SOUNDS. RATING 9 out of 10

The unit has very very high quality samples with impressive expressiveness. There are more that enough samples or drum voices to choose from. The on-boad effects are usefull but I find the reverbs way to bright and not very natural sounding. This is typical for Alesis.

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EFFECTS. RATING 5 out of 10

The unit has editable effect with 2 busses. I found as mentioned before, that the reverbs where bright and thin. I use a Lexicon Reflex effect unit to wet the snare, and I found that this was more convincing and natural than that found in the unit. However that being said... the DMpro still is of decent quality.

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EASE OF USE. RATING 9 out of 10

I have to say that of all the gear I have ever owned, this probably the simpliest interface to learn, and the implementation in Emagic Sound Diver makes it a breeze to use. I would highly recommend purchasing sound diver 3.0. I was able to assign outputs, triggers, voices, effect levels....all with out ever reading the manual.

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FUNCTIONALITY. 7 out of 10

The unit allows you to send drum voices to mutilple outs, and assign any of the 12 trigger inputs to any note. However you are a bit limited when it comes to placing your instruments in the stereo field. The panning is possibly the most ridiculous part of the unit. You are given only 7... that's right 7 choices.

3R = hard right 2R = 60 degrees right 1R = 30 degress right <> = Center 1L = 30 degress left 2L = 60 degress left 3L = hard left

The outputs can be assigned as follows Stereo L & R Aux L & R Individual 1 Individual 2 and effects only.

When using Aux L & R the effects for that voice are still heard thru the Main L & R outs. Only when you choose and individual out is the voice dry. the last option allows the triggered sound to be routed thru the onboard effects, but only the effect is heard.

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OVERALL. 8 out of 10

I actuall like this unit alot, and It will be in my rack for a while.

SOUNDS. RATING 9 out of 10

The unit has very very high quality samples with impressive expressiveness. There are more that enough samples or drum voices to choose from. The on-boad effects are usefull but I find the reverbs way to bright and not very natural sounding. This is typical for Alesis.

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EFFECTS. RATING 5 out of 10

The unit has editable effect with 2 busses. I found as mentioned before, that the reverbs where bright and thin. I use a Lexicon Reflex effect unit to wet the snare, and I found that this was more convincing and natural than that found in the unit. However that being said... the DMpro still is of decent quality.

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EASE OF USE. RATING 9 out of 10

I have to say that of all the gear I have ever owned, this probably the simpliest interface to learn, and the implementation in Emagic Sound Diver makes it a breeze to use. I would highly recommend purchasing sound diver 3.0. I was able to assign outputs, triggers, voices, effect levels....all with out ever reading the manual.

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FUNCTIONALITY. 7 out of 10

The unit allows you to send drum voices to mutilple outs, and assign any of the 12 trigger inputs to any note. However you are a bit limited when it comes to placing your instruments in the stereo field. The panning is possibly the most ridiculous part of the unit. You are given only 7... that's right 7 choices.

3R = hard right 2R = 60 degrees right 1R = 30 degress right <> = Center 1L = 30 degress left 2L = 60 degress left 3L = hard left

The outputs can be assigned as follows Stereo L & R Aux L & R Individual 1 Individual 2 and effects only.

When using Aux L & R the effects for that voice are still heard thru the Main L & R outs. Only when you choose and individual out is the voice dry. the last option allows the triggered sound to be routed thru the onboard effects, but only the effect is heard.

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OVERALL. 8 out of 10

I actuall like this unit alot, and It will be in my rack for a while.

As others have said, the snare samples SUCK. out of 127 samples, I found 5 that were useable after much work playing with tuning, and FX. I'm a VERY dissapointed about that considering that the smare is one of the main drums.

The Toms... there are some usable ones, but again... be ready to read the manual about adjusting sounds.

HI-Hats- Can be a little confusing, but there are some really nice samples.

Kick Drums- DAMN!! Really awesome, any kick you want... it's there (you just gotta find it)!

CRASH/EFX/SPLASH Cymbals- VERY DISSAPOINTED. There are few usable sounds in the dmpro data banks. You can find them if you look into FX, and other methods of sound improvement... but other that that... you're stuck. Again, out of 127 samples, I found 2 useful crashes, 3 rides, and 1 ride bell. On a positive note.. you CAN create any type of splash that you'd like, however... there are no nice "preset" splashes, you have to program them. As far as effect cymbals go... if you want it, it's there... it almost seems like Alesis paid more attention to FX cymbals as opposed to the bread and butter cymbals.

Effects- THERE ARE SOME REALLY COOL EFFECTS ON THIS MODULE!!! the latin/Aux Percussion sounds are actually damn good, and I wish I was able to use them more...(even though 16 trigger inputs is plenty, I wish there were more!)

NOW... ease of use. I actually found this kit very easy to use as far as programming. it's very user friendly... it just takes a long time!

Soon, I'll dabble into downloading sounds, and see how the kit works with new sounds, But I gotta wait until I get the exoansion card. But... Honestly... this is my first E-Kit, and I'm INCREDIBLY pickey about my sounds, and my feel. This kit has scored well, it's everything that I need in a kit...with work.

If you are serious about drums then go and get this beasty beating box.