(no subject)

[hkr]

Figured I should post this here too:

So, I got my Ion kit today: (And this is split up because of the stupid image restrictions)



The box is damn heavy. 30 lbs. It's also about the size of the original bundle box.

Here are some pics of the box itself. If this is going to be at retail, only a few stores will have room for them:





It comes packed which much smaller boxes



The first thing I pulled out and played with was the pedal. I could already tell this was going to be the loudest part of the kit. Here's some comparison pics:




I'll talk about how the pedal performs later. Moving on, next are the pads. They're quite large as you can see:




The pads feel nice and bouncy, and feel like they can take a beating. Even the plastic seems more heavy duty.

The cymbals are next.




Oh hey, it comes with sticks. I bet these will be nicer then *plays with them for ten seconds*...They're worse then the stock rock band sticks. I did not know that was possible.

Set up took a while. After I pulled everything out I fired up a Star Trek Next Generation episode, and I still was building in 15 minutes after it ended.







And you'll have a ton of garbage at the end:



So, how does the kit do?

Surprisingly well, after you fiddle with it. I'm still trying to get it adjusted to my style (And still trying to find out what it is.). You can move every single bit of the kit around, and those who just stick with the default RB layout are missing out.

I played a few songs with stock everything. Three things became apparent: First, the kick pedal is loud, accurate, but sucks compared to the Omega pedal. It lacks the feedback a real bass pedal gives and if you're used to that, you'll be happy to know the omega pedal and any other pedal mod works with the Ion kit. All you need is a eighth inch to quarter inch adapter.

The second thing that became apparent was that a ride cymbal is desperately needed. I found myself constantly swinging at air or hitting the crash, losing my combo. After about an hour I got used to it, but it made for some awkward transitions.

Thirdly, holy shit this kit has bounce. So much bounce that five songs in I was still holding my sticks too loose and having them fly out my hands. Anti-vibe sticks are a must. I tried a song out with a set of 5A nylon tipped normal sticks and my hands were hurting afterwords. I switched back to my anti-vibes and they hurt far less.

I rocked out for a bit, playing a variety of songs. Rolls were a lot easier to do. I had zero dropped notes. It was quite amazing. However, there is a bit of a learning curve when it comes to remembering what pad to hit. I often found myself sticking to the pads simply because I'm so used to that.

Sound level was definitely reduced, but not completely silent. I tend to wail a bit on my kits. If you hit plastic, it will be loud. The pads and the cymbals provide a nice whump noise though.

Cymbal response was perfect and spot on. I think Joystiq either got a broken kit or was too stupid to put the cymbals on right.

I'm boding this part because it is very important. You CAN switch cymbal and pad inputs without penalty (At least in RB1.) Yes, this means that for songs like Orange Crush you can make the ride cymbal the red notes and the red pad the yellow notes.

Some of you may remember my boyfriend made one of the first double bass kits. I have him working on a kick pedal that can switch inputs on the fly. In a week or two we should have a working prototype.

So, first day impressions are definitely favorable. I'm going to have to wait for my third cymbal to get here, along with putting the kit through some serious marathon sessions before I pass final judgment. But for all intensive purposes, this kit rocks and is worth the $300.

Comments

[carlos-penguin.livejournal.com]

Freakin' AWESOME dude! ^v^

When I visit you guys, I'm bringin' my Strat and we can make the neighborhood dogs howl XD