Gear4music TouchBeat Plus Electronic Drum Kit Review

I recently spent quite a bit of time playing and recording with the Gear4music TouchBeat Plus, which is the flagship model in the new TouchBeat electronic drum set range.

Turns out, there’s actually a lot going on with this kit. You get a really substantial setup straight out of the box, with four toms, two crashes, a three-zone ride and mesh heads throughout.

But for me, the biggest standout is definitely the module, which has a really impressive 7-inch HD touchscreen that makes the whole kit incredibly easy to use. But there’s a lot of other things to like here too.

There are some compromises compared to more expensive electronic drum sets, but considering how much you’re actually getting here, I’m pretty impressed.

After spending plenty of time setting it up, playing it and exploring the module, here’s what I thought.

Setup and Build Quality

Setting up the TouchBeat Plus was extremely straightforward.

Everything comes together in one box, and there’s a huge diagram included that guides you through the entire setup. The different rack sections and joints connect together neatly, and there are also markers that help you get everything level.

The rack uses what Gear4music calls its Anchor Lock system, which is designed to prevent the different joints and pads from rotating or slipping while you play. And in my experience, it works really well.

I definitely played this kit hard during my time with it, and everything stayed exactly where I wanted it.

The pads feel nicely locked into position, and I didn’t have issues with things gradually slipping or rotating during heavier playing.

There’s also a crossbar running along the bottom of the rack behind the kick drum. I really like this because it helps prevent the kick tower and pedal from gradually creeping away from you while you’re playing.

There are a few areas where the hardware doesn’t feel quite as premium as what you’ll find on more expensive electronic kits, though.

The cymbal arms, for example, are pretty thin. They worked absolutely fine and I didn’t have any issues with them, but they don’t have that heavy-duty feel you get with higher-end kits.

The wing nuts on top of the cymbals are also plastic, and some of the pads themselves are surprisingly lightweight when you actually pick them up.

None of this caused me any problems while playing – and importantly, the complete kit feels really solid once everything is assembled and there’s no wobbling whilst you’re playing. 

A Huge Setup Straight Out of the Box

One of the biggest strengths of the TouchBeat Plus is simply how much kit you’re getting. It already feels like an expanded electronic drum kit straight out of the box.

The setup includes a 10-inch dual-zone mesh snare, two 8-inch dual-zone mesh rack toms and two larger 10-inch dual-zone mesh floor toms.

You then get an 8-inch mesh kick tower, a 12-inch dual-zone hi-hat, two 12-inch dual-zone crashes and a larger 14-inch triple-zone ride.

All of the cymbals also offer 360-degree playing surfaces too, which is great.

You have four toms rather than the usual three, two crash cymbals and a proper three-zone ride. That’s the kind of configuration a lot of drummers would eventually want to build towards anyway.

It gives you loads of options around the kit without immediately feeling like you need to start buying extra pads. For the money, I think that’s a big selling point.

The Touchscreen Module Is Excellent

The module is probably my favourite part of the TouchBeat Plus.

Right in the centre is a 7-inch HD touchscreen, and I was genuinely impressed by how sharp and responsive it is to use.

Electronic drum modules aren’t always particularly intuitive, especially at this sort of price. And even some expensive kits still rely quite heavily on small screens, buttons and menus, so having a large and responsive touchscreen here makes a massive difference.

As you scroll through the different preset kits, you actually get a visual render of each drum kit on the screen. It’s a small detail, but it’s cool. It makes browsing through the sounds much more engaging and gives the module a much more modern feel.

And everything is really easy to navigate. I never felt like I was digging through endless menus trying to find a particular setting. Most of the things I wanted to adjust were only a couple of taps away.

You aren’t forced to use the touchscreen either. There’s still a physical data wheel that you can rotate and push to select options, along with a dedicated volume control. So if you prefer physical controls, you’ve still got them.

Overall, I think the interface is one of the strongest parts of the entire kit. It’s clean, responsive and incredibly easy to get around.

Drum Sounds

Inside the module you get 950 sampled sounds and 25 preset drum kits, along with the ability to build and save your own custom kits.

Overall, I thought the sounds were for the most part pretty good actually.

There were definitely some presets I preferred to others. I particularly liked some of the pop and rock kits, and I thought the kick and snare sounds were generally really impressive.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the cymbal sounds, these actually sounded quite realistic.

