California-based e-drum maker Simmons has released a new 5-piece kit that could put the smile back on your bank manager's face. For under half the list price of Yamaha's TD-4KP V-Drums Portable, the SD500's rugged steel frame offers a snare, three toms, a kick drum, two cymbals, hi-hat and pedal and a brand new trigger module with hundreds of available drum sounds.

"Most electronic drum sets in this price range don't offer a complete, full-size kit, which compromises the playing experience," said Jim Norman, Simmons Product Manager. "The SD500 is the first and only electronic kit that delivers a true drumming experience, along with professional features and an incredible range of sounds, all for under $500."

At the heart of this wallet-friendly beast is the new SD500 drum module, with a 16 character, backlit, blue LCD screen promising easy navigation. It ships pre-loaded with a 64 MB Simmons custom drum library with a 64 voice polyphony, and has 352 drum sounds spread over 35 kits, and 60 songs with 50 drum patterns for practice.