Time for another product sent to us by a great store, which the DrumStore based in Gdynia, Poland, undoubtedly is. This time it’s Kicker III from Sonitus Acoustics. After unpacking this toy, we immediately started the testing, which we carried out in our top secret, sound-proof room adapted for recording purposes.
fot: beatit.tv
The Kicker III is the third version of the world’s first “head to head” bass drum muffler. Its job is to dampen the resonance and batter drumhead. The Kicker is produced in fixed proportions for all sizes, which means that the percentage of air is always the same for smaller and larger bass drums.
2. Basic product specification:
- Size: 22 “x 18”
- 3 pull-out “rollers” allowing to reduce the damping area
- Material: Polyester foam
- Colour: Black
3. Test
We tested our Kicker with three bass drums from the same series, but with different sizes. The drums were DW Collector’s 20 “, 22″ and 24”. Even though our Kicker was made for a 22″ drum, it easily fitted into the 20″ and 24″ drums.
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Kicker III
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Kicker III
4. Summary
The bass drum muffler from Sonitus Acoustics is made at the highest quality level. The foam is perfectly rounded and the rollers are very well-matched. An interesting fact is that we did not hear any difference in the sound of the drum with the rollers drawn out from the muffler. The sound coming out of the drum was very clear, with lots of low frequencies, and zero unnecessary overtones.
When using the Kicker III, one should remember that after inserting it into the drum the way the drumhead works changes a bit, which translates into different behaviors of the bass drum beater on impact. The tension seems to be a little easier to control, especially with the 24 “drum. As we know, the wrong setting of the beater and the drum pedal itself when playing such a large drum creates a characteristic “buzz”. A good way to get rid of this “farting” effect is to slightly “shortening” the beater.
Producer: Sonitus Acoustics
OUR VERDICT 5/5
Advantages:
- Well made
Disadvantages:
- None
