maybe be a stupid question, but... thoughts on accustic vs e-kit

haroldo_psf

Senior Member
In my beginner's ignorance, I fail to identify enough reasons why would one spend the money and effort in buying and owning an accustic kit instead of an e-kit. Of course, I am considering the hobbyist here, not the pro gigger.

As a hobbyist (and someone who loves to play the drums), what why did you (or will you) get an accustic set?

Here are my pros and cons I came up for both:

ACCUSTIC:

Pros: - you can get different sounds out of its pieces by hitting it on different areas.

Cons: -expensive
- many pieces of hardware to put together
- require tuning

E-KIT:

Pros: - generally cheaper than similar size good quality accustic
- easy to set up
- variaty of sounds and features from the trigger module
- no tuning required
- quiet is necessary

Cons: - generally speaking, can't get different sounds from pieces (unless multi zone pads are compatible, but even then it's not like an accustic)


Could you guys tell me anything I am missing, or anything else I should consider?

thanks
 
Sigh...one is a real, living, breathing organic instrument, capable of producing every glorious tone, subtle nuance, or amount of sheer raw power you could ever dream of.

The other one is a machine that plays back samples. A brilliant machine, although to make the most of its brilliance you have to pay as much or more as you would for a good quality acoustic kit. A brilliant machine, the whole purpose of which is to imitate an acoustic kit...and for this reason, never equal it. Its one advantage is convenience, just with every other digital instrument ever made. Yes, there are arguably creative possibilities beyond the confines of what a drum kit can do...but that does not make it a better drum kit. It makes it something else, which is very interesting and exciting in its own way...but it is not, and will never be, a replacement.
 
E-kits dont always give the experience that an acoustic kit would give. also the sound quality is often lacking. with an acoustic kit you have a huge range of possible sound possibilities that can create flavor. things that can be changed merely by using a different stick, not necessarily just by changing where the instrument is struck.

e kits also dont play like real drums. nor do they sound like acoustic drums in all cases. youre going to end up spending a lot of money on a nice e kit if you want it to be completely useful and of nice quality
 
The main difference I experiance with e-kits is the feel and tone
They just don't feel like real drums and they don't really sound like real drums either.
especially the cymbals - you just can't get the same dynamics out of cymbal samples.

Sure cheap ekits can run you less than $1000
but they really are cheap and the sounds not too great
but the benefit is VOLUME - you can put on headphones and rock out
all night long if you want without getting the cops called on you.
But if you want to jam with friends you'll need an amplifier
so they can hear you!!!

I have debated the e-kit choice but the one I want is over $5000
because it has a real heads and decent sounds. But then there's the cymbal aspect
and I am now officially a cymbal-holic so no go.

E-kit for bedroom practice only in my opinion and even then...
they still just feel weird to play on....

If your wife, neighbors can withstand the loudness....
go acoustic all the way!!!
 
thanks for the good insight everyone.

I think I see and understand the thing about accustic kits...
 
The fact that you've only identified one pro for acoustic kits suggests to me that you've not spent much time with them so far...is that true?
 
Don't you feel weird playing on plastic? While e-kits are great to experiment with, they cannot beat the feel of acoustic.
Once you own and play on an acoustic kit, trust me, you will not want to go back to an e-kit.

And by the way, acoustic kits can actually be much cheaper than electric.
A high quality electric kit can be as much as 7 or 8 thousand

Whereas you can easily get a high quality acoustic set for 5 or 6 thousand.

Another point I'd like to make is just the essence and fun, of experimenting with different drum gear. That one moment when you're at the drum shop, and you say, "this is my ride." Then the 70 mph speeding on the way home, anxious to try it out. Then, the thrilling sensation of removing your old, ratty, dirty cymbal, and placing on your brand new, beautiful one. Then, finally, the first strike, and all of heaven seems to fall into place.

Exaggerated? Maybe. But it's still quite a thrill.
 
I have debated the e-kit choice but the one I want is over $5000
because it has a real heads and decent sounds. But then there's the cymbal aspect
and I am now officially a cymbal-holic so no go.
I imagine with that new giant beat, that you are never going to an e-kit!
 
There is no e-kit that can come close to an acoustic kit.
I have tried every e-kit and I only become frustrated with them after only a few moments.

The main issue that I have with e-kits is that they lack feeling and feedback as you play them.
Its kind of like shooting a video game gun. There is no recoil, no smell of gunpowder, no real sound that you can feel through your entire body. It just isn't the same as firing a real gun.

The most lacking thing about an e-kit is the cymbals.
 
I have a slightly different take than those who have posted prior to me, I own both acoustic and electronic kits- and love them both for different reasons

( I currently play a yamaha oak custom kit on the acoustic side, and a yamaha dtx iv special version 2 running addictive drums and superior drummer on the electronic side)

I agree with the posters who state that there is nothing quite like the feel and responsiveness you can get from an acoustic set - no latency to worry about- expressiveness and nuance - especially where cymbals are concerned, however there are many things i love about my e kit.

1. Recording with the e kit is much easier than micing and mixing acoustic drums in my home studio. Using the VSI software along with reaper makes it possible to quickly and easily get many very good sounds and experiment with different setups quickly

2. The ability to play at 3 am in the morning without driving my neighbors crazy. Be aware, e drums even when heard through headphones do make some noise, the good folks over at the v drum forums can offer much advice about how to lessen the noise factor

3. Versatility of sounds - If you go the e drum route I cannot reccomend enough getting a VSI - like addctive drums, superior drummer etc. Even the top end roland and yamaha kits sound mediocre at best with the stock sounds, however the vsti software sounds much better.

4. Recognize that in many different respects - an e drum kit is an entirely different instrument than an acoustic kit - there are things that it does well and things that it does not. Hi hats in particular took me a lot of tweaking to get right.

As someone who plays both here is my short list of pros and cons,,,,,

Acoustic drums
Definitely allows for more feel and responsiveness
Much less expensive to get started and be able to produce high quality sounds
Will require considerable soundproffing or very considerate neighbors
Takes more knowledge to mic and record well

E drums
VSI software is a beautiful thing - especially when recording

Allows for much quiter practice,

Expensive to start - I would budget at no less than $2200 US - Dont try to go the e drum route on the cheap- you will be disappointed. Some stock modules sound really bad
A mid range Yamaha or Roland kit with VSI software - external sound module and a small mixer would be my reccomendation

I would advise you play a number of kits, acoustic and electronic, think about what your goals are and then think some more

You can get a heck of an acoustic drum kit for what you will pay for a e kit setup - but the e kits do have some advantages

Think and talk to people before you spend the money
 
I think most have covered the main things.

My take based on having played e-drums since 1995.

The premise the e-kits are cheaper to get into is backwards.
Yes, cheap e-kits exist, but they are cheap for a reason. They are essentially glorified practice pads.

To get into an e-kit that even worth having it going to cost much more than a basic acoustic set, i.e. the upper end Roland and Yamaha kits.

Outside of the the cost issue:

e-kit pros
1) Quieter, no need to rent special rehearsal space, build a sound proof room, you can even have on in an apartment (although being a 2nd floor or higher can present problems)

2) Recording is a breeze. No mics, no need to spend hours tuning drums. Just set up and go.

3) Wide range of sounds

4) no need to change drum heads, you don't chew through sticks.

cons
1) Real drums have a dynamic range of as quite as you can hit to as loud as you can hit, with an near infinite range in-between. e-drums have 128 levels of dynamics. You will never get around that. This is especially noticeable on cymbals.

2) E-drums can easily mis-trigger, or double trigger. Which isn't always apparent when jamming by yourself, but can be a huge problem when recording something.

3) Feel. No matter how great of a set you buy, no matter how well it is set up, it just doesn't feel like acoustic drums. They don't move air. You don't feel it in your soul when you hit a pad the way you feel a real drum.

4) Like any electronic item, eventually they become old. Wires can go bad, pads can wear out, and sooner or later, a much better model comes out that makes your kit feel obsolete. Acoustic drums almost never go bad with proper care, and never become out of date.
 
You're lucky you've had the full range of responses here. But all the main issues are covered.

The Gretsch Catalina (£600) is very well recommended and fantastic bang for buck. The minimum spec ekit would be a TD9 KX and Yamaha equivalent, which are £1600. Better still at TD-12KX is £3000.

So e-kits really are a lot more expensive.

I have no choice to do my main practice on an e-kit (TD12). Ideally I would have both.

I really enjoy playing my ekit and so don't necessarily be put off by the usual e-kit bashing. There is no doubt though, when trying to play your favourite Steve Gadd groove that the e-kit will not get the subtlety of an acoustic kit.

Peace
Davo
 
The fact that you've only identified one pro for acoustic kits suggests to me that you've not spent much time with them so far...is that true?

absolutely 100% true. I have never played on one.
 
Don't you feel weird playing on plastic? While e-kits are great to experiment with, they cannot beat the feel of acoustic.
Once you own and play on an acoustic kit, trust me, you will not want to go back to an e-kit.

And by the way, acoustic kits can actually be much cheaper than electric.
A high quality electric kit can be as much as 7 or 8 thousand

Whereas you can easily get a high quality acoustic set for 5 or 6 thousand.

