cymbals. Pretty inexpensive and the best playing and sounding cymbals ever
Exactly! Point taken, works every time Frankenstein!
I'd get the grestch catalica birch. A zildjian a custom symbol pack. My favorite heads and sticks, and call it a day. I don't if that would be over budget, but it would work for me.
Grab yourself a Tama superstar maple or silverstar birch kit. They are both right around $800 new for the shells. Get used midgrade hardware such as cymbal stands and snare stand. Then spend money on high quality cymbals of your choice. Me personally i like Zildjian A customs and some K dark thin crashes. Finally make sure to get a quality pedal or double if u choose. Even if you buy it used thats fine. A high end iron cobra powerglide will last you at least 10 years so the $400 is worth it. And get a snare for the genera of music you play if the kit doesnt include one!
Pearl might be my favorite drums period, they are so nice 😋
This is cool, but without hearing the kits recorded in the same room on the same recording gear it's really impossible to make a side-by-side comparison.
honestly, that TAMA sounds the best in this video. I'm a mapex fan and player myself, but I've always been impressed with TAMA kits.
how can one assess a miced kit?
+Serguiy Kondrashov with ears?
+Simone Messaggi I believe he is meaning that these drums have been mic'ed and equalized... there for the natural sounds of these drums are not being shown as they should be.
+Whitefox2298 There is no way that the tama kit sounds THAT good! It's either triggered or mixed
+Serguiy Kondrashov My Silverstars sound awesome with Vintage Clear Emp's on top and clear Amb. on bottom. Therefore, they sound fantastic mic'ed. My only mark against them is that the wrap and tom mount are just ok. But the price point is what it is. I would say the snare drum is the weak link of the SS kit. The drums themselves tune easy and sound awesome.
I agree, you can mic a $600 drum kit, and after tuning, mixing and compressing, it will sound like a $3000 kit, I knew a guy who owned a recording studio, he did this all the time
glad to see the guy from pacific rim 1 is living through the ptsd via the gretsch drumkit.
Tama sounds best hands down. At least in this non-scientific test.
jonathan james It sounds like that because of the tuning and the mix if all the drumkits were tuned and mixed the same it would sound quite different
i agree
They have a Tama Silverstar set up in the studio on my music high school and I have spent many hours on it and it's an awesome kit! Prob one of the best in the price range, I'm thinking of buying a kit like it or a Superstar classic and put a set of Evans G2's on em
i have the Superstar classic blue burst not a pro Level kit but i take it on every gig People in the audience dont cear about the price tag on the drums and With good drum heads and decent cymbals and alot of practicing yoy wil SOUND LIKE A PRO
Yea it's super warm
mapex looked like it had wheels under the base drum wobbling all over the place.looked and bounced like a kids kit.
The most important sound making part of drums are the HEADS in my opinion. You can buy a $10,000 set, but if those heads aren't right and TUNED RIGHT, it can make a world a difference. I've only been playing for a year and a half by the way.
I agree. Also how frequently you change both the bottom and top heads is also important. Surprisingly, many of the brand heads that came with the kits in these videos sound pretty decent. I got a Ludwig CS combo for my first set which had horrible horrible brand heads. Pretty good set, but some damn horrible factory heads.
Year and a half and you're 100% correct haha
"In your opinion heads make the set!" LMAO who are you Peggy Hill? This has been known since humans in Pangea stretched some animal's skin on hollowed out wood and thought " Hey, this skin is much better sounding and last longer than what I was using. Not only that but I can change the pitch without changing the skin by stretching it, or loosing it". I agree people are less focused on heads, but I've put heads on a Ludwig set from the 70's and it's almost the opposite so long as their tuned to the shells. Some cheaper kits now you can save your cash for the cymbals/stands/heads/equipment. 300 bucks for a five piece PDP full plug and play birch wood set including hi-hat, crash hybrid plus stands and all the pedals! Sounds like a deal to me just to have at another house. Electronic drums are addictive and too rich for me to continue forking out cash on. Bruford's set from "'89 ABWH An Evening of Yes Music" was my muse and those old Simmons SDX's were decades ahead of their time. I did what Danney Carrey did when he revised he's set during "Anema" and added a few at first, then blew money I should have spent on a car. Seems a few people have this passion with hexagon electric drums and replicating Bruford's sets form ABWH, Yes and DreamWorks.
