This Drum Kit has a Secret Built Into it

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Donner DDS-520 22 inch Silent Acoustic Drum Kit: shrsl.com/3kvxq
Use code 'Dave25' for 25% OFF (Jun.24th-Jun.26th)
US: shrsl.com/3kvxq
CA: bit.ly/donnerc...
UK: donnermusic.in...
EU: bit.ly/davidr_...
Music used / Play-alongs used:
www.epidemicso...
Other Gear Used:
Pair of Slate ML-1 (as overheads):
imp.i114863.ne...
Austrian Audio CC8 (as rooms):
imp.i114863.ne...
Earthworks DK7 Drum Mic Kit:
imp.i114863.ne...
Lewitt DTP 640 REX Bass Drum Mic
imp.i114863.ne...
Austrian Audio Hi-X60 Headphones:
imp.i114863.ne...
21" Zildjian K Custom Special Dry Ride:
imp.i114863.ne...
18” Zildjian K Special Dry Crash
imp.i114863.ne...
Roc n’ Soc Drum Throne:
imp.i114863.ne...
Vic Firth Freestyle 5b Drum Sticks:
imp.i114863.ne...
All product links above are affiliate links
When it comes to drums, I've basically played everything that's ever existed… This drum set though, I've never seen ANYTHING like it before. This is the Donner DDS-520 Silent Acoustic Drum Kit. Donner is the same company that sells the Eastar drums I've shown before (the $400 Amazon drum set and one where I put the heads on the DW kit). This kit is a regular acoustic drum set that has built-in practice pads and comes with a set of low volume cymbals: 14” hi-hats, 16” crash, and 20” ride. The kit is 10” 12” rack toms, 16” floor tom, 22” bass drum, and 14” snare. Did I mention it comes in YELLOW?? I love yellow drums by the way… Anyways, the pads are adjustable with the turn of a drum key so you can play the kit as a normal volume drum set, or turn them on to make it a practice drum kit. I was scared the pads would choke out the drums too much in “normal mode,” but they don't really affect the sound too much to notice. For $500, I would say this is a pretty sound investment, especially if you play drums in an apartment, your family hates you because you're too loud, or any other situation where you don't have the luxury to play your drum set as loud as you want.
This $500 Drum Set Has Built-In PRACTICE PADS??

[@rdavidr]

I was thinking, does it make more sense for ALL beginner kits to come with low volume cymbals or cheap normal cymbals? I figured the low vol cymbals would have more functional value past the beginner phase, while cymbals that come on beginner kits are one of the first things to get replaced. What do you think? 🤔

[@RicyStuff]

e

[@rufushayday6990]

yeah that’d make sense

[@JonManProductions]

Hmm, I'm just wondering the possibilities of adding diy triggers for funsies on the mutes themselves.. and combine that with electronic cymbals. That would be pretty interesting to see for midi silliness.

[@RancidRandalI]

A lot of drummers don’t realize, especially starting out, that you don’t have to hit the cymbals that hard for them to be really loud. I find a lot of beginner drummers hit them as hard as they do the actual drums themselves.

[@iamironsam]

Mesh and practice cymbals absolutely! Way better than crappy heads and brass cymbals

[@alexhill_79]

I reckon this is the best first drum set ever. It looks good, sounds pretty good and has practice pads built INTO it. Its exactly what a beginner needs. And the low volume cymbals are great, because usually the cymbals that come with drums, you keep for a bit then replace. These you would keep for practice, and then get some better full volume cymbals. And for 500 buck, u cant go wrong. Awesome kit, awesome video as always.

[@scottspencer979]

I honestly could not have put it better myself. Very well said.

[@Saul_.Goodman]

exactly! I want to start getting into drums and these seem like a perfect fit for me.

[@alexdem98]

Still an e-kit offers many many more custom sounds, headphone jack for silent practicing, so if you live in town, e-kit is still for you, I think.

[@drummerdan95]

OK, now take this kit to the next level. Triggers in the pads and electronic cymbals (kind of like the Zildjian Gen16). It it an acoustic kit? Electronic kit? Practice kit? Porque no los d̶o̶s̶ tres?

