Donner DED-200 Pro - and a new electronic drum journey

Good post. Thanks for sharing that info.

Sounds: yeah, I'd agree many of the kits aren't great. But there a few excellent sounding kits, and that's all I need.

Hi Hat: I think we are in complete agreement. But, someday I will buy something else there.

Dynamic range: I am not having the same experience, but I Have adjusted various settings.

Mesh drums: at this price point, very high quality. Feel great. As long as they hold up over time.

Latency: that will be disappointing. I'm just about to try hooking it up to the computer. Bought cable, and have DAW and VSTs set up.

Menu/UI: yeah, not the most intuitive, but not unlike many products I have encountered over the years.

Will post again after my kit-to-laptop testing happens.
 
I
Marcj said:
Plugging into a DAW the latency is concerning, and MIDI tracks show that same terrible volume stepping... rather than 127 possible volume steps it's locked into 6. There may be a setting in the brain I've missed but I think this is just the way it's hard-wired unfortunately.
The menu is clunky and confusing, almost like French translated to Chinese then back to English, but not awful, just niggly things like when you start a song and add the click track it doesn't sync up to the song you need to tap it at just the right time.
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@Marcj - do you have the DED-200 Pro? There is a difference between DED-200 and DED-200 Pro.

With the Pro, I am unable to get MIDI from the drum module yet. When I first plugged the cable into the module and computer, Windows was able to load a device driver, and I can see a DED-200 device in Windows Device Manager. I was unable to trigger it from inside a DAW, so, I simplified the equation and fired up MID OX to diagnose. MID OX sees the DED-200, allows it to be selected for an input device, but when I strike the drums, no midi messages are generated. There must be something on the module side to put it in the right mode, but, there's really nothing like that in the manual or found via menu roaming. Any ideas?
 
Frank said:
Good post. Thanks for sharing that info.

Sounds: yeah, I'd agree many of the kits aren't great. But there a few excellent sounding kits, and that's all I need.

Hi Hat: I think we are in complete agreement. But, someday I will buy something else there.

Dynamic range: I am not having the same experience, but I Have adjusted various settings.

Mesh drums: at this price point, very high quality. Feel great. As long as they hold up over time.

Latency: that will be disappointing. I'm just about to try hooking it up to the computer. Bought cable, and have DAW and VSTs set up.

Menu/UI: yeah, not the most intuitive, but not unlike many products I have encountered over the years.

Will post again after my kit-to-laptop testing happens.
Click to expand...
Remember when using MIDI to use ASIO4ALL, that way you can play with the sample rates and lower (or eliminate) perceived latency. I have never had issues with latency even with old computers, the secret may also be to not overload your DAW with memory hog VST's, just use the minimum needed to get the job done and add all the other ones later. close all other things that are not needed, in other words bare minimum so as to allow your computer to use the resources for your drums and not for all other kinds of things. Also there must be a setting within the module to just put out midi and not midi and audio because that way, you would hear both at the same time which is NOT what you want. You could, record one take with the module audio, then a second take with the midi (it can be done at the same time in some modules but it is really distracting to play with the VST and module sounds triggering at the same time, I can't do it that way). Record the second take with just midi, change your drums to taste and (in the VST) and even blend module and VST sounds, you can achieve pretty impressive results that way.
 
Comments about hi hat pedals, and a secret benefit of that - in a separate thread. ;)

Secret benefit to poorly responding hi hat pedals with low end kits

So - there is a secret benefit to poorly responding hi hat pedals with low end kits. :) Aerobic activity while practicing. I am a long time drummer, but new to having a full ekit. In another thread, I shared what I discovered, later to learn it is a common attribute of the low end kits...
www.drummerworld.com
 
Ok, here comes an attempt at improving the open hi hat situation. Parts from Lowes. :)


Will post again with the results.
 

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What I tried - was a total failure. Off to go try to purchase a Goedrum.
 
Anyone need a rubber door stop? Or some heavy duty strong two sided tape? :)
 
Frank said:
What I tried - was a total failure. Off to go try to purchase a Goedrum.
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Read around first, the default one is for Roland module (won't work with Alesis), the GHC-AN is for Alesis (a few modules, not all, and some Roland, few Simmons - I think it has the best chance to work with random Chinese oem kits, unless they're copying Roland), there is also a Yamaha version that will not work with anything else, and I haven't read any reports yet on Donner compatibility.
 
In addition to waiting on the Goedrum HH controller, I'm also falling down the DIY rabbit hole.
Taking a 13" low end snare of mine and converting it to electronic. Mesh head, rubber edge, Pintech trigger.

