The music video game market has been pretty cool for a while with no major releases from either the Guitar Hero makers or the Rock Band makers.  Fortunately, Rock Band 3 is coming this fall and the  game’s focus will be on teaching one to play music instruments rather than just  imitating the rhythm of them.  A  realistic keyboard is planned to teach basic piano skills and there is even a realistic guitar planned.  Naturally, there will be some enhancements to the drum mode so it behooves those of us who own the Ion Rocker drum kit to upgrade our sets.
 
The  U-IED07c Cymbal expansion kit is designed to add a third cymbal to your ION ROCKER.
 
The kit comes  disassembled in a box  and takes roughly 3 minutes to unpack and assemble. The part included are:  a 4.5 mm wire to connect the cymbal to the drum brain, the cymbal itself,  a two foot long aluminum pole  and 3 color disks (yellow, blue and green) to match the drum you wish to connect to.
 
Unfortunately for the ION ROCKER, there is no Guitar Hero drum brain offered (yet).  Guitar Hero  makes use of just three drums (snare/ tom/tom) and two cymbals (high hat/ crash). Each individual object is separated from one another and recognized distinctly by the computer. Unfortunately, Rock Band makes use of 4 drum pads and never implemented the cymbals properly.  The cymbals are wired in to function with the drums of the same color. Because of this, Guitar hero offered a more realistic drumming experience than Rock Band.
I purchased the cymbal expansion because having  a crash and a ride cymbal felt more natural than using the blue drum pad, when a cymbal was appropriate.
 
The only problem I’ve had with the cymbals is that they don’t feel like cymbals at all.  They feel like hitting wood even though they are made of plastic covered with high impact foam. Perhaps this design ensures  playing the unit is more quiet so as not to disturb others.   If so, they could have at least colored them yellow or gold instead of black.  Anything to make them a little more cymbal-like.
 
While playing on these cymbals, there is no “give” whatsoever,   On a real drum set, you can smack a cymbal and it tilts allowing your stick to pass through its axis. Not here.  Once you’ve tightened the joints, every strike you’ll make offers only bounceback.   

2 days ago, I was playing Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne and when I hit the cymbal it snapped my stick in half. That's how hard the edges on these cymbals are.

For $40, these cymbals are OK, but, true pro players will want to upgrade to ALESIS’  Surge Cymbals which are available in 12”,  13” or 16”.  Unfortunately, these cymbals cost roughly $150, $200 and  $250  respectively.   My entire ION Rocker drum kit didn’t cost that much!
 
Overall, I enjoy playing my drum games but I hope a Guitar Hero drum brain will be offered, and I hope new cymbal expansions will be offered. For the time being, the IED07c is the most inexpensive option.




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