Another point I'd like to make is just the essence and fun, of experimenting with different drum gear. That one moment when you're at the drum shop, and you say, "this is my ride." Then the 70 mph speeding on the way home, anxious to try it out. Then, the thrilling sensation of removing your old, ratty, dirty cymbal, and placing on your brand new, beautiful one. Then, finally, the first strike, and all of heaven seems to fall into place.

Exaggerated? Maybe. But it's still quite a thrill.

reading your post makes me feel like a kid in a candy store. Thanks for the insight. I can definetely feel this! Dam it. Now I'm wanting an accustic kit. My wife is going to kill me.
 
I have a slightly different take than those who have posted prior to me, I own both acoustic and electronic kits- and love them both for different reasons

( I currently play a yamaha oak custom kit on the acoustic side, and a yamaha dtx iv special version 2 running addictive drums and superior drummer on the electronic side)

I agree with the posters who state that there is nothing quite like the feel and responsiveness you can get from an acoustic set - no latency to worry about- expressiveness and nuance - especially where cymbals are concerned, however there are many things i love about my e kit.

1. Recording with the e kit is much easier than micing and mixing acoustic drums in my home studio. Using the VSI software along with reaper makes it possible to quickly and easily get many very good sounds and experiment with different setups quickly

2. The ability to play at 3 am in the morning without driving my neighbors crazy. Be aware, e drums even when heard through headphones do make some noise, the good folks over at the v drum forums can offer much advice about how to lessen the noise factor

3. Versatility of sounds - If you go the e drum route I cannot reccomend enough getting a VSI - like addctive drums, superior drummer etc. Even the top end roland and yamaha kits sound mediocre at best with the stock sounds, however the vsti software sounds much better.

4. Recognize that in many different respects - an e drum kit is an entirely different instrument than an acoustic kit - there are things that it does well and things that it does not. Hi hats in particular took me a lot of tweaking to get right.

As someone who plays both here is my short list of pros and cons,,,,,

Acoustic drums
Definitely allows for more feel and responsiveness
Much less expensive to get started and be able to produce high quality sounds
Will require considerable soundproffing or very considerate neighbors
Takes more knowledge to mic and record well

E drums
VSI software is a beautiful thing - especially when recording

Allows for much quiter practice,

Expensive to start - I would budget at no less than $2200 US - Dont try to go the e drum route on the cheap- you will be disappointed. Some stock modules sound really bad
A mid range Yamaha or Roland kit with VSI software - external sound module and a small mixer would be my reccomendation

I would advise you play a number of kits, acoustic and electronic, think about what your goals are and then think some more

You can get a heck of an acoustic drum kit for what you will pay for a e kit setup - but the e kits do have some advantages

Think and talk to people before you spend the money

thanks for the detailed insight. I already have the yamaha DTXplorer, which is the cheapest Yamaha ekit, so I'm at the bottom of the food chain already. The thing is, I am such a beginner, and I have never owned anything else, and have never even played an accustic set, so in my case ignorance is a bliss, and so far I am happy with my kit
 
I have played both e-kits and accoustic kits extensively. To even come close to getting the sounds and feels of an accoustic set, you would have to spend at least $3-$5K. The brains of the e-kit is what you are spending most of the money on.

When I was playing an e-kit at church, we were rotating between 3 different drummers. The positive of the e-kit was that I could set it up with my personal settings, so that I could get the sounds I wanted out of the cymbals and drums. The major downside of the e-kit was that the triggers were constantly going out with heavy usage. I remember having a bass pedal trigger that would go in and out during the songs, which was very frustrating. I started on a rubber pad e-kit, which had terrible stick rebound. But eventually we graduated to mesh heads that were much more closer to accoustic.

Another issue I had occassionally on the e-kit that I would never have experienced with an accoustic kit, was an accidental trigger of music sampling during the middle of a performance. That's a real shock to the system, followed by panic as to how to turn the daggone thing off!
 
Here is something else to consider ........... Use part of the budget you were planning on spending on equipment to get a few lessons...... If you are a raw beginner the importance of lessons cannot be understated

This way no matter what you end up with in terms of equipment, you can play better
 
Here is something else to consider ........... Use part of the budget you were planning on spending on equipment to get a few lessons...... If you are a raw beginner the importance of lessons cannot be understated

This way no matter what you end up with in terms of equipment, you can play better

Good advice, thanks. I have been taking lessons for almost 3 months now, and I own a DTXplorer for the past two. I try to put this in my forum signature so it's clear, but for whatever reason it doesn't show in my posts
 
Sounds like you are on good path.

Enjoy the experience - feel the love - and best of luck with your playing

If you are already taking lessons I would ask for your teachers advice as well before a purchase

Since you already own an e kit - If it has a midi out cable you may be able to run the vst software if you own a decent computer . you would need an external audio device as well


Thats always an upgrade path

Enjoy and welcome to the forum
 
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