Yamaha DD-65 Digital Drums  

The DD-65 isn't a full up set of electronic drums, but it isn't a toy either.  All of the pads are assignable and the pad rebound is good.  You can hook up to an MP3 player and use head phones or a full PA system.   NOTE: it does not come with an A/C adapter so if you do not want to mess with batteries, you will need to find one.

The DD-65 is portable and durable.  I have owned mine for two years and everything still works just fine!

I got mine as a Stupid Deal of the Day for a real stupid price.  I do not know of any other options for size, durability and features.  For around $200 you can't go wrong.

I love my DD-65!  I got my DD-65 as a "Stupid Deal of the Day" for a  real stupid price about two years ago.  My kid and I use it to mess  around when ever we have our guitars out and want to add something to  our jam sessions. The DD-65 isn't a full up set of drums, but it isn't a  toy either.  All of the pads are assignable and the pad rebound is  good.  We usually just use the preassigned kits preinstalled in the  software, but every once in a while we "create our own kit" to mix  things up.  It is simple to use and works very well.  Is it  perfect...well no.  I am not a drummer so my aim with a drum stick isn't  that great.  The upper/outter pads are a little small, but how big can  they be when the whole rig is 30 X 20 inches (just a guess). But the  good news is I got used to them and when I miss, the body seems pretty  tough and hasn't cracked or chipped yet.  The pedals seem pretty good to  me...the high hat seems to work better than the bass, but my pedals  have always been on carpet (a hard surface might work better). NOTE: it  does not come with an A/C adapter so if you do not want to mess with  batteries, you will need to find one.  BOTTOM LINE...the DD-65 is a cool  little electronic drum set and it sounds good.  You can play along with  an MP3 player with head phones or hook it into a PA system and get as  loud as you want. Like I said, I love it!!

What is advertised as "touch sensitive" would be better described as defective. I know it says in the manual that if you hit the bass drum pedal too softly then it might not make any sound, but this was just ridiculous. I really don't see the point in having such a feature if it requires you to hit the pedal hard and precise each and every time. The hi-hat pedal isn't like that at all. In fact, I assigned a bass drum voice to it and it felt just fine because it doesn't have the "touch sensitive" feature. So I figured maybe I'd just switch the inputs to control the bass drum with the hi-hat pedal and control the hi-hat with the bass pedal. Guess what, you can't. When you try that, they just don't work at all. You also can't turn off this "touch sensitive" feature, it is what it is. What kills me is that if not for this serious design flaw I would have absolutely kept it. There is an alternative, you can buy a regular kick tower like what you would have on a normal sized electronic drum set, but with the money you'd be spending all together, you might as well get a low-end full size set. It's a shame because this is an overall good product with one devastating flaw. Bottom line: I would only recommend this product if you intend to invest in a real kick tower to use with it instead of the bass pedal that comes with it.

Full of features that are user friendly without even reading the manual.

Well constructed, tough, takes abuse and still wipes clean and looks good.

Expensive but after a year of use I'm thinking of buying another one. The DD-65 allows me to rehearse when I want.  I plug in my laptop or Ipod, put on headphones and I'm good to go.

Overall there are some limitations of course.  The DD-65 IS what it IS. There is no way to get the same quality of sounds you get from quality drums and cymbals.  As long as you understand that the DD-65 will do what it was made to do very well. I use the DD-65 for small venues, coffee houses etc...  I did purchase the Yamaha hat pedal, and the Yamaha kick drum tower so I can use my own double kick pedal.  I load in and out in one trip. I'm set up and drinking a coffee before the average bass player can find the venue.  lol   I occasionally catch some stuff from the anti-rubber drum purist, but I could care less. I am very happy.  Also the musicians I play with like it.

These are great midi controlers on a budget.  I think they sound good on my PA through a little compression to make them sound more punchy.  I think they just put the speaker in the set so you could test if it is on. Seriously, did some of these reviewers think that there would be a 15" speaker hidden inside the unit?  At first I didn't like the foot pedals, but after puting them on a cheap doormat with velcro on the bottom I am used to them and have no problem playing what i want.  A snare stand makes a fast setup.  I have used the built in sounds to record wav instead of midi and have liked the results.  They have plenty of good sounds, you can program custom kits.  Lately I have been using Steven Slate because its more tweakable, I got it as a stupid deal. 

No problems after 2 years.

These are great midi controlers on a budget.  It's the cheapest option that actually works as a drum kit, if you take the time to get what you need to set them up right.

Good for the size and money.  There are some pads in this size that cost twice as much that might have more featuers. But with this being set in a more natural drum fashion as opposed to square pads, this has those beat.  I hope Yamaha makes this kit with more features and upgraded midi sensors in the future.

It's definitely not the best portable electronic kit on the market, but being a Marine in Afghanistan who needs to practice his newly-aquired drum skills to keep from losing them, it serves my purposes.

Probably this kit's only redeeming quality. It comes with many sounds of varying styles. Could have replaced many of the world percussion sounds with standard acoustic kit sounds IMO. My favorite feature is the ablility to listen to yourself play. It allows you to critique your own style and discover mistakes and bad habits you didn't even know you were doing.

The pads and triggers are the two worst features of this device. The pads are small and have very little rebound. They are very loud when struck, so much so that even the external speakers have trouble drowning the pad noise out on full volume. The sensitivity has three settings (0-2). The highest makes pad cross-talk incredibly prominent, the lowest produces missed hits like it was going out of style, and somehow the middle manages to combine the two to make it practically unplayable. I end up just turning it to 0 and hitting hard, although this makes the already loud pad noise unbearable for any bystanders.

The pedals come in a close third for worst feature. They are simply buttons that you place on the ground and stomp on. They are too light, making them slide around with every hit, and too sensitive, producing a hit even when simply changing the pressure your foot puts on them.

Footnote: the hi-hat sound is very quiet, even when open, and cannot be adjusted seperately from the rest of the kit. You will not be able to hear it over the rest of the kit and the pad noise.

Not worth the money you'll be paying for it. Plain and simple.