Carlsbro Carlsbro CSD500 Mesh Electronic Drum Kit

Carlsbro' CSD500 is an electronic drum kit that's excellent value for money. It has a number of features that are normally only found on more expensive models. For starters, the snare drum, toms and bass drum pads all feature mesh drumheads which offer a more realistic playing feel. Everything is height-adjustable thanks to the cleverly-designed rack and the Commander 500 sound module at the heart of everything is excellent too.

Commander 500 Sound Module

The Commander 500 sound module is the beating heart of this electronic drum kit and has 350 drum and percussion sounds on board. You can create up to 12 of your own kits with these and Carlsbro has already put together 29 preset kits for you. There are 20 built-in songs to drum along to and you can connect an external audio player to the auxiliary input to drum along to your favourite music too. There's also a recording function so that you can listen to your performance and a built-in metronome to help you keep time. Sounds can be adjusted using the 3-band EQ and there are two reverb settings as well. Other connection possibilities include a headphone output, MIDI IN and OUT and a line out that you can connect to an amplifier, for instance.

Apart from a drum stool and a set of headphones, everything else you need is included. That means along with the drum and cymbal pads, you also get hi-hat and bass drum pedals, all the cables you need (including binders!), a rack and even drumsticks and a stick holder. The tension of the mesh drumheads can be adjusted to your preferred response. The single-zone bass drum pad and the three dual-zone tom pads all have a diameter of 8 inches. The snare drum pad has a diameter of 10 inches and is also dual zone which means two different sounds can be generated depending on where you strike it. The crash and ride cymbal pads both feature a 'choke' function which means they can be dampened with your hand, just like real cymbals. The 10-inch hi-hat is a single-zone pad and the hi-hat controller supports splash sounds which is almost unheard of for an electronic drum kit in this price class. Finally, it's good to know that the 8-inch bass drum trigger is also suitable for double bass drum pedals.