Are Roland kits the only electronic drum kits worth buying?

gearaddict · November 2021

I'm after some advice on an electronic kit for my son. He has been playing for a few years and has played in some bands. He has a Roland HD-1 v-drum kit and a Pearl Export acoustic. The acoustic never gets played now though and he is looking to upgrade the electronic kit, which he uses a lot for recording. We have a budget of £400-600. I was looking at the Roland TD-07 DMK or the TD1 DMK...but you get so much less for your money with Roland. The Alesis, Tourtech or Simmons kits you get in that price range have bigger heads and mesh bass drum triggers and just generally look more interesting. But I read things about the Alesis sounds not being great and technical glitches with the Tourtech and Simmons kits. I guess my question is - do you have to buy Roland? Are there cheaper kits out there that are well made and have good sounds? Thanks!

paulmapp8306 · November 2021

No. The alesis crimson kits are very very good.

Yamaha make some on part with both alesis and roland as well.

It may be true that the roland sounds are the top of the tree, both yam and alesis are so close you'd not tell in anger. There are accoustic kits that differ more from other accoustic kits.

Jonathangus · November 2021

@onlyonebradders looked at Roland and Yamaha, and went for the latter.

onlyonebradders · November 2021

I went for Yamaha over Roland. The Roland kits have the mesh heads which are nice for feel. I also liked the feel of the Yamaha though and it had better ergonomics for the brain, came with proper hardware for the hi hat and for the money I got an extra crash. But then mine was in the £2k territory! Personally speaking, if I didn’t live in a terraced house,I’d prefer acoustic any day of the week!

octatonic · November 2021

Honestly they all suck.

mrkb · November 2021

Whatever you do buy used - get much better value for money that way.

WiresDreamDisasters · November 2021

The Alesis kits are great value. It's not a real drumkit, but it's good enough.

Funkfingers · November 2021

onlyonebradders said:

mine was in the £2k territory!

Ain't that the truth.

Anything with zoned pads, a believable hi-hat and enough user kit memories is going to be costly.

gearaddict said:

… my son … has a Roland HD-1 v-drum kit … he is looking to upgrade.

I can not recall whether the HD-1 is a self-contained, dead end, "starter drug" product or it is upwardly compatible with other Roland V-Drum brains?

If the pad trigger connections permit, the existing kit can be expanded - both in terms of the sound set and the number of triggers.

Obviously, the simple HD-1 pads would make perfectly good single zone triggers to expand a kit with some (or all) mesh heads for the principle elements.

onlyonebradders said:

if I didn’t live in a terraced house, I’d prefer acoustic any day of the week.

octatonic said:

Honestly they all suck.

Rubbery trays are no substitute for stretched heads and metal objects.

OTOH, the HD-1 pads could be used to expand the Pearl Export acoustic kit in a Neil Peart stylee.

neilg · November 2021

Funkfingers said:

"starter drug" product or it is upwardly compatible with other Roland V-Drum brains?

That's a very accurate description of my path with V-drums, in the space of two years I started with a TD1 kit and gradually replaced pads and the module for a TD17 and am now at the point where I've got a TD50X with all the digital bits.

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Are Roland kits the only electronic drum kits worth buying?

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