 "Da Bomb!" | 2009-06-25 |
| - Reviewed By User: AN6EN0IIHQIED |
| A really nice purchase! I put it together and gave it a work out, this thing is a blast!! I recommend it if you have the funds |
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| "I can hear myself play now :)" | 2009-05-29 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2Q39UBQNPD61B |
I play rock band guitar, and my wife plays drums. She's really hard on drums, and has destroyed two of the "regular" kits, an RB1 and an RB2, so I figured that while the Ion is expensive, the durability it advertised was worth a shot.
Basically the amount of durability that Ion says these drums have is false, they are much MORE durable than that! the rubber surface is starting to chafe a little from my wife wailing on them, but it's basically a cosmetic concern, because I pulled out one the rubber skins, and at the rate she's going, it would take her a few hundred years to put a hole through all that! these pads are heavy duty!
Customizable... where to begin... first of all, the entire frame is tubing, with a few couplers. you can put the frame itself together however you want. I put the legs on at opposite angles so my wife would have more legroom. Since it's all coupled tubing, if you really wanted to go crazy, you could cheaply create your own frame elements using standard conduit from any hardware store. While I had my wifes' drum head taken apart, I decided to test out "skinning" the rubber head in cloth, and with the awesome engineering on the heads, it was not only easy, but it looks awesome, and you could skin it using any design done in cloth! no more being stuck with elephants! You can position the drum heads at any height, at any angle, any distance from each other, and put the controller "brain" anywhere you want. Our controller "brain" is sticking WAY out the top, where an errant drumstick could never possibly hit the start button on accident...
Saving the best for last, the sound! the difference between a standard kit and these things is nothing short of amazing. I can't hear anything over my wife playing a standard drum kit, but with the Ion kit, I actually have to listen for her playing to keep on time, because the tuner drowns out her drums when the wah wah in overdrive gets going. Even without all the other great things about this kit, the lack of that plastic thwacking drum noise on the old kits was well worth the price. If you play enough to be considering an Ion kit, It's probably a safe bet that you'll consider this kit well worth it, and then some. |
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 "Fun Till it breaks, can I rate it 0?" | 2009-05-09 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1KEGCT9GIUGQS |
I love rockband and rock the house on it. I play Expert and Gold Star nearly every song. That makes me a loser, but it also makes me an expert on when a drumset doesn't work for the game.
Ion doesn't know how to make a drum brain. I've returned mine for the first but probably not last time and gotten it back. It still doesn't register hits half the time. Ion's customer service is complete garbage. You call technical support and get "I'm sorry you're having trouble. Please call back later. Goodbye." I'm sick of breaking my drumsticks because the POS wont register any hits and it P!$$ES me off so bad that I smack the [...] out of it till my stick breaks.
DON'T BUY THIS its a waste of your money. I'd have rated it ZERO if it was allowed. |
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 "Problems...Read before you buy!!!" | 2009-05-02 |
| - Reviewed By User: AA46Z60YHZBF3 |
I ran into a few problems with the Ion Drum Rocker right out of the box.
First off, the sensitivity of the cymbals are about 65-75% of where they should be. If you're at an expert level, you'll definitely see the difference when you're hitting drum rolls on the high hat (middle of Everlong, YYZ, etc.). Second, you have to hit the cymbal a little harder than usual, which increases arm fatigue. Third, the cymbals are quite loud (not as loud as the RB1 drums, but damn near) in comparison to the tom toms. You can purchase aftermarket cymbals (several available for purchase online & amazon.com!) that would work extremely better.
The bass pedal is also an issue. Sturdy, but it is prone to sticking at the bottom. The pedal is also prone to static issues which cause the entire drum set to disconnect (http://www.rockband.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107816).
Also, my drum module was triggering buttons sporatically (due to a manufacturer defect), but a replacement from amazon.com is on the way to my home.
In conclusion, the Ion Drum Rocker could've been a great drum set, but there were a few quirks that keeps it from greatness. You can get replacements for your cymbals($40-50 a piece) and also the Rock Pedal(great buy for your aspiring fake drum career :D); but it retrospect, you shouldn't have to spend money to upgrade equipment after just spending [...] bucks. Do your research!!! |
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| "drum rocker ps3 great product" | 2009-04-27 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3K6836EASW15S |
| awsome product, just alittle on the difficult side to put together. directions leave a few small details out, but once I figured it out, it went smoother. |
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| "Company truly stands behind their product Highly Recommended" | 2009-04-07 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2MY1VYV3MO7S6 |
| Bought this as an upgrade for my son. He loved it. It's very customizable in every way. So much so that by changing around the drumpads so much the bolt that holds one of them on broke. We contacted the manufacturer and they replaced the whole drum pad. No questions asked. We were only looking for the bolt but they mailed the whole pad in just a few days. I guess I'm so used to companies giving you the runaround especially about warranties and replacements that I was shocked that it was so easy. I felt this was a sign of a company that really stood behind their product and gives excellent customer service. Would highly recommend. |
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| "Hopefully you'll never have to call......" | 2009-03-30 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2I9LT63G5E75M |
I was beginning to think I was the only one, but I have begun to see more and more comments about other peoples problems with ION customer service and the drum kit... here goes mine.
