Rock Band 2 X360 Drum Set

 (42 customer reviews)

So my rockband 1 drum kit has been through the wringer. A broken pedal, dented pads, and cracking legs ... the thing is showing its age. When I picked up the wireless drums I was hoping for a decent step up in quality, and Harmonix delivered.

Big changes: pedal, drum heads, and teh unwired.

The drum pedal comes with a stock metal plate, so you won't have to go to pedal medals to pick one up for yourself. Unfortunately Harmonix only half ... uh ... "did" it since the hinge, which is another notorious break point in the design, is identical to the rockband 1 pedal. Based on it's appearance the RB2 pedal is identical to the RB1 pedal, with only the inclusion of the plate. Don't expect wildly different performance, and if you really want to avoid a headache go ahead and purchase the pedal medal hinge replacement now to take care of the pedal's only weak point. All in all though, the metal plate is a significant improvement over the pure plastic of the RB1...Read more

I purchased the standalone drums at a local GameStop the day they came out to use with Rock Band 2, and its been a very pleasurable experience. There was a problem where they would turn off randomly, however, after replacing the batteries with some rechargable batteries I purchased the problem seems to have disappeared, leading me to believe the batteries it came with are defective, but this isn't a problem with the product itself, so I won't knock it a star for that. The pads are quieter and much more sensitive, and you'll find yourself double-tapping the bass pedal a lot until you get used to it, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The sticks it comes with are authentic Ludwig sticks and not cheap imitations like the ones that came with the original Rock Band. There are expansion ports for up to three cymbals to be connected, but since the cymbals haven't been released yet I can't comment on that aspect. Overall a very good drum set and a definite improvement over the first...Read more

The RB2 drum kit is a vast improvement over the RB1 drum kit in a number of ways. First, it's more sensitive as well as strike-sensitive -- so the harder you hit, the louder the sound is (but only for free play). With more sensitivity comes less frustration from missing notes that you know you hit but the game didn't register. The construction of the drum pads is also improved. No longer are you striking on hard plastic that will eventually crack. Now, you strike on some kind of foam material that has a rubber membrane on top.

The bass pedal is also improved, but still not perfect. With my original RB1 pedal, I had to glue a thin piece of wood on top of it because it cracked in half. The RB2 pedal now has reinforcement to it in the form of a thin metal plate that goes over the top. However, the plate ends at the hinge, which may be the breaking point. My pedal has stood up to many hours so far, so we shall see how well it goes.

In addition to the...Read more