really liking the pearl vision. played export for 25 years. might be upgrading
I know this video has been uploaded in earl 2014. But you should check the new Pearl Decade Maple. It definitely tops all the drum kits in this video, and for cheaper!!!!!!!
also i just bought a Yamaha stage custom birch kit and it sounds BEAUTIFUL!!! The snare cracks! The toms are round punchy and full of sustain, and the kick is MUAH! buenissimo!!! and i got it on clearance for 530$ out the door WITH the performance guarantee and free stick club card from guitar center.BOOYAH!!!! forgot to mention that i have a brand new DW collector series maple kit that cost 5k and rivals the yamahas. am actually going to re-record some tracks using the new stage custom kit
Pearl Vision, what tune is it? Tonation maybe? Sounds great ;)
Wow that pearl vision sounds perfect
Pearl birch sounds better than Tama birch because the shells are thicker, more powerful, with deeper tone.
So in my humble opinion, #1 certainly sounded best. Whereas #3 was too much hi-hat and snare drum to really them. #5 didn't sound to bad and #4 sounded ok.
I have a 5 piece Tama Superstar Custom in amber fade... I am surprised that it did not make the list... Maybe because it is discontinued???
it is waaay better than silverstar, this dude just didnt see the pricetag on superstar
They sound great, and I managed to get them used, in FABULOUS condition, under a grand, let alone 1500 dollars haha
I have 2 Tama superstar Kits. World not sell Them ever
I have the PDP by DW concept maple 4pces since 2015 and I love it, easy to carry to gigs, it also does the job when playing in bars,I recommand it
The Tama Silverstar...I really LOVED the low end coming out of it.
Man, I sure liked the sound of the the Tama's. I know the're in different rooms with different mic's etc, but man, to my ears those did it for me. We sure didn't have these kind of resources back in 1963 when I bought my first set of Ludwigs. Thanks guys for taking the time to do this.
'
Thank You bruns for the kind words!
s.
I have the PDP m5 kit, it sound really awesome!! definitely recommended
Yup I just bought the pdp maple concept red to black fade, suspension mount and maple shells but the factory heads are Evans and unfortunately I have to play a rehearsal with stock heads once, they aren't bad, it's going to be triggered
I've just ordered the Gretsch Catalina Maple 6-piece, picking it up in two days! It comes with Remo coated ambassadors, but I might buy some different heads because that's where you can really get a great sound from these kits.
the best two were the Tama and Pearl.
Yes agreed !!!
Pearl or Tama are my personal favorites, quality construction and sound, complete with Zildjian or Paiste series cymbals.
I just bought a second hand pearl vision for 600 bucks c: its a great kit
I agree with you I have one myself and I love the sound of it! Pearl does make great sounding drums!
The guy who played the catalina was having a blast. That's a real drummer right there, man.
ezdrummer heard in intro is the cheapest
man that chop at 2:22 is nice.. imma steal that one!
I'm not a drummer, as a listener really liked the sound PDP by DW M5 studio
Heck, id buy the gretsch just from the vid...love the style and his enthusiasm!
Pearl export - 600$, sounds great. just my opinion lol
True but there's issues with the old one i have, toms lose everything due to the arm brackets going inside the drums poplar 16x16 sounds like shit ,so i had to doctor everything with o rings and moon gels good skins and certain skin will make a difference but doesn't always help.
My Pearl Vision was $1000 in 2010 or so and it was the two floor tom model.
a good drummer can make any drum set sound good
The drums all sound good, but to get a "true" comparison, one would need the same drummer playing all 5 sets, using the same heads, mics etc. in the same room. That said, if people are looking to buy, the video does give people an idea of what the various drum kits sound like
I found the Pearls to sound the best, and the PDP's to sound the worst....but all in all, they all sound like intermediate kits. You can hear a difference between Visions, Silverstars, Meridians, and Catalinas to Masters MCX, Starclassics, Saturns, and Renowns.....don't let anyone tell you drums are drums.. I've owned countless $700 brand new kits, and now I own 2 $1800 kits(Masters MCX and Starclassic Performer b/b).....and there is a difference! BUT, if they wanted to do kit sound comparisons the right way, they would've used the same drummer on each kit in the same place without mics.....then you could hear a difference. Drummers are just like guitarists....the sound of the instrument has a lot to do with who's playing it.
+Randy Woolum agree
+Randy Woolum to each their own. I thought the PDP tom sounds were the best...
strongly agree!
I think kit number 3 was played by Howard Wolowitz's musical older brother.
