Tested the Roland quiet kit

Doraemon

Doraemon

Silver Member
I went to the Bild Expo for photographers and ended up drumming. No idea what Roland was doing there. But I held my phone close to the pads while hitting them hard in the noisy hall and this was the sound. The cymbals have a rubber edge.

It's really quiet. But also feels totally weird. It was definitely less bouncy than normal mesh, with some foam under. The play area is rather small, especially on the cymbal, which itself is already small. The edge is a little louder, and then hitting the wrong side of it - hard plastic - can be bad. Imagine having to play this quietly at night or who knows where and why and suddenly you hit that. Unfortunately they only come in one size, and aren't cheap either. It's still a great solution when the ambient noise is an issue, too (besides vibrations).
 
Last edited:
Yeah those cymbals just seem a bit weird to me. Might make me not want to practice or play on the kit after a while haha
 
Doraemon said:
I went to the Bild Expo for photographers and ended up drumming. No idea what Roland was doing there. But I held my phone close to the pads while hitting them hard in the noisy hall and this was the sound. The cymbals have a rubber edge.

It's really quiet. But also feels totally weird. It was definitely less bouncy than normal mesh, with some foam under. The play area is rather small, especially on the cymbal, which itself is already small. The edge is a little louder, and then hitting the wrong side of it - hard plastic - can be bad. Imagine having to play this quietly at night or who knows where and why and suddenly you hit that. Unfortunately they only come in one size, and aren't cheap either. It's still a great solution when the ambient noise is an issue, too (besides vibrations).
Click to expand...
Thank you for this! In my home situation a regular mesh ekit with rubber pads is plenty quiet (I just played for about thirty minutes yesterday while my toddler was sleeping in the next room without problem) but I do think this Roland kit is a great idea. BUT I feel like the pads would feel like a sponge or a mousepad. I wouldn't be surprised if, like many Roland products, this goes through several revisions over the years.

austinz said:
Yeah those cymbals just seem a bit weird to me. Might make me not want to practice or play on the kit after a while haha
Click to expand...
I totally agree and that was my first thought when this product was announced. I am ok with rubber cymbal pads but those mesh/honeycomb rubber pads do not scream "cymbal feel" to me. Also, the whole kit in general has substantially less zones then most kits. If I remember correctly the snare is 2 zone and everything else is 1. I see packages that have the td27 module with this pad set... Why?
 
Yeah, it's difficult to explain what it felt like, a bit spongey, but like a harder surface with less rebound, somewhat like TCS.. a little bit of everything.
 
The noisiest part of an Ekit is going to be the bass drum pad. If you live in an apartment with neighbors below you, and beside you, the other pads usually won't be heard, but the bass drum will unless you isolate it from the floor and maybe hang some moving blankets around the walls adjacent to the other apartments. Also there is nothing your neighbors can do about your playing as long as you follow the noise ordinance hours. Of course you don't want to be an ass and just annoy the neighbors, so build a tennis ball riser, add a rug underneath and maybe moving blankets around the walls and ceiling and you should have a quiet enough room to be able to play without being worried about the cops showing up at your place.
 
I've played it as well and I think it's very cleverly built. It meets its aim of the world's quietest electronic drum kit for certain. I agree that the cymbals feel odd to play on, but I don't think the point of it is a super nice acoustic-like experience - other kits cover that market. If you want that, go for Efnote or Drum-tec. But this kit is perfect for practice in a small apartment and mannn I wish I had one decades ago when I was living in one. Would've saved many visits from the cops lol
 
vqd106_content_photo_02.jpg


I almost bought the entry level kit but wanted a better controller unit. I really like the cymbal pads. They’re much quieter than any other “cymbal” I’ve tried.
 
