Gearank

Behringer bill this as an 8 piece kit but it's really a 5 piece kit. The way you count the number of pieces is by counting the drums and not including any of the cymbals or the hi-hat - so this has a pad for a snare, 3 for toms, and 1 kick.

Owners of the XD8USB generally like the play and feel of the pads and the snare has two zones so you can play rim-shots.

On the downside the cymbals don't choke and when you hit the closed hi-hat then open it the sound doesn't change. There were also a couple of reviewers who said the kick pad failed on them but they were able to get a replacement under the warranty. Other than that the kick pedal and pad were quite liked - just one note: the pedal needs to be perfectly centered on the kick pad so it's unlikely you'll be able to get a double kick pedal to work with it.

Reviewers are generally quite happy with the HDS110USB sound module which has 10 preset kits and you can create 5 of your own presets out of the 123 percussion sounds it comes with.

It has both headphone and auxiliary outputs so it can be used with an amplifier. It also has an 1/8" aux in so you can play along with any recorded music in addition to the built in tracks you can use.

It sends MIDI out over USB so it can be used as a MIDI controller with any DAW.

The lack of chocking cymbals is a big minus, so if you're looking to buy one of these check out our guide to Sub $500 Electronic Drum Kits first.

Watch this video for a demonstration of the XD8USB: