KAT Percussion KT2 5-Piece Advanced Electronic Drum Kit

The drums responds to a good sounds but was quite disappointed when the hi-hat stopped its function for just less than 3 months. The best thing was, when I called the Amazon representative, replacement was so quick and easy.

I want to give this 5 stars because of how it sounds versus what I paid, but there’s something very cheap about it. It feels cheap. There’s a lot of plastic. I’ll go through Pros and Cons.

PRO:
1.) Mobility – It’s incredibly easy to break down and transport for gigs. The wire harness is strapped in with some room to move around, big wing nuts everywhere to allow folding, adjusting and moving. Solid concept.
2.) Durability – So far, it’s held up to 7 gigs, 5 studio days and 30 rehearsal sessions. There’s some rash on the kick and snare, but no damage. The kick and hat pedals are actually really good quality.
3.) Performance – Pads have a pretty natural feel, rimshots have a forgiving feel to them. you totally forget the kick isn’t a real drum. cymbal velocity is 8/10 and the hat responds like it should even though the feeling is a little spongy.
4.) Audio – I use the brain as a MIDI interface which goes to a VST plugin so I can use my own samples. Zero latency. BUT the factory kits are actually well done, it exceeds expectations for a budget kit – if you didn’t know any better you’d think it was an acoustic kit. Cymbals are a little loud, but can be turned down. you can custom mix & match samples and all sorts of things. There is an optional master reverb setting also, which has a good sound to it.
5.) Visual – the pads themselves look like quality instruments. The light colors and brushed metal feel very modern and does look more expensive from a distance. It’s bulky enough to feel like a professional kit. The module is nice and compact, well positioned. There’s a lot of room for adjustment of the pads and cymbals IF you route the harness accordingly.

CON:
1.) Mobility – I have to take extra care when transporting it to avoid potential damage, as I really don’t trust the plastic parts. You’ll want to invest in some padding materials if you plan to move this around. It does fold up nicely, but disconnecting the brain is necessary and the screws in the back are a nuisance.
2.) Durability – the cross support under the kick assembly fell off, probably from vibration. Screwed it back in and it’s fine now. I really don’t think these fittings will last. It’s a weird plastic/rubber molding.
3.) Performance – The cymbals have a weird spongy rim. Ride taps feel pretty good, but when you’re crashing around it almost feels like you missed and hit something soft instead.
– Although this doesn’t happen in the studio, the lightweight aluminium frame vibrates quite a bit on stages which triggers the cymbals involuntarily. You CAN adjust the thresholds, but I feel like that’s not something I should’ve had to do.
– Midi is not extremely versatile. It only transmits on channel 10 and the notes are very random. I had to make a custom kit and program the triggers to reasonable midi notes. You cannot transmit midi through USB and midi-out at the same time.
4.) Audio – Pretty short list here, the only thing that threw me was the hat. It has a weird threshold between open and closed that may or may not need to be adjusted. It isn’t very responsive to fast rolls, it tends to skip a few. Also a threshold issue.
5.) Visual – the metal stems that the pads hang on get in the way, depending on how you set up the kit. They are durable, but to get the angles I like the stems stick out toward you about 6 inches. I think I’m going to cut them down. If you’re over 6 feet, this kit will be too short for you.
-Close up, the whole frame and module almost has a toy-like appearance. I’m considering chrome-dipping or painting all the fittings. Outside of scrolling through kits, navigating through the module is cumbersome, everything is shortened to an acronym and sort of haphazardly organized. Fortunately you don’t have to navigate it that much other than initially, I’m not very torn up about that.
-My last concern is that the buttons aren’t backlit, which is a problem on stage. But don’t think any kits have that feature.

Overall, you get what you pay for, and I think this is worth the price. For an intermediate player this is a solid deal.