ION drum rocker (360)

[MrMarbles]

Does this definitely work on the PS3 Rock Band 2 - I remember reading / hearing something about this not being compatible, but couldn't believe it. I see there is a cymbal expansion, is that necessary as it already seems to have enough of them?

The Drum Rocker website has just started shipping the PS3 version in the past week. Alas, they only ship the US.

DJ Kit has it notched for a January 2009 release in the UK. Getinthemix is also currently taking pre-orders.

The Drum Rocker comes with two cymbals - a third cymbal needs to be bought separately. The inclusion of three cymbal ports on the Rock Band 2 kits (and Harmonix's hints that two cymbals don't provide an authentic drumming experience) suggest that future Rock Bands may feature three cymbal drumming.

For Rock Band 2, though, the two cymbals provided with the Drum Rocker should be enough.

[dazza_cole]

Thanks fella - ahve pre-ordered with DjKit - gonna be a "late christmas" !

[Dazzyman]

DJKIT sent us a brand new replacement kit last week and works fine so dunno what was up with the old one (didnt bother checking bits I just built the new one and put the old one in the box). The cymbals are better on this one as well. Not had much chance to really go on it but just glad its all over with and sorted. Kudos again to Jim at DJKIT for helping each time no problem

[MrMarbles]

Well the PS3 version of this finally arrived today and... it's alright I suppose.

The main pads are nice and responsive, but the cymbals are proving to be such a ball-ache to set up properly.

Get the wing-nut too tight and they don't register, get them too loose and they don't register, get them in-between and sometimes they register, sometimes they don't. Put the colour rings on them and the times they don't register is more frequent. Set it up too loose and you get cross-talk between the cymbals and the pads, resulting in broken note streaks.

Get it just right for a song or two and the whole thing loosens slightly and starts dropping notes again.

The bass pedal's spring is exceedingly spongy with little resistance - it's something I'll get used to I suppose. What's awful about it, though, is that they've shaped the metal end of it such that it frequently gets caught and stuck in the down position when you try to play heel-up. A Google search finds that this simply requires a couple of areas to be filed down slightly, but that's a bit rubbish when, a) this isn't a cheap peripheral so should really be good to go from the box without me having to do any metal filing, and b) I don't have a metal file in the house.

If the cymbals were less fussy and the bass pedal wasn't rather badly designed I'd be far happier with this drumkit.

As it is, I'd probably just recommend people get the proper RB2 kit when it's available over here, as from what I've played of it its pads are just as silent and responsive as the Drum Rocker's, if not more-so.

It's impressive to look at for sure, and there's novelty to be had playing the songs with the high-hat in a more realisitc position, but the cymbals and the bass pedal conspire to result in dropped notes and ruined combos which is more than a little frustrating.

[ItsThere]

I have had mine for 3 months now and have not experienced any problems with the foot pedal...

I also have my cymbals done up extremely tight and it never drops a note. Like ever.

Mine is the 360 version but I doubt there would be any difference there, maybe you got a bad set up?

[Dazzyman]

If foot pedals sticking like that its faulty it shouldnt stick I playdown and lift with pedal - same with cymbals dropping like that at worst it should register 90% min so you have a faulty kit.

YOu should feel with working kit in heaven basically so ask for a swap over.

[MrMarbles]

Don't get me wrong, my cymbals do register over 90% of the time which is, say, twenty dropped notes at least in a song with about 200 high-hat notes for example.

Which doesn't exactly help in achieving Expert full combos.

It's quicker and easier to file down the sticking parts of the pedal than return the whole kit, and I guess I'll just try to resist using the cymbals when I'm gunning for high-scores and 100%ers.

As I said before, the main pads are great; it's just a shame that the quality didn't extend across the board as, when the notes connect it feels class to be hitting high-hats and cymbals to the songs. The verticality of it all really does add to the drumming experience. It just frustrates me that I have to choose between either that feeling of immersion or high-scores.

I want both, dammit.

[dazza_cole]

Got this yesterday for the PS3, fired up GHWT...and the drums were coming up with 5 columns. So not able to hit the orange notes. Anyone else had this with the PS3 version?