[@drummerdan95]

It just occurred to me, the Yamaha EAD10 probably has enough inputs to trigger a 4-5 piece kit. Just run some external triggers on the snare and tom hoops to the module, bring up the pads for low volume and boom, electronic kit that can easily become acoustic again. Plus the EAD10 can still function on the drums acoustically without the triggers. And you can record all the audio straight to your phone. Such a simple premise to put pads inside but now my mind is swirling with ideas. Damn it, David. I don't need another drum kit 😶

[@edisonrestrepo3825]

@@drummerdan95 i was at namm yesterday, got to sit down at a yamaha kit with remo silent strokes, low vol cymbals and ead10 triggers, sounded just fine! i imagine its just as good with the donner kit (i also got to sit down at one yesterday, honestly did not feel that great), but yeah youre right! acoustic/practice/e kit in 1

[@drummerdan95]

@@edisonrestrepo3825 that's awesome. I already have an EAD10 on order after wanting one for years, I'm excited to spend time messing with it. I'm not crazy about the feel of mesh heads which is why the idea of this kit has intrigued me so much so I might still give it a chance.

[@BulletDrummer]

As someone who is so self-conscious about noise complaints that I haven’t had my kit set up in over 8 years, I was really pleased to see you do a noise comparison from the adjacent room. Stuff like that seems to be annoyingly overlooked when reviewing products such as this. Great stuff as always Dave! 👍 Now, can we make a silent hi-hat pedal?

[@rdavidr]

The hats are definitely the loudest. I was thinking if put a towel or something between the 2 it would help out a lot

[@masterofsparkshwy6974]

@@rdavidr ...trying to picture playing with a towel between....yeesh. I wonder... cotton batting like they use in quilting, cut a ring out and dbl. Side tape it between. May muffle the clap and not be as bulky and awkward.

[@billsmith1957]

A flour sacking cloth towel might work well between the hi-hats; thinner than regular towels and they can be cut and/or folded to size

[@steyer-crmg]

Not all rooms are built the same mate! I have a room where no sound gets through, but it was built for that purpose. But my kit is worth $5k, room cost $20k….if you want to be a drummer, get the room right first if you can.

[@derekflow]

I hope you get back to playing soon! I kinda went through something like that too

[@DrummerDanVa]

I think most of the cheaper kits sound basically ok today. Their flaws would probably be the hardware lasting with a lot of setups and tear downs.

[@metalinyourhead3604]

What’s also cool, is that if you have a drum triggers, you can play it acoustically, then engage the pads and use the triggers. Now you have an easily adjustable hybrid kit.

[@farolanramadhani7218]

Yooo that sounds dope

[@fluffycritter]

oh dang that’s a brilliant idea. I have both this Donner kit and a set of vdrums and not enough space to set up both, and you’ve just given me a great solution to this conun-drum.

[@Ranakade]

Donner deserves a spot at NAMM. They're like another Yamaha cause they're doing guitars, drums, and other music stuff and making it affordable

[@eboyeman8457]

Yamaha makes guitars?

[@patrickcampbellhatesthesoup]

Donner was there.

[@grazianodrummer]

Absolutely not, they are cheap and garbage

[@jazzfusionfanatic]

@@eboyeman8457 no shit sherlock

[@matthewcline8580]

@@eboyeman8457 Yamaha makes everything, honestly. Guitars, Drums, Grand pianos, Synths, as well as every orchestral instrument imaginable (and they're all considered pro level instruments).

[@deekerr1613]

Have heard of people using the low volume cymbals as a part of stacks, would love to hear that if you try it out. Really cool kit, makes a lot of sense and seems well executed while still being affordable.

[@edisonrestrepo3825]

got to sit down at this kit yesterday, was sort of in a rush so i wasn't able to ask many questions (which ya were able to answer well) - fantastic video as always dave, thanks for putting this out :)

[@saydlowski]

A good way to gauge how much the pads interfere with the drum sound is maybe to just remove them altogether and see what the drum sound like without them?

[@markthomas6980]

Amazing. I got my grandson a cymbal for Christmas. It cost about the same as this whole set. He’s a professional drummer in a jazz band.

[@thumperpaul]

I’m impressed. Instead of having to switch over to mesh heads for practice, you just raise the pads. They sound decent too.