The toms were probably the weakest area for me. Some of them didn’t have quite the same realism as the kick, snare and cymbal samples, but they’re still perfectly usable for practicing.

I also found that adding some of the onboard reverb helped bring the kits to life.

There’s some additional sound control available within the module too. You can swap individual drums and cymbals to create your own kits and then adjust parameters including sensitivity, pitch, panning and EQ.

Being able to adjust the pitch is particularly useful because you can effectively tune individual drums to get the kit sounding closer to what you want.

There’s also a built-in metronome, EQ and effects available directly from the module.

Again, what makes all of this particularly good is the touchscreen. Having lots of options isn’t much use if they’re buried inside complicated menus, whereas here I found everything really quick and intuitive to adjust.

Connectivity and Using Drum VSTs

The TouchBeat Plus also gives you plenty of connectivity for home practice and recording.

Bluetooth is built in, which makes it really easy to connect your phone or another device and play along with music.

For a home practice kit, I think that’s something a lot of drummers are going to use constantly. You can connect your phone, load up Spotify or whatever you normally use for music and immediately start playing along.

You also get USB MIDI connectivity. This is particularly useful if you’re planning on using the kit for recording because you can connect the module to a computer and use the pads to trigger a drum VST.

And I think that makes a lot of sense with this particular kit.

The onboard sounds are perfectly good for practicing, and there were several that I really liked. But if you want more detailed, studio-quality drum sounds, you’ve got the option of using software instead.

Considering how many pads you’re getting and how easy the kit is to play and configure, I can see it making a really good VST setup for home recording.

Playing the TouchBeat Plus

In terms of the actual playing experience, I found the kit really enjoyable to use.

The mesh heads give you the kind of response you’d expect from a modern electronic drum kit, and having four toms and multiple cymbals makes the whole setup feel much less restricted than a basic entry-level kit.

The 8-inch mesh kick tower also performed really well. I liked that it wouldn’t creep away at all either, because the horizontal rack bar keeps it positioned where you want it.

It feels responsive under the foot, you can comfortably bury the beater into the head, and there’s enough room to accommodate a double bass drum pedal.

That’s another nice touch because it means someone playing rock or metal isn’t immediately restricted by the kick setup.

The main limitation for me is the hi-hat. Rather than having a moving hi-hat mounted on a conventional stand, you get a fixed 12-inch cymbal pad with a separate electronic controller pedal.

It does the job. You get open, closed and semi-open positions, and I didn’t have any major problems using it.

But it doesn’t give you the same level of expression or natural response that you get from the independent hi-hat systems found on more expensive electronic kits.

For a beginner or intermediate home practice setup, though, I don’t think that’s unexpected at this price.

Who Is the TouchBeat Plus For?

For me, the TouchBeat Plus makes the most sense as a really well-equipped home practice kit for beginner and intermediate drummers.

You’re getting a lot for your money. The expanded setup and the intuitive module will appeal to a lot of drummers. Plus, it’s also really easy to live with.

The rack stays solid even when you’re playing hard, and I also think there’s a lot of potential here for someone who wants an affordable electronic kit to use with drum software.

Connect it to a computer over USB MIDI, load up your preferred VST, and you’ve got a large electronic setup with plenty of pads to work with.

Final Verdict

Overall, I came away pretty impressed with the Gear4music TouchBeat Plus.

I think its biggest strength is just how much you’re getting for the money. This doesn’t feel like a basic electronic drum kit that you’re immediately going to want to expand. With four toms, two crashes, a three-zone ride and a mesh kick tower, you’ve already got a seriously substantial setup.

The touchscreen module is another major highlight. It’s sharp, responsive and genuinely intuitive, and I really enjoyed being able to see the different kits visually while scrolling through them. It’s something I’d like to see far more of on electronic drum modules in general.

There are a few areas where you can tell this isn’t a premium electronic drum set. Some of the hardware components feel quite lightweight, the cymbal arms are thin, and some of the drum sounds lack a little fidelity. The controller-style hi-hat is also noticeably less expressive than the independent hi-hats you get once you start spending more money.

But none of those things really affected how solid the kit felt while I was actually playing it!

That’s the important distinction for me. I could play hard, everything stayed locked in place, the kick felt good, and the whole kit performed exactly as it should.

For a beginner or intermediate drummer looking for a large, feature-packed electronic drum kit for home practice, I think the TouchBeat Plus gives you a lot of bang for your buck.