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The hook lug design means the bulk of the casing 'floats' above the shell

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• Review

Hands on

We tested the kit with a glam rock tribute band and when we arrived at the venue, the rest of the band's faces lit up. When we began playing the kit their jaws visibly slackened. Not because of some overnight improvement on our part, but because the kit sounded so damn good.

Birch gives an excellent response across mid and lower tones while at the same time possessing an aggressive edge. And that more or less sums up the kit's performance. The bass drum's massive note was low enough to be filed under 'subterranean', yet it had a sharp presence that placed it in the heart of the mix. Similarly the snare sliced across proceedings with razor-edged precision, providing a bright, crunchy note that found all four corners of the room.

The toms also delivered fabulous tones, with the elements of attack, warmth, resonance and sustain present in balanced ratios. Extra bite was imparted to the snare and toms through the aluminium die-cast hoops which also held the tuning rock steady. Though the kit had to compete with a glitter-strewn bank of Marshall and Hiwatt amps, the quality of sound it produced was unmistakable.

There is an inherent smoothness to these drums, a level of finesse that you rarely find in any instrument. In short, a class act.