[@sixinarow1]

I am afraid that if a buddy had one of these, I would have to sneak up on stage and engage the practice pads just before he went on stage.

[@Zinjadu100]

When you added the mics to the drums when you were playing to music; it sounds really nice. It seems that you are really good at mixing and mics...Or just really good at doing it all. That's why you several hundred thousand subscribers. RdavidR, you know what you're doing. Excellent video, like always educational, informative and comedic...keep it up!

[@JakeWu]

This drum set has been showcased at NAMM 2022 at Donner booth. Very impressive.

[@RokDAWG1]

Really interesting and actually kind of nice to have the extreme muffs built into the kit

[@sneedville80]

That would be a cool kit to trigger

[@eugenekelley5348]

I wonder if you added some kind of midi sensors to those pads if you could do a hybrid electric acoustic kit? Might be neat

[@paulrevelli]

I'm intrigued to say the least. Just a little worried that at that price it's not exactly built to last too long. But at least it looks like anything that's too janky can be easily fixed with some ingenuity. Thanks for bringing our attention to this thing. Great review (and playing).

[@bwenedianjr]

if only i could convince my mom and dad to get me a drumset XD

[@theguy6245]

1:11 He forgot about the low volume cowbell

[@rdavidr]

only true ogs will remember that lol

[@drewdabbs418]

The cheese grater

[@tallnotdeaf]

I’d like to see a high end company do this, I’d buy one

[@rainbowkrampus]

Eh, If you're going to buy a nice kit plus the markup from a well known brand, it seems like a waste to stick mute pads and all the requisite hardware in there and jack up the sound. These pads are also another potential point of failure. Could strip out the wood, the pin could break and damage the reso head. Then of course there's the added weight. Not a big deal if it lives in a dedicated space but carting these things around may not be everyone's cup of tea. Lots of problems. Seems better to just stick with these cheap shells and upgrade hardware etc.

[@tallnotdeaf]

@@rainbowkrampus I was thinking more along the lines of a company rich enough to explore this idea more and iron out the teething problems you have mentioned. Like smaller pads that will deaden the drum less allowing a better sound, better quality low volume cymbals and hardware etc.

[@DrewKane]

The cymbals actually sounded okay under a mic.

[@JDKrug]

Some sound engineers actually prefer these low volume cymbals in recording sessions. Makes it very easy to mix within a full project.

[@arbogast4950]

This thing is BEGGING to be converted.

[@jas_bataille]

This is a very nice video and this kit would be a hit if the pads were triggers! But... as a sound engineer, I must point out that the sound test wasn't anything that could give you an actual real-world equivalent result. First, this is a binaural microphone, not a stereo one. Now, not only do we not hear in binaural (it's an illusion given by the recording technique and you *have* to wear headphones to hear it), those binaural microphones are made to be used for spatial sound effects and ASMR, where the sound sources will be extremely close to it. Therefore I do believe their sensitivity to be quite reduced compared to, let's say, a pair of regular condenser stereo pencil mics in XY fashion, which would be a much better technique for such a test. But even those would not represent the sensitivity of human ears. As it stands, I'm afraid the kit would sound much louder in the living room next to it, at least if you have regular doors and walls without soundproofing!

[@rayraybonne8469]

hey. Nice comment. I made a similar reference to the mics vs drum tone in a recent comment. I am building a studio and recording drums & vocals to originals I wrote. hard Rock'nRoll. I like the placement of the Tom mics in his video that are out of the way of the drummer. I want to know what mics really sound best for snare & cymbals to get close to what the ear hears. I get a great 'pop' from my snare acoustically, but, on recording (I am using Shure SM-7s on-snare & above the Tom's and o/h currently, but cymbals and snare don't really replicate true sound on recordings. I don't like the rim mounts that came with the SM7s either - to 'in the way' and I cannot play freely. So, my cymbals turn out very 'bright' and I have to EQ the highs out for them and boost my lows but still no ideal. to reduce bleed overs I just mime all the movements I play in a song or lay really thick pads if I cannot play some songs without striking the drums. works great to isolate the drum or cymbal that I am recording. Tia. - RayRay

[@omarcortes5754]

Interesting kit.