Those drums sound incredibly mixed so i doubt it's the original audio
I think the Mapex Armory series (6 pieces) should be on here. Paid around 1100 $ at my local music store before taxes and it is overall an impressive kit for what i paid
4:00 discount jojo mayer... Even got the afro and everything
I got the Pearl VBL. 6-piece though... they were having a deal so took advantage... lol... And they sound excellent...
the 3rd guy wants to be Jojo Mayer so bad lmfao
He's so obnoxious and corny
***** yeah & despite me saying that he was actually a good player lol
Lol dude you took the words right outta my mouth.. he was like jo jo without the talent. . Haha.. hipster dbag
You never know, he might just be being himself completely and coincidently he sounds like Jojo, but people DO have idols, if the guy wants to be like him, maybe he should.
Everyone has an idol they'd wish to be like, so just lay off a little yeah?
No intention to be a dick.
djoc417 I found him funny, and he looked like he was enjoying himself.
Don't you mean "corn beefy"? We need more New fros in drumming.
What did they use to mic that first kit?? Good lawd!!
The Mapex bass drum sounded bad, the kit wobbled around loads bad quality which Mapex do have a lot of
its the room, where it was recorded sounds terrible.
I have an 8 pc Meridian Maple. It sounds nothing like that in person. Very lively, full and punchy. Bass drum packs a wallop and the hardware is solid. I hit very hard and have never had a problem with hardware wobbles.
I suspect the riser the kit is on is the source of all the hardware movement.
This video didn't do the Mapex any justice at all. I've got the Mapex Meridian Birch in a 6 piece configuration and the kick drum is absolutely killer, really beefy with one heck of a punch.
mapex bass drums just sound bad. i hated mine and every other mapex ive tried ive never been happy with the kick. my Pro Ms started to fall apart after a couple tours too
i got my kit für 300 bucks and bought new heads and tuned it. Still love it.
Where did they get these prices? The Silverstar 5-piece is ~$600, the M5 isn't sold anymore, but when it was, it was $600, the Concept Maple is now $700, Gretsch's Catalina Club is $800, Mapex's Meridian Maple is ~$800, and Pearl's Vision Birch is as low as $500.
I think they're "list" prices.
David Spidel Yes these are list prices, including hardware
vision birch really isn't $500 coz they're £600 rrp in the uk currency and it's like $1.6 to £1
I have number 4 , only mine is a 6 piece. still makes me happy after 13 years !
Silverstars sounded the best here...
How I wish I can make the kick drum of our drummer sound like the one on the first drum set.he is a good player but I think he does not how to tune it.i know cero to nothing about drums. I've tried many different microphones and I just can't make it sound like that.i can believe he paid close to 2000 dollars for his drums and sound that bad :(
Hola robertaco98!
Sure it's worhtless to own a good drumkit if he ain't gonna tune it properly... tuning drums isn't that hard but it takes some practice, there are countless drum tuning videos on youtube like this: Tuning Your Toms - Free Drum Lessons
And then there's some interesting devices that make tuning even easier like the tunebot, check it out!
www.amazon.com/Overtone-Labs-TB001-Tune-Bot/dp/B0088DXS14/ref=as_sl_pc_tf_til?tag=simmessacom-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=ZCRIBPFY62GIC42V&creativeASIN=B0088DXS14
And remember, the drum sound has a lot to do with the player as well ;)
Hope I provided you with some useful informations!
Hasta pronto!
S.
robertaco98 The problem could be that their isn't a pillow along the bottom of the bass drum, but the drummer at the beginning could have just been using triggers
Brendan Cooke he wasn't triggered. I have a 7 piece silverstar double bass and the kicks do sound like that when tuned properly. It only cost me $999 and it is one if the best sounding kits on the market only beat by its big brother Tama starclassic b/b
Chimichanga Guy Oh okay cool just wasn't sure
Cant comment on your drummer's tuning but a 2k kit tuned and hit well is going to sound better than the this Tama, period. That Tama kit was mic'd with Audix D 12 mics which SIGNIFICANTLY alter and hype the sound of a drum. Its also probable that while the shells were not technically triggered they were probably treated with additioanl compression in a DAW. doubt they used a real-to-real analog machine to capture that audio! So what you heard on the Tama kit is not what the kit sounds like. Hope that helps give you some peace and perspective regarding your drummer.
the first drummer did an AMAZING job considering he was going through opiate withdrawal. I'm 99% certain he was sick. poor guy is a trooper. God bless him and i hope he is well.
