Medeli DD518DX many drums for little money
Acquaintance with the novelty began - as is usually the case with drum kits - with a light fitness workout, namely with dragging it from place to place. A heavily sore back, better than any scales, told me that the installation was noticeably heavier. It is almost impossible to move it alone.
Why did the drums gain so much weight? Everything is very simple. Obviously, looking at the beautiful steel frame of the Alesis DM10 X Kit, the Medele team decided that they also wanted it that way and… as befits real Chinese, without hesitation, they simply copied it. It turned out, I must say, not bad. Chrome-plated steel tubes of the frame (it's somewhat inconvenient to call them "tubes") and powerful metal clamps are designed to hold all the abundance of drums and cymbals of the 518DX set.
Drum pads
Their number remains unchanged: snare pad 10″, volume 3 to 8″, volume 1 10″, bass drum pad 8″.
But the pads themselves have undergone significant changes relative to the 508 model. Most importantly, they have become Kevlar, respectively, silent. An experienced electric drummer will immediately tell you what was taken as a basis. Right! Alesis RealHead pads with Kevlar heads already stretched. The tension of the Kevlar mesh can be adjusted just like on a real drum. Thus, you can change the rebound of the stick.
The pads are fastened to the frame with massive metal clamps.
I was a bit surprised by the bass drum pad.
Despite the Kevlar plastic, which is expected to be quiet, the pad was surprisingly loud. Sure, it's quieter than a rubber band, quieter than the RealHead, but still loud enough for Kevlar. The vibration from the pedal to the floor was perceptibly transmitted.
Plates
The drum iron was not affected by the changes. The DD518 still has 2 two-zone crash cymbals 12″, a three-zone ride cymbal 14″, a hi-hat with 3 opening positions + a hat-splash function.
All cymbals are muted by hand. Zones break through confidently, but require some tweaking. For example, by default, only one zone is set in crash cymbals. Separately, I want to note the very comfortable cymbal racks. They are height, reach and tilt adjustable. Each stand can be turned into a "crane", allowing you to place the cymbal in a convenient position for the drummer.
Of the minuses, I will once again note the “dustiness” of the plates. Moreover, the dust sticks to them so that it cannot be removed even with a damp cloth. It seems that it eats into the rubber coating of the plates.
Module
The drum module remained the same. And, although the inscription “DD518DX“ flaunts on it, we did not find other changes. On the other hand, why change something if it works so well? The old DD508 proved itself to be a reliable device with very decent sound banks, fast recording, and SD card handling, which even Alesis cannot boast of. The only thing missing is FM radio and 999 games :-) . Joke :-) . In short, there is everything on board that a musician can use for practicing, working in the studio and on the road.
In short, Medeli DD518DX wins back its price of 46 thousand rubles. The samples sound clean and smooth without the clipping and "digital decay" that comes with cheap electronic drums.
Conclusions
1. If 3 years ago Medeli was treated with caution and some condescension, they say, well, what do you want - this is China .. Now I can say with confidence that the quality of the older Medeli models is very close to the Alesis models. The reliability of the Chinese is also on top. The warranty claims statistics for Medeli products currently do not exceed those of other manufacturers.
2. On the other hand, the price also increased and at the time of this writing it exceeded the cost of Alesis DM10 Studio Kit (46 thousand rubles for Medeli, against 45 for Alesis). And came close to the budget models of Roldand. For example, Roland TD-11K costs 52 thousand. Agree, the difference is small.
3. At this price, you are already starting to look more meticulously at the cheap plastic of the module case, the small screen and “dusty” dishes. You start to listen and notice the monotony of the samples and the "machine-gun" in the breaks.
4. Who is this installation for? For those who want to get the most drums for the least amount of money. Who wants to get a full-fledged large tool for classes and work. A large frame with large pads will bring this electronic setup as close as possible to its acoustic counterpart. And Kevlar plastics will allow you to keep silence as much as possible. Sounds on 4k are not Roland or Yamaha, but the latter with such a gentleman's set of pads will cost at least 4 times more.