Review: The Ion Drum Rocker for Rock Band 2

Price: $299

THE SKINNY
After 10 whole months of banging on those old Rock Band drums, it's time to upgrade your skins. There's no better time to do that than with Rock Band 2 now on store shelves and there's no better way to do that than with the Ion Drum Rocker.



THE GOOD
Ion's Drum Rocker is comparable to real electronic drum sets and is relatively easy to set up (about a half hour of screwing things together). It features super quiet, velocity-sensitive pads and a metal-reinforced kick pedal, all of which are individually-adjustable into real drum set arrangements to accommodate Maroon 5 and Slipknot drummer alike. During our review period, which involved hours of shrill vocals, failures on "Easy," and some mild bruising, our assembly line of staffers all had a blast whacking on it with no missed notes.


THE BAD
A warning to all people not named Bob Vila: Make sure that all of the bolts are screwed on tightly, or you'll end up like our Production Editor, who failed a song after the left drum pad flopped to the floor. Also, the Drum Rocker is wired, meaning you'll have to run seven or eight different cables around the unit. For PS3 and Wii owners (who have to wait till mid-October for the game anyway), you'll have to stick to the stock drum set.



OTHER FANCY MAGIC FEATURES
Once you've tired of playing "Livin' On a Prayer," you can connect the unit to a drum synthesizer for use as a real drum kit. The kick pedal has two spikes you can plant into a floor for better stability—watch the scratches, mom will kill you! Two cymbals are included, but you can connect as many or as few as you want.


VERDICT: BUY IT
The 300-dollar price tag, over $100 more than the whole Rock Band 2 bundle, may seem steep, but those serious about getting the authentic Keith Moon experience should take the plunge.


BUY IT HERE

[UPDATE] Thanks Lazlo for the correction on the No. of cymbals included. We had a package with three of them in there, but retail versions only come with two.