DW Mini-Pro Kit

Solid starter kit – I purchased this kit and have really liked it. For the price I think it is worth it. I've muffled the skins as they were quite loud especially the tom tom. I think this may be to do with my tuning though and how hard I might be hitting them. Overall good.

Great sound, but dissappointing hardware – Overall, it's a nice sounding and compact drumset. The high tom is clear sounding and distinct. It's very easy to tune. The low tom is difficult to tune because the rims do not fit properly. Once the rims are replaced with aftermarket rims, the low tom has a nice fat, resonant sound. The bass drum has similar rim issues, mine has slightly oversized rims and therefore it is difficult to tune. However once it is in tune it has a very heavy thump for its size. The overall sound of the kit is works well even if it is not mic'ed. The volume range is close enough to a full size kit that the difference is really noticable. The included hardware is quite small, Mine didn't hold up well with regular gigging. The snare stand wasn't tall enough, nor were the low tom legs. The flat base hihat stand is a great idea and very lightweight, but it broke on the third gig. The retro-style mount for the tom has a standard memory lock for repeatable set ups, but doesn't actually fit because of the curve of the rail. The key on the memory lock will not engage the mount. Great idea in theory, but needs a special memory lock to work correctly.

If you are looking for a drum kit to leave set up at home or in a studio, these drums take up little space and have a wonderful sound. However, if you are gigging, touring or recording at multiple studios, they do not travel well. Which is sad because a less expensive drum kit doesn't have these problems.

This probably isn't always the case, but the dealer I purchased these from replaced several parts for free because of the issues I had with the kit. They did a great job trying to right a situation that really wasn't their fault. Excellent sound, especially for the size. The finish is beautiful and very durable. The included drumheads sound fantastic with the drums (this is often not the case). Excellent volume and tuning range. Works well with or without amplification. Very unreliable hardware. Poor fitting rims need to be replaced to get that great sound on some of the drums. Parts are difficult to find and very, very expensive. Chrome started flaking off and rust began showing up within the first year of owning it.