I got the Ion DrumRocker for PS3 which didn't get released until December. I picked it up the first day it was available, only to have the bracket on the Red drumpad break when tightening, since it is only cheap plastic (again, something meant to be hit hard with a stick should be better constructed). This was not due to over-tightening as the customer service guy tried to suggest since I tightened all of my pads the same way and only had this one break. In addition, both of the cymbals were only registering 50-70% of the time and only when hit VERY hard. I went online and filled out the only form I could find for customer service and didn't get a call within two days. I did more searching and finally found a number (not toll free) to call. When I called, they acted like they were doing ME a favor by allowing me to return the product. They said they were going to send a UPS shipping label by email and that I would get it in two days. Two days later, no shipping label, so I called again, they said they would resend it. Two more days, no label, called again, said they would try a different email address. Two more days, no label. Now they say they will print out a label and send it to me by mail. This went on past through Christmas, and into January and I still did not have a shipping label. Finally, mid-January, after talking to 10 different people and spending hours on the phone, I finally have a label. I send it in and cross my fingers. Three weeks go by and I have not heard anything. I call. They I give them the RA# and serial# of my drum set and my name. They tell me that unless I have the Tracking number of the package, they can't tell me what's going on with my repair. Remember now... THEY printed the shipping label... THEY issued the RA#... and now THEY have no idea what's going on with MY merchandise!! I ask to speak with a manager and after arguing with the guy he transfers me to a voice mail service, so I leave a message and ask for a call back..... Any guesses if I got a call back? One week later (now nearly the end of February, two and a half months after the set was broken) I call again and demand that someone find out where my merchandise is. The guy finally tells me that there's a backlog of repairs and that they did receive my broken parts, but that I wouldn't get replacements until late March or early April -- FOUR to FIVE MONTHS AFTER I PURCHASED AND REPORTED THE DEFECTIVE PRODUCT!!!!! I voiced my frustration saying that I'm sure they are filling new orders for drum kits that were placed well after my repair was requested and meanwhile those of us with problems are left out our $300 and without a working product. He tells me a sob story (which I'm sure is a lie) about how he bought a drum rocker kit for his daughter for christmas and it was broken and he still doesn't have a replacement and his daughters ask him every day why santa brought them a broken toy.... oh, woe is me... my poor deprived imaginary daughter without her drumrocker... whatever will I do?
Just when you thought it was over... I decided to use the Ion Drumrocker kick pedal with my stock RockBand kit using an adapter (I like the DrumRocker pedal better) and within 4 songs, the trigger switch in the pedal broke (the same problem described in the first post). Now I've gotten another RA# and shipped off another part from my ION kit, probably not to be seen for another 5 months..... |
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| "This kit rocks" | 2009-03-24 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2NAEPXU8LG5UL |
| I've been playing this kit for a month, and I totally love it. The pads are much nicer than the original Rock Band 2 drum kit. I just wish it was wireless. |
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 "Good drums, horrible pedal" | 2009-03-19 |
| - Reviewed By User: ABRS7YC23CE5A |
Simply put - the drums are great but the pedal is cheap.
It may be "all metal" but the plastic trigger inside, that the company replaced (to change the pedal from a hi-hat pedal to a kick drum pedal), makes it an all metal pedal that will break almost as quickly as the original RB plastic pedal.
The customer service for this company is horrible as well. I have been waiting over a month to get my pedal back, and I ended up buying the "Rock Pedal."
The ideal Rockband drum set would be this kit with the $[...] Rock Pedal. And Rock Pedal's customer service. If you're going to spend $[...] for drums, you might as well spend another $[...] to avoid the aggravation that Ion will cause you when your pedal breaks. And it will... |
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 "Wait Til They Work The Bugs Out" | 2009-02-24 |
| - Reviewed By User: A28QF3W113HAY8 |
| I wouldnt recommend buying this product YET. From all the reviews I have read and from my own personal experience it seems like it is a crap shoot whether you will get one that will actually work properly. I would wait until they come out with a "2nd Generation" before considering buying this product. I actually returned mine for a refund because it kept cutting out in the middle of songs. Dont get me wrong, when it actually works this thing is awesome, but as I said getting one that works is the problem, so for now I have bought the rock band 2 wireless drum set with expansion cymbals. These are not nearly as cool but they work great and are a good alternative for someone looking to enhance their rock band experience. When Ion comes out with a better product that has all the bugs worked out of it then I will definitely get one. You'd think for over $300 they would get it right the first time though. I hope this review is helpful to anyone considering this item. |
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