[@willspeck8552]

My mom would love this lol

[@ILikeWafflz]

6:49 I absolutely love how everyone that uses that music in a video _always_ synchronizes cuts with the notes lol

[@williambradfordbaldwin4386]

I would like to see more drum companies return to making more control devices for the drums! I like to have built in control rather than pillows and blankets! Very good vid sir thanks!!!

[@DeadKoby]

This is something I wished they made years ago. It's a great way for someone to be able to practice without angering the family.

[@morgunstyles7253]

These would be ideal for small supper clubs where volume is an issue.

[@balfit]

In acoustic mode, it sounded rather decent, canary colour notwithstanding. ;-)

[@carlupthegrove262]

Interesting concept. I wonder if any of the major drum companies will develop anything similar but with a bit more refinement? Nice work on the video and your description of the drums and how they sounded to you.

[@ronnyinwaxhaw]

I bought a set of 14” Low Volume Hi Hats just before Covid and have never been able to try them out. It was great to hear the LV cymbals, but I wish that you had rode the ride in the demo.

[@KhemBMD]

I see lots of ppl making stacks with low volume cymbals so this is a great deal

[@legendaryfrogs9032]

all I have is an electric drum set for practice, and i think this would be an improvement

[@brandonfeeley514]

I like how practice mode is still tuned so you can hear the difference between each drum.

[@shirleymorrow7674]

The built in pads is a first for me. I like it, and I love YELLOW!

[@the6ig6adwolf]

Crazy what $500 gets you these days.

[@charliewaffle4928]

Would this kit be silent enough to have it at an apartment? I live on the 2nd floor and I'm not sure it's quiet enough

[@zackedge2456]

Illuminati confirmed (referencing the triangle on the drums)

[@ChristopherSmithNYC]

Thats a great idea!

[@M4RCM0NT31R0]

I didn't know Donner did drums in the Tony Williams yellow finish!

[@rdavidr]

I was kinda surprised when I saw it too. Not many companies do yellow drums

[@deadshot4245]

upon further review this kit with an added 14 floor would help it as well. I always feel the perfect kit is two mounted and two floor toms

[@RogerBergqvist]

A cool kit. I guess that you could use this even in an apartment... If they are low sounding. Or.. the perfect musicschool kit :-)

[@KhemBMD]

Just would have to build a platform to absorb the sound/shock from the kick plenty of tutorials on KZbin for it so yes barring an r kit this is the perfect kit to buy

[@RogerBergqvist]

@@KhemBMD Yeah. You are right.

[@Lutzifer31337]

now, if these pads were also e-drum triggers, this would be perfection!

[@bilhamcobbly2957]

I thought the low volume cymbals we’re cool.But that silly kit has had me laughing all morning.Wouldn’t you just put practice covers on any kit,To make into a practice set.So wacky 😂😂😂😂😂

[@Jukebox707]

This is probably the most excited I've seen him. Keep up the good content!

[@lizleart]

ok so i’ve been playing set for a few years now but basically all my playing has been at school (various band ensembles and a free period every day) because my set at home was literally $10 at a yard sale and functions about as well as you would guess. My set is certified hot garbage(not only sounds awful but the flor tom legs are literally sticks and the high tom falls off it’s arm every song) but i was alright with it because i just played at school every day. With the summer here and not being too caught up in band to have a job (for at least a month untill marching band) i think i’m gonna dedicate all my time to getting a job to hopefully save up enough to get this set. Idk what this says abt rdavidr but the dude somehow inspired me to spend my last break before senior year working to save up for a drumset and that’s kinda neat

[@dayonedrummer]

Great video and explanation of the kit. This seems like it would be a nice kit for private lessons to reduce the volume. I wonder how my students would feel about playing on a muted kit with low volume cymbals? I'm tempted to get one to see:) Any thoughts on how it would positively or negatively effect the learning process? Or do you think it would be a seamless transition. (90% of my students are beginners)

[@brandonmclendon5368]

Why didn’t they have this kit back in 2016?

[@grazianodrummer]

After buying a e-drum that does not work and they do not fix it (but they returned money) I prefer to not buy from donner, choose trusted websites and not this cheap OEM brands. I got the worst and horrible customer service and I will never buy anything from them even though this kit is nice.

