Universal Rock Band 2 Cymbal - 2 Pack
6.7
10
11
11
Great design, great response...just make sure all the nuts are TIGHT
I've been waiting for these cymbals to hit shelves since they were announced. I bought them and took them home and immediately put them on my Xbox 360 Rock Band 2 drum kit. First song ("I Was Wrong" by Social Distortion), I ran into a few problems and thought I had made a mistake in buying these. While playing the high hat notes, every other note would register as a double hit. Being a real drummer, there are times when I hit the pads harder than other times (such as if the drummer in the song you are playing does the same thing). In "I Was Wrong," I tend to hit the cymbal harder than I would in "Roxanne" for example. Turns out, the nuts just need to be tightened over the cymbal some more. Once I did this, I moved on to "...And Justice for All" by Metallica and played the song with no problems (other than my own mistakes). The key to using this accessory is making sure you set it up correctly, and tighten all the nuts properly. If anything is loose, it will cause problems. If the nuts on the cymbals are loose (as someone has mentioned) it will cause the cymbal to wobble too much and register a double hit. Making sure they are tightened completely fixes this problem. And just like on a real drum set, you will need to retighten the color-coated nuts periodically after every few songs. These are some of the best accessories ever made for a video game. They make the feeling of playing the drums even more accurate and are very responsive. You can hit them very lightly or pretty darn hard and they will take the hit and record the note. As one reviewer has mentioned, the "cross-over" feeling of playing hi-hat/snare is great, and it's much more natural. I've had a lot of problems playing songs like AC/DC's "Let There Be Rock" and Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation" because the number and speed of the hi-hat notes. For some reason, my arm wore out a lot quicker using the default Rock Band drum layout. Adding these to the kit makes it feel more natural, and I can play just Iike I always have on a real kit. I'm definitely buying the third cymbal when it becomes available. Another word of caution, it takes about 30 minutes or 6 songs or so before you get really used to using these as a part of your kit. Once you do, you'll never want to go back. I wholeheartedly recommend these to anyone who seriously plays the drums in this game.
12/4/08
Worthless
something you need to understand these dont need to be on the drum set to play rockband i found that all though they are cool and look cool there are no cymbal notes in the rockband software so why create cymbals then what a waste of money in order to get these functional for my drum set which is a rockband 2 drum set i had to mod the cymbals in order for them to function a real pain by anymeans this product is worthless
12/15/10
A deeper immersion or a distraction from reality?
Rock Band 3 is about immersion- taking yourself away from the troubles of the real world and putting yourself into the shoes of a rock star. This is a two-edged sword when it comes to the Rock Band 2 cymbals. After a gruesome, 10-minute setup, I loaded up the game to try pro mode for the first time. Needless to say, I failed my first attempt at "Science Genius Girl", but not because of hardware error, but because of my unpreparedness for this new mode. Of course, after playing for a while, I've noticed an occassional double hit. These instances are few and far between, so I believe the initial problems with them have been fixed since the original set came out. Playing with cymbals makes me feel more like a rock star than anything, though. I no longer feel like I'm hitting an oversized 4-buttoned controller. Sadly, the cymbals do have their downsides. They make much more noise than the pads, and sound very fake. Plus, if you're using an HD TV, there will be a noticeable lag between the sound the TV makes and the noise hitting your cymbals makes in fills, idle time, or freestyle mode. You will also need to leave your musical fantasy land between each song to readjust and retighten your cymbals, since your constant beating of them will make them slide down their stands and loosen their nuts, making them more difficult to hit or making them register too many hits, rendering your perfect streak moot. My suggestions? If you're not too concerned about high scores and don't quite want the full pro experience, get this to cut a few costs. It'll be a great way to introduce yourself to pro mode before dropping $40 to find out cymbals aren't your idea of fun. If you're a drum junkie ready to take full advantage of pro mode and every point counts, you'll want the Pro cymbal 3-Pack. It might be twice as much as this set, but the new cymbals are quieter, better, and deliver the entire pro mode package.
12/5/10
Good Clean Fun
When I first heard about Rock band and Guitar hero i didn't like the idea of a music game i kind of figured it was dumb. Now that I played them I am a huge fan of music games. I love getting a bunch of my friends together i rocking out with fake instruments. I (of course) am usually the drummer. I owned the Rock band 1 instruments and traded them in for the Rock Band 2 ones. When i heard about the cymbals it was a no brainer. I bought them when they came out and i must say it does add to the experience. When i first bought them they were wobbly and they would fall down no matter how tight i had the screws. Then i read that the brackets that attach the cymbals the the set needed to be squeezed together till you hear a "click" my problems were solved. Now they work perfectly i have never had a double hit issue with the heads no matter how loose or tight the wing nuts are. On another note i would recommend adding the Universal Rock Band Silencing pads to your set. Less for dampening the noise but to preserve your drumming pads. Mine are starting to peel i am thinking about adding a light adhesive to keep them on my pads. Just trying to protect my investment.