The Gretsch was easily the best. The Pearl's snare was annoying.
I love my 5 piece Pearl Vision New York Splatter drum kit!
the mapex is moving like water, I'd never buy this kit
PDP sounds the most interesting drum, for the sound and for the price, its the cheapest and it sounds pretty well.
Al R
And you should hear it with good heads on it. Those PDP heads aren't great at all, especially for 16" floor toms. Throw some Pinstripes or EC2s on it and it's a dream.
Al R I have a cheap PDP drum kit, I've tried a lot of expensive drum kits, but none sounds as good at my PDP.
Love my PDP as well
PDP Concept Maple 7 piece
Hæmoride jørgen Thank you for the advice I'll take it in consideration ! peace to you and keep enjoying drummin !!!!!!!!
If it was a toss up between a Catalina kit and a renown kit.
24x14 bass drum.
I'd get the Catalina.
No question.
And spend the difference on something like a Gretsch G4000 or broadcaster Brass snare.
And/or some decent cymbals.
Catalina kits sound amazing.
24" bass drum is a beast.
the third one was a pot head
Your opinion is the Pearl set at number 1! But I think the Gretsch drums blow them all away!
These vids are pretty useful even as everyone has pointed out when you change the room, the mics, the drummer, and everything changes. The PDP maple sets have a reputation for being brittle. Everything comes down to the player though.
Idk if the first kit was so damn good or if it was the drummer. But this sound ingeneral ruled man.
Best kit for the $... Get yourself an Ayotte DrumSmith (about 800$) when you find 'em... That Silverstar birch is amazing also.
Agree with your choices and the Pearl Vision VBL is a surprisingly good set for the money. Like the tom mounting hardware better on the PDP and the Tama.....but the Vision is better sounding. I've played them all.
That's great to hear!
Thanks for the video - helps a lot trying to pick out a new kit.
Hi Alex, I'm glad to hear that, choosing a kit is hard at first, I suggest you check out as many live kits as possible. UA-cam videos are OK but seeing it first hand is way better!
S.
I can say that the Vision does sound good, mine is a similar Session from a couple years before the Vision came out, and it sounds great, especially the bass.
I don't know if this video was before they came out, but the PDP Concept series tops everything on this list IMHO
Ea bro concept exotic one ✌️😁
What cymbals was the first drummer using? Great sounding ride and China!
#5 is by far the best in my mind great sounding kit..
find any Sonor drumkit under $1,500 and it will sound better than that - but to be fair Birch sounds better in recording which would explain why the Tama sounds the best here.. The pdp is nice too.
got a force 3005 maple for about 1,000 yrs ago and it sounds fantastic!
Dunno, I don't like Sonor that much...
What is the best kit that I can use professionally, will sound amazing and is under 1000? Pls help.
can you please update this video with Yamaha Stage Custom Birtch? Thanks.
Proper mixing, effects, and EQ can make a $500.00 Pearl Roadshow kit sound as good as most of these. Maybe retitle as Decent Drum Kits for under $1500.
Catalina maple and catalina club are shockingly good for the money. Warm and punchy.
Man...the 2nd drummer...he got me groovin the whole time!
No.3 is definitely not my favorite set but probably my favorite drummer out of all of them.
Here's a good thought for the best sounding kit under a grand... in fact under 300 quid... second hand 80's pearl maple n birch kits, if you can get hold of them :)
I LOVE the bloke on the Gretch Catalina!!!! Hahaha!! BRILLIANT!!!
I definitely love the sound of the birch kits over the maple. Maple rings too much. I especially liked the Pearl Vision and Tama Silverstar kits even though they were miked up.
My favorite was number 4, but mostly cause I like that type of drumming.
PDP is great! Pearl Vision is also a great drumkit for the price as well as the Tama kit!
Yamaha Stage or Tour Custom would be a good set also! for the price i never really tried best drumkits.! I had a Tour Custom ( Not the Rock Tour) the maple shells are good quality and hardware is also good and i played a couple of times live with it and it was a badass kit for the price!
Ok this is really specific but on #3 the top tom is tuned to D#, the middle is A#, and the floor tom seems to attack at F# and decay to D#. How in the world did he tune the 14" floor tom to do that? Or do you think the floor tom is 16"? That would make more sense.
the snare on the pearl sounds like a card board box. who tuned that thing? finger tight on the bottom and poppy on the toppy