[@rdavidr]

ngl, they sent me an electronic kit and it was so garbage I had to back out of the video lol. Their acoustic kits have been pretty decent for the price though.

[@grazianodrummer]

@@rdavidr I brought the DED-200, lame and rude customer service, they let me keep the drum and they refounded me but they treat me not well. The acoustic kit seems great anyway

[@grazianodrummer]

@@rdavidr just to make things clear, it was not an accusation against you (following since the 100 drum hacks video and the 100 rivets on a cymbal!) but just to review the customer service! 🙏🏻❤️ I figured out to say that. Thanks for your contents

[@IrishStoner]

I'm kinda down on Donner they don't sell replacement modules for their EKits... oh well I'll buy a cheap acoustic kit time to get off the toy onto a kit anyways.. start cheap work up to better..

[@IrishStoner]

I see the Issue now Canadian Inventory vs American Inventory

[@malo374]

Great video :) One thing was bugging me though. Putting the microphones in the other room does not really help to find out how loud the kit is. You would need a loudness level to compare it to. One way to do that is to play the loud kit and then, without changing the gain settings, play the silent kit. You can do the same thing in the other room, too.

[@kiltymacbagpipe]

The quality control on this kit is terrible. No kit should require drilling out holes or sanding off globs of filler regardless of price.

[@kevinwilley968]

Dang, I was at NAMM yesterday and saw the Donner booth but didn't stop by. Would have been cool to look at.

[@SurefireNebula]

Love ur backing tracks they are always so sick! :)

[@AceGDrums]

You need to show us the cheap diy way to silence drums

[@tylersecrest5536]

I'm surprised you didn't compare the sound from the next room with practice pads off vs on

[@yourlocalryan]

Imagine changing these to electronic pads. So you could turn some of them on and change the sounds

[@julianoraven]

Looking from above... I think... for a brief moment... that you mounted the pad from one of the toms on the floor tom and vice-versa. Which is weird if they are not swappable. 🤔

[@JulianFernandez]

good one

[@jeffbridges6110]

The kit sounds quite pleasing. The mic with ears though....I thought that was crazy cool.

[@jas_bataille]

It's a binaural microphones. Crazy cool yes - but as I pointed out, the sound engineer in myself had to say that as cool as it looks, it simply isn't the right mic for this kind of test. It's designed for spatial sound effects and ASMR and you have to wear headphones to hear the effect. It's not a stereo and the I don't think the sensitivity is even close to that of a regular par of condensers, thus the sound would likely be perceived much louder unfortunately :(

[@Sn00ze]

I like the concept but I'm a bit skeptical about the bass drum pad, especially for someone who buries the beater it seems like it might damage the shell over time, no?

[@masterofsparkshwy6974]

That's what I was wondering. Wonder if you could use a weaker tension spring. I'm also not sure if it's spring is between the mounting and arm, or arm and pad... if the first, it would be easier to set it looser.

[@T_Burd_75]

That is definitely a killer deal for a drum kit. Especially with all the features included, along with the low-volume cymbals which sound surprisingly good. I would definitely be happy with that kit!

[@davidsmash123]

What about taking the pads out completely?

[@davidsmash123]

scam?

[@roncombs8711]

Just found you on KZbin and enjoy watching your shows! Could you tell me the Group and title of the song you were playing along too, I liked it and you sounded good! Thx Rick Combs

[@79bald]

Not sure but think it looks like had kick pad on floor tom. Why it didn't line up properly?

[@luke_bongoman89]

This drum kit is really interesting. I personally don't have a good space to practice at home where it won't be too noisy. I have a cheaper electric kit but this would be so much better for a better feel. I do worry about the quality of finish though

[@Prodby3128]

Does the pads disabled within the shell affect the overall tone of each drum? Idk why but I feel like just having it in there sitting there would be a bit different.

[@alexpagan4814]

*THAT Eastar Kit*

[@retiredaccountbriant]

This can be a good use for quiet times when it’s night:)). Maybe not when people are sleeping.