3/5/09
A must have for any Rock Band 2 drum fanatic
I absolutely LOVE the cymbals. I've played with the 2-pack for a couple months, and just recently bought the one-pack to have the full 3 cymbal setup. When I first set mine up, I was a little disappointed. I had the nuts tightened completely down, yet as I would play, I would gradually beat the cymbals lower and lower. Upon closer examination, i noticed that there are clips situated just to the inside of where it wraps around the poles. The trick is to squeeze these until they click BEFORE you tighten the nuts. Then, once you tighten the wing nuts, you'll get no movement at all--no dropping, rotating, anything. Once I did this, I haven't had to touch them since. The cymbals themselves work great. I occasionally have to re-tighten the colored nuts, but more out of OCD--they have never missed a note or registered double notes for me. One disadvantage of the cymbals is the sound...if you bought the RB2 kit partially because of the quieter drumheads, throw that out the window if you have the cymbals. They're distinctively "cloppy" sounding, and require the music volume higher to drown them out. Once you do, though, having the cymbals makes you feel like even more of a real fake rocker. It takes a little while to get used to knowing when to hit the cymbal and when to hit the pad. Good news is, it doesn't matter...hit either, and it registers as long as it's the right color. Even though it might be nicer (if much more confusing) to have separate note colors for the cymbals, as a non-drummer in real life, it's helping develop my musicality by forcing me to think about whether the yellows and blues should be cymbals or toms. The final advantage in my opinion is that you get a much better reaction from a group of drunk people by breaking out the 7-pad drum set when fully outfitted (much moreso than the standard RB 4 pad or even GH 5 pad set up). Nothing like being the coolest of the non-cool :) As a marketing person by trade, I think the way they set up the cymbals as one, two, or three packs and somehow managed to make nothing but the two packs available at stores is brilliant. As a customer, I think it stinks. To curious readers...do NOT buy two of the 2-packs thinking that it's worth having a separate cymbal. Buy the two pack, and then find a single pack online, or just buy the 3-pack online. The single pack comes with a longer pole, a "Y" brace (to attach two to one of the drum legs--something you can't do with two double packs), and an extra cross brace to give your higher cymbal extra support.
2/20/09
These do work!
I bought these back in November and haven't looked back. Taken my Rockband drumming to a whole new level. Yeah the tightening screws can be a little iffy but about the cymbals themselves I've never had them miss a note. Not once. It took about 2 hours to get used to them because I'm not a "real" drummer and play most of the time on Medium. After I did I was able to FC 5 Gold Star "Charlene (I'm right behind you)". That's beat it 100% on Expert. These things are great and make drumming in Rock Band so much more fun. I don't know what these other reviewers are talking about because I've never had a problem. All I do know is that they are much better quality than the ones that came with GHWT, and I plan on buying the single when I can find it so I can have a ride.
1/28/09
Just as bad as you'd expect
Well, its official. MadCatz sucked back in the day and they still suck today. Temporarily setting aside my disbelief that Harmonix would trust a company with such a terrible reputation to create not only *an* officially licensed product, but *the only* officially licensed product, I'll share my thoughts on the cymbals themselves. The only point that matters and is worth mentioning, is that these simply DO NOT WORK. I bought the two pack yesterday, excitedly took them home and hooked them up. Figuring I should field test them before the gang showed up last night to play, I fired up the 360 and picked a simple song (Social Distortion). No Everlong, no Metallica, just a nice simple 4/4 tune with the opportunity for the game to get a clean read on my striking the cymbal. Every time I hit either cymbal, it registered two hits. I knew I had tightened the wing nuts as much as possible to prevent any "flopping" that may have been interpreted as another hit, so I loosened them a little and tried again. Same crappy product, same crappy results. Wondering about freestyle mode? Same results. Disappointed, I disassembled the cymbals and am packing them up today to return them. I really hope that Harmonix nixes the deal with MadCatz and lets a *real* company try to develop another set of cymbals. Don't be fooled into wasting your time buying these. You'll find yourself packing them back up, too, and cursing MadCatz the whole time. Of course, given how my "new, improved, more durable, blah blah blah" Rock Band 2 drums have pads that are already peeling off after only 2 months' use, maybe I shouldn't be so surprised at the quality of the cymbals. FYI - If your pads peel off, too, my best advice (if Harmonix tells you your out of warranty) is to buy a caulk gun and a tube of polyurethane adhesive/sealant. Draw a nice spiral on the felt pad underneath the rubber pad and slap the rubber back on. It's a $10 fix vs. $90 for new drums (with the same adhesive that will just decompose again).