I'm finding I want to dig in a bit more on the snare, and the snare pad isn't as satisfying as a real snare.
Eventual DIY plan is - snare with trigger, keep tom pads, and low volume cymbals with trigger.
 
So, some results:

- Goedrum HH controller is Great. Big, big, Big improvement.

- Converting a snare, with a mesh head and Pintech trigger - so far, big failure. But, I messed up cheaping out with a single ply Remo head. It double triggers all the time, regardless of what I adjust at the head.

Next up: converting low volume, low end hi hats to electronic.

2015-10-21-1445410698-8403632-futurecontinued-thumb.jpg
 
So, I have to balance out what I have said so far about this company.
Yeah, they have been courteous and responded. But, now a great deal of time has elapsed. I have exchanged email with them many times.
But, I see now that the pattern repeats with - "we are sorry about ... we will do everything to assist."

And then, nothing. No action.

Wanted to be positive about them, because I Do think for someone wanting 5 pieces and 4 cymbals, it was a good value.
But, if you need anything from them, good luck with that.
At this point, I would no longer recommend them. Would tell people to consider the other low end brand.
And, value wise, with what Simmons recently did with the Titan stuff, That might be the best of the low end now.

If I rewound the clock, I would not buy this kit. I would buy from Simmons or Alesis. If they shipped inside the U.S., I would have also given the Millenium kits consideration. They ship with better hi hats than most other low end kits.

Still enjoying. Working today on an A2E hi hat build. But, I'd no longer recommend working with this company.
 
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Frank said:
So, I have to balance out what I have said so far about this company.
Yeah, they have been courteous and responded. But, now a great deal of time has elapsed. I have exchanged email with them many times.
But, I see now that the pattern repeats with - "we are sorry about ... we will do everything to assist."

And then, nothing. No action.

Wanted to be positive about them, because I Do think for someone wanting 5 pieces and 4 cymbals, it was a good value.
But, if you need anything from them, good luck with that.
At this point, I would no longer recommend them. Would tell people to consider the other low end brand.
And, value wise, with what Alesis recently did with the Titan stuff, That might be the best of the low end now.

If I rewound the clock, I would not buy this kit. I would buy from Simmons or Alesis. If they shipped inside the U.S., I would have also given the Millenium kits consideration. They ship with better hi hats than most other low end kits.

Still enjoying. Working today on an A2E hi hat build. But, I'd no longer recommend working with this company.
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I read so many stories like this about Donner, it's not worth the risk imo. Titan is Simmons btw, but yes, if you deal with a music store, you can at least go there and talk to a person. Also, e.g. Sweetwater has contacts to Alesis, so they can actually get stuff. They repaired my module just before the end of their 2nd year warranty. Budget kits still offer great value and features, sizes that may be unavaliable for people at premium prices, and maybe a drum in the hand is worth two Rolands in the bush :) but only with realistic expectations. What are you still trying to get from them?
 
Yeah, I meant Simmons when I referenced Titan.

I have asked a few different questions, all with the canned response above. Most notable is with my drum module - which is supposed to have working USB MIDI and does not.
 
Frank said:
So, some results:

- Goedrum HH controller is Great. Big, big, Big improvement.

- Converting a snare, with a mesh head and Pintech trigger - so far, big failure. But, I messed up cheaping out with a single ply Remo head. It double triggers all the time, regardless of what I adjust at the head.

Next up: converting low volume, low end hi hats to electronic.

2015-10-21-1445410698-8403632-futurecontinued-thumb.jpg
Click to expand...
Amazon has a Pintech snare for $360…
 
Want to be sure I keep the right concluding history here for future people who search:

Don't buy from this company. If you need Anything, it ain't happening.

For the low end of electronic drums, stick with Alesis and Simmons.

Donner = hot mess of a company.

This concludes this thread and this public service announcement.
 
Frank said:
Want to be sure I keep the right concluding history here for future people who search:

Don't buy from this company. If you need Anything, it ain't happening.

For the low end of electronic drums, stick with Alesis and Simmons.

Donner = hot mess of a company.

This concludes this thread and this public service announcement.
Click to expand...
Yep, it's definitely a "get what you pay for" situation with e-drums (sorry you had to learn the hard way) 😕
 
Frank said:
For the low end of electronic drums, stick with Alesis and Simmons.
Click to expand...

IMHO I'd say go with 2nd/3rd/4th user Yamaha / Roland over a new Alesis / Simmons[1] / or other Medeli manufactured stuff.

--
[1] When I say "Simmons" I mean the post GuitarCenter purchasing of the brand name, and not "proper" Simmons from St Albans, UK :)
 
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