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The Z Link drive shaft has zero latency with no lag or wobble

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• Review

The Demon Drive (proudly on display at Winter NAMM 09) is a major departure from Pearl's previous chain - or strap-drive Eliminator. Chains have ruled the roost since the 1980s, but the big news is the Demon has a direct, rigid-link drive.

Yamaha and Gibraltar make cheaper, simpler direct drives around the £100 mark, but the pricey Demon is closer to the well-established Axis pedal from Axis Percussion.

Build

The hi-tech orange and brushed aluminium image recalls the Axis or the extraordinary Trick Pro1-V, both of which have machined parts. The Demon is predominantly cast aluminium, but still looks strong and high quality. The footboard is aluminium but has a steel spine.

"NiNjA bearings are top quality, supremely smooth Japanese skateboard bearings. They're micro-polished via a laser process, the same as used for satellite telescopes"

Where the Demon really scores is on versatility. It has three major new adjustment features. These allow you to move both the direct link and the beater stroke mechanisms closer to, or further from, the batter head – resulting in lighter or heavier feels – and also to change the footboard from traditional short (ie, with hinged heel plate) to long.

Working through all the permutations, that adds up to eight basic set-up options, something that no previous pedal has managed. And that's on top of the fine tuning, which is standard with most pedals (ie, spring tension plus length and angle of the beater stroke).

Added to this there's the silent, precise action due to the NiNjA bearings Pearl has shelled out on for the beater assembly. NiNjA bearings are top quality, supremely smooth Japanese skateboard bearings. They're micro-polished via a laser process, the same as used for satellite telescopes.

There are also self-aligning spherical bearings in the direct linkage, alleviating the stress caused by drummers who foot the board at an angle or rock side-to-side. Clever, huh? Another nice touch is the way the spring tension is locked in place by a clip so it can't vibrate loose.

The main and slave pedals are connected by a gleaming, gyroscopic Z-link drive shaft – 'Z' standing for zero tolerance, ie, no wobble or lag. Because the action is unforgivingly direct, the felt or wood beaters have shock-absorbing orange 'elasticore' innards. Elasticore is the same material used in golf clubs to cushion the blow.