Well I was pleasantly surprised today when I went to pick up my new Roland SPD-S from Sam Ash: They had the Demon Drive!
I tried it out in store and the guy told me that I could bring it back in 45 day and get a full refund so I figured, what the heck, I'll try it! Now in the stores I tried the single pedal but I purchased the double because that's what I play (usually for fills, occasionally for metal).
So I bring it home and after 10 minutes of basic assembly, they are ready to go. I stick them on in place of my 3 year old Tama Iron Cobras and I look to see if there are any quick adjustments that need to be made.
Once I begin playing, I notice that both are EXTREMELY fast. You will practically fly on these bad boys. That said, I noticed that my left foot was slacking a little so I changed some of the settings to fit my needs.
Now keep in mind that these are currently in shortboard mode.
After getting an imbalanced feel I tampered with them for another 20 minutes trying to figure out what the problem was. I'm pretty sure that it was just me, but for some reason, they just didn't feel "right". Maybe I'm just used to the old slack and chain effect and have become accustomed to that and that's why it doesn't feel right but whatever; I decide to switch to longboard.
Holy crap. One of the main features of the pedal is the easy transition from Short to Long board (as if somebody is going to keep switching back and forth, right?) and while it is easy, it does take a decent amount of time because of the sheer amount of screwing in and out of 2 different kinds of screws, but hey, I've gotta complain about something.
Once they are in place and I adjust the settings again, the pedal is pure bliss. It is almost like walking on air. The pedal goes super fast because of the direct drive and almost to the point of losing control of the pedal! While I can't say (yet) whether it is or is not "better" than the chain link I previously owned, it really cannot be compared.
I have tried Axis longboards and there is quite a difference between the two.
In my opinion, both have a significantly different feel to them, and although I have not played them for more than 4 hours yet, I do like them more than the Axis I had previously tried: they simply have a better feel and there are more settings that are customizable to anybodies preference. Now the general consensus here is that the Trick Bigfoot pedals are the best direct link pedals out on the market right not, and I have not tried them yet, so I cannot judge them against the DD.
Pros-
Nearly infinitely customizable settings
Both a short and long board pedal
Easy to adjust
Comes with nice carry case
Cons-
Hefty price tag may deter buyers
Takes time to get used to the direct drive, the speed, and the control of the pedal
Essentially rips off of the ideas of other competitors (executes them better though)
Final Verdict: Try the pedal before you buy it because it has a VERY different feel than pedals that you are probably used to, especially if this is your first direct link pedal or even your first double bass pedal
I will upload pictures of the pedal, case, contents, and setup as soon as I get my camera working (and will probably edit this post with more info)
Hope this helps with your decision on the Pearl Demon Drive Pedal
I tried it out in store and the guy told me that I could bring it back in 45 day and get a full refund so I figured, what the heck, I'll try it! Now in the stores I tried the single pedal but I purchased the double because that's what I play (usually for fills, occasionally for metal).
So I bring it home and after 10 minutes of basic assembly, they are ready to go. I stick them on in place of my 3 year old Tama Iron Cobras and I look to see if there are any quick adjustments that need to be made.
Once I begin playing, I notice that both are EXTREMELY fast. You will practically fly on these bad boys. That said, I noticed that my left foot was slacking a little so I changed some of the settings to fit my needs.
Now keep in mind that these are currently in shortboard mode.
After getting an imbalanced feel I tampered with them for another 20 minutes trying to figure out what the problem was. I'm pretty sure that it was just me, but for some reason, they just didn't feel "right". Maybe I'm just used to the old slack and chain effect and have become accustomed to that and that's why it doesn't feel right but whatever; I decide to switch to longboard.
Holy crap. One of the main features of the pedal is the easy transition from Short to Long board (as if somebody is going to keep switching back and forth, right?) and while it is easy, it does take a decent amount of time because of the sheer amount of screwing in and out of 2 different kinds of screws, but hey, I've gotta complain about something.
Once they are in place and I adjust the settings again, the pedal is pure bliss. It is almost like walking on air. The pedal goes super fast because of the direct drive and almost to the point of losing control of the pedal! While I can't say (yet) whether it is or is not "better" than the chain link I previously owned, it really cannot be compared.
I have tried Axis longboards and there is quite a difference between the two.
In my opinion, both have a significantly different feel to them, and although I have not played them for more than 4 hours yet, I do like them more than the Axis I had previously tried: they simply have a better feel and there are more settings that are customizable to anybodies preference. Now the general consensus here is that the Trick Bigfoot pedals are the best direct link pedals out on the market right not, and I have not tried them yet, so I cannot judge them against the DD.
Pros-
Nearly infinitely customizable settings
Both a short and long board pedal
Easy to adjust
Comes with nice carry case
Cons-
Hefty price tag may deter buyers
Takes time to get used to the direct drive, the speed, and the control of the pedal
Essentially rips off of the ideas of other competitors (executes them better though)
Final Verdict: Try the pedal before you buy it because it has a VERY different feel than pedals that you are probably used to, especially if this is your first direct link pedal or even your first double bass pedal
I will upload pictures of the pedal, case, contents, and setup as soon as I get my camera working (and will probably edit this post with more info)
Hope this helps with your decision on the Pearl Demon Drive Pedal