Buying drums, some questions

[Osse]

Hello, today I was at the drum shop in town and fell in love with a DW pdp x7 series drums, and I have some questions regarding the subject.

Thomann has very cheap PDP "BX" series drums(http://www.thomann.de/se/dw_pdp_bx_standard_solid_black.htm), birch shells(x7 has maple) and I wonder what difference can I expect between the birch shells and maple shells?

Also, I can't find the BX series on pacific official site(http://www.pacificdrums.com), but other birch-based drums, could I expect any difference between different series with the same material, or is it more a matter of different setups regarding the set?

I have another store here in town that obviously has PDP birch shell drums, which I'm going to try before deciding, depending on the deal and price in those stores, I might order from thomann and what could I expect regarding the consistency in sound and quality, I mean, will equal setups from the same series sound identical, almost identical? or will there be any difference? as I could not test the drums if buying from thomann so I really need to know that it will satisfy my needs if I find the birch shell PDP's here in town satisfying.

Thank you all.

 

[BLUElightCory]

Birch is generally a bit drier in tone and has more attack than maple, I prefer it for hard rock/metal drum sounds. Maple tends to be a bit warmer sounding with more resonance.

I can't speak regarding the consistency between the two kits, but even if the build quality is identical between the two setups you can probably expect at least a small degree in variation, due to differences in wood between the two kits. Also, keep in mind that any difference in hardware, number of plys, etc. will make a difference as well. Honestly, if you found a kit you love I'd grab it, you're always taking a bit of a risk buying something without being able to hear it.

 

[Trevoire520]

As has been said, Birch is drier sounding with more attack, Maple has more resonance. I've been recording a few birch kit's recently and I'm actually quite hankering for some maple drums to record again if I'm being honest.