12/21/08
Don't waste your money
These things are garbage. I upgraded to the RB2 drums so I could have the expansion slots for these cymbals. I finally found them in store at Gamestop and quickly picked them up:• First off the clamps that hold the cymbal arm don't fully tighten, so by the end of a song the cymbals are sitting on top of the pads from being pushed down.• They sound horrible and loud -- the equivalent of banging on an empty milk carton.• The nut / pad that holds the cymbal in place doesn't work well -- sometimes the cymbals sensor will swing 180º and there's no way to get it back mid-song.• The sensitivity is off, it doesn't record every note every time, especially on faster 16th notes.I've played drums from 10+ years so I was excited for this upgrade but it was a giant FAIL. i've since gone back to the regular default, 4 pad set up. Much better...
12/16/08
Great, just shy of awesome
If you're looking for something to make your Rock Band drumming more authentic, this is the way to go. The hi hat over the snare gives for a somewhat comfortable semi-crossover posture, and the crash over the green tom makes for an awesome finish to your freeform fills. The reason I said somewhat comfortable with the hi hat is after a while, and after some hardcore songs, your arm gets tired after a while. On a three song random set, I put my difficulty to Hard and just so happened to get Endeverafter's "I Wanna Be Your Man" and The Acro-Brat's "Day Late, Dollar Short" in that order, finishing up with the President's "Lump". The next day, my right arm was even more sore as the day after the Nintendo Fusion Tour when I played the Wii before it was released. I also noticed both cymbals were registering double hits when hitting it on the edge, thus losing my multiplier. After some trial and error, I discovered that if you hit either cymbal above the center line close to the wing nut you don't get the double hit and save your multiplier. They're very loud, but then again aren't real cymbals? One of my biggest complaints would have to be the track. All four notes are the same and all four colors do the same thing with the exception of the free form fills, so you have to use your ears (if you can hear the music to start with) and your instinct on if you should hit the cymbal or tom. Would be very nice if they had a smaller note like a hammer on note from either guitar track to symbolize a cymbal (no pun intended) and a larger note for the tom. Other than that, I love these things. If you do get them, show everyone what you've learned and jump on the freestyle mode. On freestyle, the drumheads are snare and three toms and the cymbals are hi hat, ride, and crash. Crank up the volume and go crazy!
12/2/08
Great Idea, Poor Execution
I really liked the idea of having cymbals on my Rock Band 2 wireless kit. I could never find a pack anywhere until the other day. I grabbed the pack and headed home to start playing. After spending about 30 minutes setting up the cymbals (I didn't really read the instructions until I felt like I was doing something wrong) I thought they looked great on the set and felt very durable. Although well built the cymbals do not perform well at all. I set one cymbal as a yellow and another as the green notes. The first song I played didn't use the yellow pad much at all but did use the green quite a bit. The cymbal seemed to pick up all my hits but would make me loose my multiplier for some reason. I always play on expert so it was kind of hard to tell what was going on with the cymbal since I was concentration more on playing the song. The second song I played used the yellow as a high hat more often. Then I noticed every time I had to hit the cymbal more than once in succession it would loose my multiplier. I figured the cymbals weren't tight enough and tightened them as much as possible. This made the cymbals very rigid and uncomfortable to play on but I figured it would fix the problem. It didn't. I finally figured out that the cheap piece of foam that you put between the wing nut and the top of the cymbal doesn't do a good job of keeping the back of the cymbal from hitting itself on the wing-nut/foam and causing it to double hit, thus making you loose your multiplier and sometimes completely miss the correct notes. This is unacceptable and makes playing the drums on expert very frustrating. If you only play on medium or hard you might get away with using these without a problem. But when you're an expert drummer and used to playing fast parts and whaling away on the kit then these cymbals are not for you. In my opinion, if you want cymbals on your kit for Rock Band 2 then save up the cash and get the ION drum kit instead. I am sure, seeing how as it is a real electronic kit, that the cymbal pads on the ION do not cause the same problems that these add-on's do. I am returning my cymbals immediately and will wait for the day that the ION kit either drops in price or I can save up enough for them. Until then, stick to the four pads.
11/22/08