AK Rock Box Gaming and Storage Ottoman with Drum Lift (Black)

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We purchased this based on the need to "clean up" the Rock Band room. The other reviews were pretty good and it looks sharp online. We ordered on a Sunday and it arrived on Wednesday.

First impressions were good. Although quite heavy, it DOES look sharp, feels nice to sit on and holds a bunch of stuff. I put two wireless guitars, Rock Band 2 wireless drums and pedal, the mic, and a half-dozen controllers and remotes into the box with no problem. Once closed, visitors would never realized how addicted you are to fake plastic rock.

The Rock Box's internal drum support frame seems like a great idea, and it is, but needs two kinds of improvement. First, the lid closes at a low angle. This "clips" the front edge of my Rock Band 2 drums, making the box very tricky to open without damaging them. I picture a visitor just pulling the box open without knowing and SNAP--dead drums. That's the weakest part of the design and could be overcome by adding a little more depth to the box itself.

Once you open the box, the hinged drum support rises and "locks" about two feet up. The range of motion ALLOWS for a few more inches of height, but sinks back to that one level. (As a 6' tall drummer, I "force" it to stay at the higher level by placing a block against the hinge base.) It would be EXCELLENT to improve the support structure, which seems fragile, and allow multiple height settings. Both of those aspects compare poorly to the stock Rock Band drum kit.

Would I buy this again? Yeah, maybe, but I'd at least look for other options that handled the drums more elegantly. You could, for example, re-use the stock drum struts by putting sockets near the inside front edge, saving the cost of all that hinge engineering.

Pros:

Exterior looks nice, comfortable padded top

Easy to "assemble"

Can fit many extras in the box, including controllers, games, and remotes

Cons:

Lid edge "grabs" the green and red drum edges, a significant damage hazard

Drum kit support doesn't "lock" at highest level, making it harder to use for tall players

Feet could use pads to prevent floor marks, given the box weight

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The Rock Box really does what it says. Having a nearby place to keep my RockBand equipment makes my family room look neater but still keeps everything close and convenient. Lined individual spaces for the accessories. The drum-set extension makes my game easy to use from the sofa. With the top closed, it is a nice-looking piece of furniture as well. Very well thought-out, and a great idea.

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This thing is awesome!

Stores the pedal, mic, guitars perfectly and the lift for the drums is great.

Seems pretty sturdy.

It's comfortable to sit on for normal gaming, and lid works great to lean against when playing rock band (or just spectating).

I was worried it'd be too huge, but it's a great size.

Two things though:

It's listed as "dark brown". I don't remember that when I ordered it (I don't think there was a color) and from the pictures I assumed it was black. When the box came I was worried when I saw that it was listed as dark brown,

but it's either the darkest brown I've ever seen, or it's black.

The drum height isn't adjustable the way it is with the original stand, but it seems to be at a good height.

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This ottoman is a good storage idea to "hide away" your Rock Band gear, but the main problem I had was that it is not comfortable at all to play the drums in front of it. When the drums are on their original legs, your kick pedal is positioned below the drums. When the drums are mounted on this ottoman, it is actually in the way of the natural and more comfortable position of the pedal. I needed to sit further back in order to get the pedal to feel right, and then I felt too far away from the drums. It would be better if they made a version without the drum lift to use just for storage. It is not difficult at all to pull the legs off the drums to put them away and slip them back on when you're ready to play.

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I wasn't sure if this would work with Guitar Hero, being new to the genre I didn't know that Rock Band and Guitar Hero drums had different post widths. I tried my best to find out if this would work with Guitar Hero by contacting AK. First, there is no mention of the item on their website. Second, their phone number only went to a recorded message. Third, I sent an e-mail to their customer support department, and though promised a response withing three days, I never received a response. It has been three weeks now. I took a chance and purchased the item, checked it out, and discovered it would not work with GH. I will say that it seemed to be manufactured very well and was high quality. Sadly, I will return for a refund. If AK ever decides to design a GH version of the Rock Box I will probably buy one. I realize now that the likelihood of this being incompatible with GH, given the physical differences, should have been apparent, but putting a mention on the website and Amazon page that is similar to the warning on the box about "Rock Band Only" would have been very helpful.