The best drum gear of the year: 2012

Drum kit of the year

For the second year running, we’re crowning a Mapex Black Panther kit of drum kit of the year. Last year it was the Velvetone that impressed us, and this year the excellent Retrosonic repeated the trick.

This time around we were seduced by the kit’s blend of thoroughly modern components and features and gorgeous retro looks. The perfect combination in our books!

That’s not to say that there wasn’t stiff competition in the top drum kit category though. Pearl’s top end Reference Pure Series kit deserves and honourable mention for it’s highly focused, studio-ready sound. We found the company’s Masters Premium Legend kit to be exquisite sounding and immensely aesthetically pleasing too. Meanwhile Natal’s Walnut kit cemented the brand’s reputation for sheer quality and great value.

4 out of 5

Full review: Mapex Black Panther Collection Retrosonic drum kit

Also in the running

Pearl Reference Pure Series Kit

Natal Walnut Kit

Pearl Masters Premium Legend Kit

BUY: Mapex Black Panther Collection Retrosonic drum kit currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co. | Thomann | Gear4Music

Budget drum kit of the year (under £1000)

In the sub-£1000 price range, this PDP kit impressed us immensely by incorporating heaps of quality borrowed from PDP’s higher-end parent brand Drum Workshop. The result is a kit that features build quality and components that punch well above its price point - and it plays brilliantly too. All-in-all, exceptional value.

Honourable mention in this category goes to Gretsch’s new G-Series kit; another budget option that offered great value and quality components.

5 out of 5

Full review: PDP Concept Series Kits Birch CB5

Also in the running:

Gretsch GS1 Kit

Electronic drum kit of the year

It certainly isn’t cheap, but Roland’s top of the line e-kit features genuinely breathtaking response thanks to its SuperNATURAL Behaviour Modelling technology. It also packs a sound-set that we found both hugely convincing and inspiring to play with.

We were also impressed by Yamaha’s DTX540K - an impressive mid-priced kit.

5 out of 5

Full review: Roland TD-30KV

Also in the running:

Yamaha DTX540K

BUY: Roland TD-30KV currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co. | Thomann | Gear4Music
USA: Sweetwater

Budget electronic drum kit of the year (under £1000)

It may not be completely flawless, but there are plenty of great features that impress us on this well-priced e-kit. In particular, the combination of Alesis’ Dynamic Articulation technology and quality samples gives the DM10 X a genuine air of realism.

4 out of 5

Full review: Alesis DM10 X Kit

Cymbals of the year

Paiste’s PST8s might be a budget range aimed at intermediate players, but you wouldn’t know that to look at them. The build quality of these cymbals is superb, and they sound gorgeous. Fantastic value cymbals that are hard not to love.

5 out of 5

Full review: Paiste PST8 Cymbals

BUY: Paiste PST8 Cymbals currently available from:
UK/Europe: Thomann | Gear4Music

Snare of the year

Our favourite snares of 2012 come from Manchester-based father and son operation EcHo. These handmade metal snares - EcHo produce copper, aluminium, carbon steel and brass varieties - impressed us on all fronts; top marks for build-quality, looks, sound and playability. Real craftsmanship and quality.

5 out of 5

Full review: EcHo Custom Snare drums

Acoustic percussion of the year

For the second year in a row a De Gregorio cajon scoops the title of our top acoustic percussion instrument. This ingenious ‘fold out’ cajon particularly impressed us this year, matching an ingenious design - developed in conjunction with J Leiva Percussion - with beautiful, expressive sound and quality well above its price point.

5 out of 5

Full review: De Gregorio Siroco Cajon

BUY: De Gregorio Siroco Cajon currently available from:
UK/Europe: Thomann

Electronic percussion of the year

With a bank of fantastic supplied sounds, great built-in effects and 2GB of sampling memory Roland’s SPD-SX has pretty much everything you’d want from a percussion sampler. On top of that it’s very well designed, easy to use and - most importantly - a lot of fun.

4 out of 5

Full review: Roland SPD-SX Sample Pad

BUY: Roland SPD-SX Sample Pad currently available from:
UK/Europe: Andertons Music Co. | Thomann | Gear4Music
USA: Sweetwater | Full Compass

Drum heads of the year

Remo’s update to its Ambassador X range are powerful, immensely playable and very durable. In our tests they handled everything from powerful backbeats to delicate ghost notes and subtle snare rolls beautifully. What’s not to like?

5 out of 5

Full review: Remo Ambassador X14 heads

BUY: Remo Ambassador X14 heads currently available from:
UK/Europe: Thomann | Gear4Music