[@corinapredmore2415]

I'm so disappointed I ordered this kit it arrived today and my bass drum has a MASSIVE crack in it....ugh! Going to be letting the seller know I can't even set these up the crack is all the way through the wood all the way to the Tom holder area!!! Hoping they make it right I've really been looking forward to playing these!!! I got the orange set and I'm in love with the metal flake and the color though

[@Primordilian]

Donner slightly better sounding drums than Easter but both are awsome when it comes to the price.

[@christskingdom8950]

The rubber is over kill. Should have just done large felt.

[@rdavidr]

I was thinking about that too... I might try putting a thin piece of felt over the rubber just to see how it feels/sounds

[@christskingdom8950]

@@rdavidr if they had just made them with the felt and no rubber, it would work better and they could have used much less invasive and less robust hardware to make the felt make contact (basically they just needed an oversized version of the standard dampeners from the old 70’s kits).

[@viktormuerte]

I have never wanted a drumset more than those! I wonder if they ship way outside the US...

[@rdavidr]

they do, check out the links in the description

[@steyer-crmg]

Would be good to hear a drummer play them 😂

[@rdavidr]

damn, roasted

[@stevenpurdy2235]

The concept of this Kit is very interesting, since after the Pandemic a lot of people are downsizing. Which usually means more neighbors, that will be close by. (Condo, Apartment or Duplex). Does this new Drum Company offer other finishes?? T Y S.R.PURDY 🥁 GOD BLESS

[@ProTuner06]

I still believe E-drum kits are the way to go.

[@OsmiumStudios]

Hey man! can you tell me the pitch you use to tune the snare for top and bottom heads?

[@CHIMPOaGOGO]

I'm hoping I can order just the snare, floor tom, and hihat to make a jungle kit for my classroom.

[@jameslabriola8761]

when he drops the drumkey at 3:48 i sort of laughed to myself because i do that all the time.

[@Mtab2260]

11:00 Why am I getting Mario Kart Rainbow Road vibes?

[@williambradfordbaldwin4386]

I like the basic idea of this I like to be able to control my drums, I even went so far on my first drum set 1967 Sears and Roebuck Pearl set, to make internal bass drum double mufflers out of coffee can lids and carpet, they worked pretty good! Do these control the resonance or just deaden for practice?

[@mightyV444]

Mind = Blown 🤯 And on several levels, too! 🙂

[@thomaswamhoff2693]

idea mount cymble to screwdriver boom turning cheese grater

[@liamcage7208]

Yup as mentioned by others, this is an excellent idea for a first drum kit to learn on. Some 13 - 14 year old just learning to play without driving the family to drink but then can disengage the practice pads when they are a little better to "jam" with their friends who are learning guitar in your first garage band.

[@ramichandoke8342]

You can also make a elect kit conversation to this

[@JW85117]

The cymbal on the right at 11:20 is giving me so much anxiety wobbling like that, please tighten that wing-nut Dave!

[@kidwave1]

Next time speak a bit after each test of the iphone silent/loud demos, so we can get a sense of actual volume. example, just after ceasing the silent mode, you should have simply said "Thats the silent mode", ...just before the edit cutting to the non dampened portion.

[@mat4410]

I tried out the low volume cymbals at a drum shop and the zildjians did sound half bad surprisingly. I like your channel as you do a good job coming up with some stuff to satisfy the “ what if” in me. Thanks

[@crlaw75]

Interesting set, reminds of the internal mufflers of the made in Japan sets in the '60's (which quite a few drummers removed).

[@kurikokaleidoscope]

Great video Thank you.

[@dinkindane]

I have a Ludwig snare that has a muffling pad, but not like the one in this video!

[@AngelofDeath1431]

This kit definitely lends itself really well to the style you were playing. Perhaps just at good with blues and jazz as well. Overall, nice (and yes, the yellow surely stands out)!

[@fldrummerman]

How does the kit "feel" when the dampers are engaged?

[@scottross9023]

I just bought the light blue version because I loved the color. I tossed the mutes, throne and hardware and used my own stuff. I love this kit!

[@randomschittz9461]

Add some piezos to the pads and you have an electronic kit... sometimes.

[@johnmatamoros9218]

Dude, the joke about the plastic under the drum throne...top fucking notch!

[@marvinhanson9391]

Those drums would make converting to a hybrid setup a breeze