An reasonable electronic drum kit

[tomcat ha]

Hello,
im looking at getting an electronic drumkit for practicing and at home recording. (i have a presonus interface with midi in and out)

Im not extremely rich so i cant afford a really expensive kit but luckily i did not have to spend to spend all my savings on moving and getting new furniture so i have a decent amount of money.
I do play metal and punk mostly.
I guess ill have to buy my own double bass pedal.
I assume most kits are fairly modular? So that i eventually could upgrade to better pads or better drum computer but keep the rest of the parts?

As for the kits ive seen around locally:
The TD11kv. It seems have have a few meshheads people have been recommending.

TD-11KV :: Products :: Roland

yamaha dtx550k
http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical- ... mode=model

yamaha dtx530k
http://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical- ... mode=model

any thoughts?
Im planning to try out these kits but these are seemingly the best ones in my price range.


Thanks in advance

 

[Rev2010]

Never had a Yamaha kit but always heard good things about them. Used to have a full mesh Roland set and loved it but when the project I was trying to form went nowhere I sold it to make space and get some extra cash. I later decided to get another kit and now have the Alesis DM10 Pro kit. I don't recommend it. It's inferior to the Roland in so many ways. It's cheap yes, and you get a usable kit, but it's loud as hell, wears down fast, and has some problems I never had with my Roland kit.

Yes, these kits are pretty modular with the only thing being the amount of inputs available, though you can expand that still with something like an Alesis IO hooked into the drum brain via midi.


Rev.

 

[Malkav]

You may also wanna take a look at the Mark Drum kit (Same people who make Mark Bass) - I don't know too many specifics but in my country they retail for the same ball park as a TD-15, however there are a few specs that make them rather bitching as a choice.

Don't hold me to this but so far as a I recall the specs that I thought made them awesome were:

* Individual outputs for each drum
* 4 extra inputs for additional pads
* The frame is designed to have the pads plug into it, so less clutter and less wear on cables.
* Best of all it allows importing of 3rd party samples - So theoretically you could have Superior Drummer on your electronic kit

Markdrum - Home

 

[tomcat ha]

im afraid that the markdrum is too expensive for me.

 

[Epyon6]

I'm not a huge fan of electric kits cause I kinda hate em....but I do have one for quiet practice. I have the Yamaha DTXplorer, I can attest that its a great electric kit for the price (around 600 new). I'm sure the Yamahas you posted up are great but your best best would most likely be the Roland, I always hear that the Rolands are the best for electronic drums. Also yes you can change out the pads and the module even if you want but the most important thing is the module: for instance.....on my Yamaha when I play double bass sometimes I play too fast for the brain to handle, then I used a DM5 and suddenly all of my bass hits were on and herd. Just giving you an example of how the module has to be good to handle your drumming depending on how fast your playing. However you shouldnt have any problems with these kits especially the Roland. Good luck in your buy, I'm sure you'll be happy with either kit.

 

[Rev2010]

for instance.....on my Yamaha when I play double bass sometimes I play too fast for the brain to handle

Most likely the reason you had that happen was your retrigger rate setting was too high. No reason the brain should have any trouble handling fast double bass or snare rolls, at least it should be able to handle far faster than you can humanly roll.


Rev.

 

[meambobbo]

i also have the dtxplorer. not sure if the newer dtx has updated tech.

the bass drum tracking issue is for real.

also, while the module outputs a midi CC for the hi-hat pedal, I think it will only output 3 values pertaining to full open, lightly closed, and tightly closed. It's better than straight open/close, but a fuller range is necessary to get a realistic feel of going from open to close.

the faq for the midi says the module can handle additional sends, like cymbal/snare edges vs center. I'm not sure the supplied pads actually support that though - I need to double-check.

I can't really complain though. My drumming skillz warrant a far worse kit.

 

[GSingleton]

Rolands are dependable and track well. gets my vote.

 

[Epyon6]

Yea I dont believe so because like I said when I used the DM5 with my electronic kit it picks up everything, even went through all the trigger options for the yamaha, I had the same problem when I had a simmons kit for like $300 (but was way worse). Pretty much you get what you pay for.

Most likely the reason you had that happen was your retrigger rate setting was too high. No reason the brain should have any trouble handling fast double bass or snare rolls, at least it should be able to handle far faster than you can humanly roll.


Rev.

 

[Rev2010]

i also have the dtxplorer. not sure if the newer dtx has updated tech.

the bass drum tracking issue is for real.

I guess I stand corrected!


Rev.

 

[meambobbo]

I guess I stand corrected!

Rev.

Maybe not! I'll try to dig into the settings tonight - never got too deep into them.

 

[Rev2010]

Maybe not! I'll try to dig into the settings tonight - never got too deep into them.

Cool, would be interesting to hear back. I don't know for sure if Yamaha calls the setting "Retrigger rate" but most other brands of module do. It basically confines the trigger to not trigger again until a certain degree of milliseconds are met. It helps to prevent accidental double triggering but also negatively affects fast rolls.


Rev.

 

[meambobbo]

i can do rolls on the snare very fast, which seems to tell me its not the module. and as techDethDrummer said, the bass trigger works fine with another module. so it stands to reason it's just a setting...

 

[GSingleton]

SO how about that roland......

 

[meambobbo]

found a manual online: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...bdW1oxuMSxPM7aHd83iZ34g&bvm=bv.43828540,d.aWM

There are lots of setup stuff I never knew about. Each input jack has its own setup. Page 26 deals with the "retrigger" item, but it is called "rejection". "Self-rejection" covers the amount of time between trigger hits on the same pad/trigger. There are two other "rejection" items that cover "cross-talk" between triggers. You can also set the dynamic range, minimum value, and velocity curves.

 

[meambobbo]

and i confirmed that this does work - the default self-rejection setting was 4/10. I set it to 0. No limit on my double bass speed other than what my feetseses will allow now.

 

[Rev2010]

and i confirmed that this does work - the default self-rejection setting was 4/10. I set it to 0. No limit on my double bass speed other than what my feetseses will allow now.

Well then I believe a "like" on my post is in order no? I wasn't talking out my ass, I know a whole lot about this shit Glad to hear I could help out.


Rev.

 

[Epyon6]

You prob didnt run into that problem cause you had that kickass roland!

Well then I believe a "like" on my post is in order no? I wasn't talking out my ass, I know a whole lot about this shit Glad to hear I could help out.


Rev.

 

[GSingleton]

ROLAND.....ROLAND....ROLAND ON THE RIVER

 

[drmosh]

I really don't think there is a reasonably priced e-kit, you definitely get what you pay for.
best bet is a 2nd hand one, but try it first because those pads stop working!