...or how I stopped worrying and learned to love electronic kits

diggabuzz

Junior Member
Hello folks!
I have a drum set student who will be moving to Israel soon. His parents want to get an electronic kit (so they can't hear him practicing as much!!!!), and are wondering about the voltage differences between the states and Israel -Voltage: 220-240 Volts (U.S./Canada are 110-120 Volts). I thought a simple power converter would work, but one parent is a consulate member and has expressed problems with some computers, devices, programs, and whatnot not working properly despite converters. Any thoughts??

Also, electronic kits are not my strong point. Any suggestions on a student/budget minded kit that would keep him interested for a few years without breaking the bank?? I would think older models/versions might be the way to go. Thanx in advance for your help. Cheers! ~@:D
 
BTW...
I saw a similar post, sans the voltage issues, and the prices mentioned are more than their budget. Would $300-$400 even get them in the ball park? I was pushing acoustic drums (have friends that have drum shops), but they want electronic, so he can use headphones. Thanx!
 
$300- $400 won't get you much in the way of e-drums unless you get a crappy Legacy or other cheap brand. I'd recommend a Roland TD-4 for a beginner but you're looking at more than your budget allows..
 
I'm not too sure about the power converter issue, but as far as the drums, I've recently also been looking.. The cheapest kit I will even consider would either be a Roland TD11KSV http://www.guitarcenter.com/Roland-...ries-Electronic-V-Drum-Kit-H82854-i2468066.gc or a Yamaha 520K http://www.guitarcenter.com/Yamaha-DTX520K-Electronic-Drum-Set-107446932-i1995625.gc

I realize these are both twice their budget, but you get what you pay for. Currently I've had a Simmons SD7K for about 5 or 6 years now. And they are around $400 new I think. But all the pads are only single zone and the snare and tom pads really don't behave as they should. Also the sampled sounds do in fact sound pretty electronic and that's even with me playing around to get them to sound better.

Tell them congratulations, they've picked one of the most expensive instruments for their son to play and as with anything, a cheap guitar might only cost $150, but it's going to sound like a cheap guitar.

Good Luck
 
An electronic kit is a great solution to noise problems in the home. I have one for exactly the same reason.

Regarding the voltage issue, it will depend on the specific power supply unit supplied with the kit. Some power supply units can work with both voltage ranges (such as 100-240V) and frequencies (50-60 Hz). This information is usually marked on the unit itself.
 
$300- $400 won't get you much in the way of e-drums unless you get a crappy Legacy or other cheap brand. I'd recommend a Roland TD-4 for a beginner but you're looking at more than your budget allows..

td-4's are like 1500 new??? at least the td-4kx2 is

but i got mine for 800 used and in great shape! look for used

gl
 
Voltage isn't the only thing that matters; power in some parts of the world is 50 Hz, 60 Hz in others. But since lots of modern products are sold globally, lots of things have universal power supplies., so all you need is the plug adapter. And electronics almost always run on DC power, which often simplifies things, since they have to have a power supply that does a power conversion.

IIRC, my DTXPress IV runs on 12V DC, with a wall wart power supply. So then its just a question of replacing the power supply with one that takes local power and outputs 12 V DC and sufficient amperage.
 
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