Alesis DM5

Super easy to use, as easy as any other drum brain I've used (Roland TD-5, Yamaha DTX). But I haven't done anything complex or changed any settings on it. It has an LCD panel tho, which like the DTX makes things easier than on the TD-5.

The one bad thing that I think is important for potential buyers to know, is the HighHat cannot make all those inbetween sounds from open to closed. This is a BIG flaw to me in this day and age of electronic stuff, especially considering it's price of around $350 new. NOTE: the Roland TD-5, TD-7, and Yamaha DTX all are capable of highhat inbetween sounds. A good feature it has is a lot of inputs on the back.

Sound quality is good, but some sounds do seem to rely on effects (flanging, etc.) to sound good. Note that I like all 3 brains (DM5, TD-5, DTX), but the DTX does the best job of sounding like true acoustic drums recorded in a studio. On that the DTX is amazing. The DM5 and TD-5 shine on having powerful sounds that are cool for hard rock and techno/dance stuff. I do think the TD-5 outdoes the DM5 on useable sounds tho.

Here is one area where I think the DM5 outshines the TD-5; it's built like a tank and has rubberish buttons instead of brittle plastic. I've rented this thing several times and the units have always worked fine, --and you know how rental stuff gets (mis)treated.

Overal it's a good box but is too expensive new at $350ish, and also sell for too much used, usually in the $300 range. Also since it's been around so long and they have the new DMPro I think the price oughtta go lower. The TD-5's sell for surprisingly low used (I got one for $200). These two are good competitors but I would give the nod to the TD-5 for a few reasons.

Too Simple. Manual is easy to figure out. Up and running in five minutes.

Read the other reviews below.

Sounds terrific! I recently bought a Drum and Bass card for my Roland JV-2080 and the drum sounds on the DM5 are way better. Wish it had a decent selection of jazz brushes.

This is why I responded. I bought this used in absolutely mint condition. The very first time I used it, it locked up. But, it has not locked up on me since then. I was pushing buttons like crazy the first time, so it must have been a certain combination of buttons that did it.

N/A

I think even at the going street price of $300 this is a great value, like all Alesis products. I'd like to thank Reagan for the great deal! If nothing else came along at a good price, I'd buy it again. Be even nicer if it had and you could assign effects to individual drum sounds.

The DM5 is remarkably easy to use right out of the hat. I didn't even look at the manual until I had fiddled with it for a while. Editing patches and tuning drums was a breeze. The sounds are really terrific!

It has 16-note polyphony which has, so far, been quite enough. There are no onboard effects, which is kind of a bummer, but I routed them through a Nanoverb and the drum samples COME ALIVE! It is too bad this unit is not expandable--there are no slots or ports at all, but I guess there's always the DMPro.

There is a drum sound for just about everyone. I especially liked the "Heavy Metal" patches. I use those quite frequently, even for non-HM music. It is also quite expressive--even with a "hot" controller with unweighted keys.

I have heard many complain about it locking up but I have yet to experience this phenomenon (which is a good thing). I have used it live on several occasions with no problems. As far as I can see, it is very reliable. Now, of course, it will go ballistic and leave me hanging tomorrow, but that's a Murphyism, not an Alesisism.

I haven't dealt with them, hope never to as well!

The DM5 is a great drum module. The horror stories I hear from other people regarding its reliability leaves me cold, but I haven't had any problems yet. The lack of onboard effects is a big minus to me. You NEED an external reverb unit to make the drum samples passable. There are definitely plenty of drumsounds to keep you occupied for the next 100 years or so. I would highly recommend it.

I'm using whatever software version comes in this box. There's no real editing of the drum sounds other than a 7-cent deviance in pitch. I drive this module from an SR-16 drum machine. I've glanced thru the manual and it's not bad.

This unit has 16-note polyphony, which doesn't seem adequate for me. If it had 20 note polyphony, it would probably be just fine. It has no built-in effects. Any sort of reverb effects are sampled in with the drum sounds, which I would rather not have them do. But then again, for someone without a reverb box to dedicate to the drum module, I guess this would be an okay thing. The trigger inputs work great. I built a set of drum pads out of piezo transducers filled with epoxy, and it took NO effort to get them working. Pretty cool.

There's a good variety of sounds in this box. It doesn't do Neil Peart's snare sound off of the Moving Pictures album, though, so I can't give it a 10. The toms are great, most of the kicks are great, about half of the snares are great. The SR-16 I drive it with only remembers 8 levels of velocity, but that seems to be enough to get good, expressive drum parts. The best part of the sounds of this unit is the way they respond so well to dynamics. I use it for everything from metal to jazz, and it works well.

Here's the rub. This thing is a TOTAL PIECE OF JUNK when it comes to reliability and build quality. I have had the unit for 8 months. I bought it new at the store, took it directly to my house, plugged it in, and started using it. No gigging, no hard use, no nothin'. The unit locks up frequently, forcing me to have to shut it off, wait a few minutes, start it back up, and go back to work. The more MIDI message traffic I feed into it, the worse the problem becomes. There's ovbiously a software bug in this thing. You can create a drum kit, name it, and save it, and the next time you turn the unit on (or even scroll to the newly-created drum set), the name changes to include a bunch of garbage characters. The data wheel on the front of the unit feels as though it's going to drop off in your hand any second. I contacted Alesis about the locking-up problem, and was told, "Uh, try reinitializing it." Well, no kidding, Sherlock. I did that a bunch of times. Too bad this thing is such a piece of crap, because it really sounds great.

I mentioned how they dealt with me above. They weren't extremely helpful, but not actively rude, either.

I wouldn't buy this unit again. I will only be buying Roland sound modules from now on.

OK I just have to get this off my chest. I bought this thing new in March, and when I brought it home, the menus didn't work. I sent it back to alesis within 5 days of purchase, I got it back today (5/11)
IF ALESIS THINKS THAT ALMOST 9 WEEKS IS ACCEPTABLE TO WAIT FOR A WARRANTY REPAIR, THEY'RE NUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-10... see above /\

sounds great, horrible service

The presets of this module are very good...The DM5 is VERY easy to use...probably the most user friendly bit of gear i've ever encountered! Editing patches is a snap...a matter of pressing like 2 buttons! It's SOOOO easy to use, and the manual is well written in a very easy to understand manner!!

no seq...this is strictly a drum module...

Some of the drum sounds are excellent (i love the techno and hip-hop kits)...this module has got something for just about any type of music. There aren's as many

I'm not too sure about this...it's frozen on me quite a few times...not too sure how safe i'd feel using it live!!

I called Alesis about the freezing glitch mentioned above, and the technician told me the DM5's adaptor must have it's own outlet...it can't be plugged in a power bar, and that's why it kept freezing...i thought it sounded pretty crazy, but , it has only froze once since... he didn't seem very friendly, though...

I'm not sure if i would buy the DM5 again...it's gone down in price now, so maybe i still would...not for what i originally paid for it tho. Like i said, it's VERY easy to use, and the sounds are EXCELLENT... just wish there were more hi-hats and cymbals, and i wish i could feel confident enough to know it wouldn't freeze live...