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Pads are simple single-trigger affairs with commendable sensitivity

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• Review

The budget end of the electronic drum kit market is a hotbed of activity at the moment. Snapping at the heels of the entry-level Medeli kit comes the Techtonic DD502(J), a similarly-priced affair that has the same budget-conscious bedroom blasters in its sights.

That's not the only thing that the two kits have in common. Both are products of Far Eastern electronics manufacturers, sourced by keen-eyed Western distributors and sold in their domestic territories. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but it's worth pointing out - if nothing else it explains why a quick Google throws up results for essentially the same set-up under different brand names in the UK and US.

There is a clear distinction to be drawn between this kind of product and those from the traditional electronic drum brands, though. Whereas offerings from the likes of Roland and Yamaha are created in-house, this kind of sourced product is bought 'off the shelf' by distributors.

"The DD502's simple module presents few challenges in use; simple and intuitive, it still manages to cram in a decent choice of sounds"

There will be some input into branding and perhaps (some way down the line), response to customer feedback in later versions of the product; but for the most part it's a case of distributors finding an existing product that caters as closely to the needs of their target market as possible. So let's see how successfully Soar Valley's Techtonic set-up fares…

Build

There's nothing ground-breaking about the nature of the kit - it's a standard hi-hat, crash, ride, snare, three toms and kick rig - but first impressions are good. Of particular note are the pads used for the drums.

The chassis of each is made of stiff, high-impact plastic, thick enough to feel sturdy while avoiding any cheap 'agricultural' connotation. And the playing surface feels good too. Rebound might be a tad on the limited side, but the internal foam coupled with a squidgy rubber pad is forgiving.

We're not great lovers of triangle pads for cymbals - they always look like afterthoughts, perched awkwardly on spindly arms - but we're perfectly aware that they're really the only affordable option where kits like this are concerned. As it is, the hi-hat, ride and crash pads of the Techtonic kit work well, although a couple of times we noticed a missed note or two when playing fast strikes on the ride.

All the pads are simple, single-trigger affairs. There's no clever head and rim or bow and bell stuff happening here, so while the sensitivity is commendable, it's important to be aware that a truly 'real feel' response is, understandably at this price, beyond the DD502's remit.

Hands on

The DD502's simple module presents few challenges in use; it's a simple, intuitive thing to get your head around, but still manages to cram in a decent choice of sounds. A total of 215 sounds, 20 kits and 50 songs are on offer, covering the usual gamut of acoustic, electronic, world percussion, funk, smooth jazz and fusion-y noises and tracks.

More discerning readers will be underwhelmed by the playalong tracks, however. It's all very 'General MIDI' sounding, with parping horn parts and cheap '80s-style basses on offer. In short, most will probably check them out once, then leave the song section untroubled for the rest of time.

Fortunately, an Aux In socket allows for connection to your own choice of tunes - a much better option. The drum sounds themselves are a bit of a mixed bag, but in general, acceptable for the price asked for the set-up. What you hear is what you get (there's no scope for tonal editing) and the reverb on some patches is pretty clanky, but the DD502 offers enough to make it worthy of consideration.