Gear4Music Digital Drums 200 Junior Review

Maybe you recognize this: your toddler wants to get rid of his energy or your child is constantly drumming on everything. How nice would it be if they could let themselves go completely behind a drum kit, which is also specially designed for the littlest ones?

Let’s face it, a real drum kit is fun, but as a parent you don’t want a deafening racket in your house (and probably your neighbors either). An electronic children’s drum kit like the Gear4Music Digital Drums 200 Junior offers a solution. This kit is suitable for practicing drumming without disturbing anyone.

In this review I investigate this drum kit (which is available exclusively from Gear4Music) and discuss its pros and cons.

Gear4Music Digital Drums 200 Junior

The Gear4Music Digital Drums 200 Junior is an electronic drum kit specially designed for children aged 3 and up. The pads with coloured edges make learning to drum easy and the mesh heads ensure less noise pollution.

– Kasper (E-Drums)

Feeling of play

Build quality

Kids proof

Sounds

Price-quality ratio

Summary

The Gear4Music Digital Drums 200 Junior has been specially designed to make drumming extra fun. The unique coloured pads give the kit a playful look that fits well in any child's room, but also ensure that learning to drum is easier. The kit is solidly built, remains stable during playing and is easy to move. Despite the fact that the cymbals produce a fair amount of sound, the kit produces little noise pollution.

4.2

Pros and cons of the Gear4Music Digital Drums 200 Junior

What immediately stands out about the Gear4Music Digital Drums 200 Junior are the colored pads. This gives the drum set a unique look that immediately appeals to children. My 3 year old son was immediately enthusiastic about it!

The rack feels light but at the same time remains stable during play. Because the rack has two horizontal tubes, the kit does not move back and forth when you play on it or bump into it.

The overall kit is not heavy and is therefore easy to lift or put aside. The kit also takes little space in storage, making it easy to place in a child's room without it getting in the way.

This drum set is not completely silent. The mesh head pads produce little sound, but the cymbals are made of hard material which gives more sound.

Also read: Top 5 Electronic Drums for Kids

Snare, toms and cymbals

The Gear4Music Digital Drums 200 Junior has 4 drums: a snare (10 inch, yellow colored drum) and three toms (6 inch, other colors). It is nice that the snare is a bit bigger, because this is the drum that you usually use most. The toms would be too small for adults, but are just right for children.

Mesh heads

A big advantage of this drum set are the mesh heads (this is a drum head made of woven mesh that is quieter than rubber pads). As much as I enjoy drumming, when you are not playing yourself the tapping can sometimes be crazy. These mesh head pads ensure considerably less noise, which is nice when your child goes completely crazy while drumming.

Colored pads

The parts of the drum kit have different colors. This makes the drum kit look nice, but also makes learning easier. Colors are easier for children to remember the parts of a drum kit (snare, tom, crash, ride, etc.)

Both the toms and snare are single-zone, meaning they produce the same sound everywhere, regardless of where you hit them with the stick.

Cymbals

The cymbals (3 pieces) are all the same size and are all single-zone. The cymbal pads are easy to position to your own preference, both vertically and horizontally. As mentioned, the tapping of the stick on the cymbal does give a fair amount of sound.

Hihat and kick pedal

The hihat and kick pedal are both the same pedals and are good in size for any size foot (even adults). The pedals are not too heavy to press, so children who can use less force can also play well.

Another plus is the anti-slip mat under the two pedals so that they do not shift even on a smooth surface when the pedal is pressed.

Overall playing feel

Since the Gear4Music Digital Drums 200 Junior is specially designed for children and I am an adult myself, I can of course not say anything about the height of the kit. For an adult the kit is much too small and low, but for small children it is perfect.

Sensitive pads

The mesh heads are velocity sensitive and respond well to both hard and soft hits. The same goes for the cymbals, which are not playable 360 degrees around but only on the yellow part.

Good distance between pads

The distance between the pads is a bit small for adults, but just right for children. Because everything is close together, you will not easily miss and practicing fills is easier.

Build quality

The build quality of the Gear4Music Digital Drums 200 Junior is beyond reproach. The kit is quick and easy to assemble and once it is up, it is stable on any surface.

One of the reasons why this kit remains extra sturdy is the horizontal tube at the bottom of the rack. This tube provides extra stability, which means the kit wobbles less during play. This is especially useful for small children, because they are of course not always so careful with their things.

User-friendly module

All sounds come into the Gear4Music module, which is the same module as the Gear4Music Digital Drums 200X (the black version of the DD200 Junior).

Buttons and functions

The module is very easy to operate and contains the following buttons:

• Volume (rotary knob): Use this to adjust the volume
• Data (rotary knob): Use this to navigate between different kits and songs
• Kit: Choose another kit (31 kits)
• Song: Choose a song (44 songs)
• Click: Turn the metronome on or off
• Play/Stop: This stops or starts a song

Furthermore, the module has a number of basic functions, such as connecting your smartphone via an AUX input (so you can play along with your favorite music), but also the option to connect the kit to a amplifier. You can even connect the kit to your PC and import the sounds.

31 kits and 44 songs

The Gear4Music Digital Drums 200 Junior module has 31 kits (in my opinion a bit much), of which the first 25 are not that different from each other in my opinion. For a children's drum kit the sounds sound quite realistic.

The 44 songs are great for introducing children to music. They are not really children's songs, but that is not a problem. An extra handy feature is that when a song is played, the numbers on the module's screen light up to the beat of the music, which helps you keep your timing.

Accessories

The Gear4Music Digital Drums 200 Junior package includes the following accessories:

Junior headphones: These headphones are specially designed for children and fit every head.

Set of drumsticks: These drumsticks are too light in weight for adults, but suitable for children to learn to play the drums.

Mini drum throne: A height-adjustable drum throne that is stable and ensures that your child can easily reach the pedals with his feet.

What alternatives are there?

If the Gear4Music Digital Drums 200 isn't quite what you're looking for, there are a number of alternatives with similar specifications that you could consider:

Millenium Rookie / Gear4Music Visiondrum

The Millenium Rookie is an electronic drum kit designed for kids and is easily adjustable in height. This kit also has mesh heads, but a slightly smaller 8-inch snare pad.

Gear4Music Digital Drums 200X

Want the same kit but without the coloured pads? The Gear4Music Digital Drums 200X is the same kit but has a slightly more professional/regular look.

Conclusion

All in all, not only I, but certainly my 3-year-old son, am very satisfied with this drum kit. The Gear4Music Digital Drums 200 Junior is one of the only electronic drum kits that is really specially designed for the little ones. Not suitable for adults, but for small children it is a very nice first drum kit.

The amount of kits (31) is in my opinion a bit on the high side; a small child has more than enough with a maximum of 10 different kits. Furthermore, the module does what it is supposed to do and does not have complicated functions that children do not need.

Other advantages are the good quality sounds, the sturdy design, the silent mesh heads and the accessories specially designed for children. The kit is also well priced, so if your child does not like drumming it is only a small investment.

I hope this review has made you excited about this electronic drum kit for kids. Do you have any questions? Let me know in the comments!