steadypocket
06-18-2007, 05:31 PM
My church was in the market for a new drumkit so I did a lot of research and suggested a 5-piece Vision kit. My first loyalty is with Pearl (I currently play a Reference kit and a Sessions kit) so I looked hard and long for something comparable at that price point from another drum manufacturer and came up blank. Simply stated, there is no better kit on the market for the price.
Now for a quick review and later, I'll compare the Visions against a Mapex Pro M kit that I recently picked up (came across a good deal). The church went with a natural birch lacquer finish and the drums are just gorgeous. Everyone raved about their appearance on Sunday. When I tuned the rack toms, they sounded incredible, even with the stock ProTones. Don't tell anyone anyone in the Reference part of the PDF, but the Vision 10" tom with stock heads sounded better than my Reference drum of the same size (and that drum has EC2s on it!)! These rack toms (10 and 12 inch) have such a beautiful, rich tone to them. Now the 16 inch floor tom sounded acceptable, but as I was rushed for tuning, I couldn't get it quite right. It rang a bit, even with moon gel and I suspect that better heads would make a difference. The bass drum was a bit too boomy with the stock heads, even with the reso ported. I'll have to wait until I put better heads on for a more accurate review. Finally the snare sounds great and though I personally wouldn't use it for my gigs, it does the job well (and beats any other competitor's snare drum at this price point).
Now for a quick "tale of the tape" against the Pro M:
Finish: While the Pro M kit has a decent lacquer finish, the Vision wins this hands down. You'd never know it was a mid-grade kit. How many times can I say gorgeous!
Shells/Tone: Dead even. While the Visions rack toms proved superior, the Mapex kick and floors sound better than the Visions. Perhaps it's not a fair comparison as the Mapex has Ambassadors while I've yet to put good heads on the Vision drums.
Snare: Let's just say that the throw off on my Pro M snare is made of plastic and looks like something that came out of a bubble gum machine. I can't even get the snare wires on the Mapex drum to disengage far enough from the reso head to prevent rattling in the off position. The Mapex drum reminds me of my first snare drum from second grade.
Miscellaneous (hardware, mounting, lugs, etc.): Visions proved to be clearly superior. The Pro M lugs and rims look like something you'd get on an entry level kit. I love the rubber gaskets on the bass drum claws to protect the hoops--just like my Reference kit. Those special touches were found everywhere. I might give the hi-hat stand nod to the Mapex and can't compare pedals as the Mapex kit didn't come with one (though the beater on the Visions bass pedal seemed a bit cheesy). Both kits are made in mainland China. Why are the Mapex "fit and finish" details so inferior to Pearl's???
Look, my Mapex kit does sound good (great shells in my opinion) and I even gig with it occasionally but if I had it to do all over again, I never would have strayed (forgive me Pearl), despite the great deal. The Visions kit is a winner. I just can't believe this kind of quality can be had for $750 (half of Pearl list).
Now for a quick review and later, I'll compare the Visions against a Mapex Pro M kit that I recently picked up (came across a good deal). The church went with a natural birch lacquer finish and the drums are just gorgeous. Everyone raved about their appearance on Sunday. When I tuned the rack toms, they sounded incredible, even with the stock ProTones. Don't tell anyone anyone in the Reference part of the PDF, but the Vision 10" tom with stock heads sounded better than my Reference drum of the same size (and that drum has EC2s on it!)! These rack toms (10 and 12 inch) have such a beautiful, rich tone to them. Now the 16 inch floor tom sounded acceptable, but as I was rushed for tuning, I couldn't get it quite right. It rang a bit, even with moon gel and I suspect that better heads would make a difference. The bass drum was a bit too boomy with the stock heads, even with the reso ported. I'll have to wait until I put better heads on for a more accurate review. Finally the snare sounds great and though I personally wouldn't use it for my gigs, it does the job well (and beats any other competitor's snare drum at this price point).
Now for a quick "tale of the tape" against the Pro M:
Finish: While the Pro M kit has a decent lacquer finish, the Vision wins this hands down. You'd never know it was a mid-grade kit. How many times can I say gorgeous!
Shells/Tone: Dead even. While the Visions rack toms proved superior, the Mapex kick and floors sound better than the Visions. Perhaps it's not a fair comparison as the Mapex has Ambassadors while I've yet to put good heads on the Vision drums.
Snare: Let's just say that the throw off on my Pro M snare is made of plastic and looks like something that came out of a bubble gum machine. I can't even get the snare wires on the Mapex drum to disengage far enough from the reso head to prevent rattling in the off position. The Mapex drum reminds me of my first snare drum from second grade.
Miscellaneous (hardware, mounting, lugs, etc.): Visions proved to be clearly superior. The Pro M lugs and rims look like something you'd get on an entry level kit. I love the rubber gaskets on the bass drum claws to protect the hoops--just like my Reference kit. Those special touches were found everywhere. I might give the hi-hat stand nod to the Mapex and can't compare pedals as the Mapex kit didn't come with one (though the beater on the Visions bass pedal seemed a bit cheesy). Both kits are made in mainland China. Why are the Mapex "fit and finish" details so inferior to Pearl's???
Look, my Mapex kit does sound good (great shells in my opinion) and I even gig with it occasionally but if I had it to do all over again, I never would have strayed (forgive me Pearl), despite the great deal. The Visions kit is a winner. I just can't believe this kind of quality can be had for $750 (half of Pearl list).