Another thing that most people don't even consider, it is ok for them to call the cops on you for making noise ( a slight tud from the bass drum), but it is NOT ok for you to call the cops on them when their dog is losing his mind barking all day or their baby cries incessantly and you can hear it at all hours of day or night. Double standard much?
 
eric_B said:
Cool, thanks for posting.
Did you also try the kick pad?
How was it?
Click to expand...
Kick pad felt pretty good. Slightly squishy because it has a silicone insert, but pretty good for what it is. Isn't as nice as say a 3 ply mesh head with heavy dense foam behind it, or mylar of course, but it fine for what it is.
 
cbphoto said:
I almost bought the entry level kit but wanted a better controller unit. I really like the cymbal pads. They’re much quieter than any other “cymbal” I’ve tried
Click to expand...
I think the thing that is holding this kit back is the module controller unit, but I think they wanted to keep the costs down a bit given that the kit is already pretty expensive. Ideally you would already have a decent module to pair it with. It will work well with a TD 11, TD 27, TD 50x, V71, Pearl Mimic Pro, 2Box Drumit 3, etc, if you want good sounds. Alternatively you can pair it with EZDrummer, SD3, SSD, or a similar VST.
 
doggyd69b said:
The noisiest part of an Ekit is going to be the bass drum pad. If you live in an apartment with neighbors below you, and beside you, the other pads usually won't be heard, but the bass drum will unless you isolate it from the floor and maybe hang some moving blankets around the walls adjacent to the other apartments. Also there is nothing your neighbors can do about your playing as long as you follow the noise ordinance hours. Of course you don't want to be an ass and just annoy the neighbors, so build a tennis ball riser, add a rug underneath and maybe moving blankets around the walls and ceiling and you should have a quiet enough room to be able to play without being worried about the cops showing up at your place.
Click to expand...

Take a look at

Tama Soft Sound Beater - Full Width​

I have been using one over two years now and my wife said she can not hear anything from my upstairs drum.
 
force3005 said:
Take a look at

Tama Soft Sound Beater - Full Width​

I have been using one over two years now and my wife said she can not hear anything from my upstairs drum.
Click to expand...
I watched this video:
I disagree with the "but still feels great" I have played with similar and they have zero bounce which makes them feel really unnatural, other than that they will get the job done.
 
Last edited:
Acoustic2Electronic said:
I think the thing that is holding this kit back is the module controller unit, but I think they wanted to keep the costs down a bit given that the kit is already pretty expensive. Ideally you would already have a decent module to pair it with. It will work well with a TD 11, TD 27, TD 50x, V71, Pearl Mimic Pro, 2Box Drumit 3, etc, if you want good sounds. Alternatively you can pair it with EZDrummer, SD3, SSD, or a similar VST.
Click to expand...
Sweetwater offers a VQD kit with the TD27. The DB-25 style cable jack intrigues me.


There's also a "quiet" bass drum beater and tiny floor pad.

www.roland.com

Roland - KDB-Q | Quiet Beater

KDB-Q: Quiet Beater - Quiet Kick Beater for the V-Drums Quiet Design Series
www.roland.com www.roland.com

www.roland.com

Roland - NEQ-K | Kick Pedal Base

NEQ-K: Kick Pedal Base - Kick Pedal Base for the V-Drums Quiet Design Series
www.roland.com www.roland.com
 
cbphoto said:
Don't leave me hangin' bruh!
Click to expand...
Your request will be filed at the bottom of the todo pile ;-)

DB-25 cable boom:

Pros:
  • Obviously it is easy to connect to the module.
  • You cannot make mistakes connecting the pads/cymbals to the module inputs.
  • The cable set is pretty neatly tied together.
Cons:
  • The cables are different lengths (at least my TD-9 cable boom), aimed at a regular setup.
    If you move gear around, like I have my hihat over to the other side as I play openhanded, the hihat cables are too short.
    You cannot swap it for a longer one but need extension cables.
  • If the DB-25 connector fails, you need a new expensive cable harness.
  • Related: if one cable or its connector fails you cannot swap it out for a new cable. You either need to repair it or get a new cable boom.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top