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Electronic kit recs

austinz

austinz

Austin Weatherhead
Staff member
I'm about to move into a new apartment, with a small second bedroom for a studio/office. I'm trying to find a solid electronic kit with a good feel. Of course long term, I'd love to pull the trigger on the Roland VAD504. But for now I'd like to keep it under $1k or so just as a practice setup since I can't have any of my acoustic kits in my apartment.

What are some of you favorites in that price range? I've played a lot at drum shops, and some friends have older Roland e-drums, but I've always had a problem with the feel of the cymbals (mainly the ride) on the cheaper electronic kits. What do you guys recommend?
 
That's not an ideal price range. Your best bet is probably finding a TD-17kvx used. Maybe Yamaha DTX6K2-X for a little more and upgrade the rubber toms later to whatever else you like. Some people like the silicone snare better than mesh. Cymbals won't really get much better until at least 2k.
 
I bit higher in price, but I like the near-total silence of the Roland VQD106 kit. Unlike other brands, these Roland cymbal pads are just as silent as the drum pads.

www.roland.com

Roland - VQD106 | V-Drums Quiet Design

VQD106: V-Drums Quiet Design - The Quietest Kit in V-Drums History
www.roland.com www.roland.com
 
cbphoto said:
I bit higher in price, but I like the near-total silence of the Roland VQD106 kit. Unlike other brands, these Roland cymbal pads are just as silent as the drum pads.

www.roland.com

Roland - VQD106 | V-Drums Quiet Design

VQD106: V-Drums Quiet Design - The Quietest Kit in V-Drums History
www.roland.com www.roland.com
Click to expand...
This is what I was going to suggest too given just how quiet they are - perfect for apartment drumming, but way too expensive for the OP. My suggestion is to find a second hand Roland or Efnote and either build a tennis ball mini stage for it to sit on to reduce noise, or use foot controllers for the pedals - most of the sound transfer comes from normal kick drum pedals hitting pads.
 
Tamboreter said:
Hey @austinz I only have experience with Roland and a cheap Alesis kit, which I would not recommend. Maybe try getting a used set of Rolands. However, you may still need to increase your budget.
Click to expand...
Yeah the budget is the main problem here haha. I'm just hesitant to spend too much since I may have to sell the kit anyway since I'm moving cross country again after 6 months or so. Will check out Alesis - I've played a few good ones at Guitar Center before.
 
Doraemon said:
That's not an ideal price range. Your best bet is probably finding a TD-17kvx used. Maybe Yamaha DTX6K2-X for a little more and upgrade the rubber toms later to whatever else you like. Some people like the silicone snare better than mesh. Cymbals won't really get much better until at least 2k.
Click to expand...
Yeah I haven't seen any "good" electronic cymbals either for under $2-3k. Might go the TD-17kvx used route. I'll be moving to around the LA area, so I'm sure Facebook Marketplace will be a goldmine for some good deals
 
austinz said:
Yeah the budget is the main problem here haha. I'm just hesitant to spend too much since I may have to sell the kit anyway since I'm moving cross country again after 6 months or so. Will check out Alesis - I've played a few good ones at Guitar Center before.
Click to expand...
From all I've heard, Alesis would be last choice after Roland or Yamaha. Just sayin'...

Sounds like a big move...hope it goes well for you.
 
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Ha
Tamboreter said:
From all I've heard, Alesis would be last choice after Roland or Yamaha. Just sayin'...

Sounds like a big move...hope it goes well for you.
Click to expand...
Hard agree. Alesis doesn't have an amazing reputation - worth Googling Alesis + pad and cymbal problems, hi hat problems, latency, rack issues, module dramas, etc.
 
austinz said:
Yeah I haven't seen any "good" electronic cymbals either for under $2-3k. Might go the TD-17kvx used route. I'll be moving to around the LA area, so I'm sure Facebook Marketplace will be a goldmine for some good deals
Click to expand...
The new alesis 360 cymbals are actually really nice and you can get the Strata club 4pc set up for $1600. It's a new model with a badass module so if you take care of it you should be able to sell it in 6 months for $1000+ and get most of your money back.

I have a crimson 2 se kit and you can get those new for around $900 right now. All in all it's a fine kit and I use it for home rehearsal... Honestly I use it more than my acoustic drums after having a baby and trying to spend more time at home. The cymbals do feel like cheap plastic ekit cymbals (better then my original alesis nitro kit though!) but they are fine to play on for simple rehearsal purposes. They basically feel like practice pads, they kinda "wobble" like cymbals.

Like someone else said, Yamaha just released a new dtx kit with mesh pads, a decent module, and nice cymbal pads for around the same price as the Strata club.
 
austinz said:
I'm about to move into a new apartment, with a small second bedroom for a studio/office. I'm trying to find a solid electronic kit with a good feel. Of course long term, I'd love to pull the trigger on the Roland VAD504. But for now I'd like to keep it under $1k or so just as a practice setup since I can't have any of my acoustic kits in my apartment.

What are some of you favorites in that price range? I've played a lot at drum shops, and some friends have older Roland e-drums, but I've always had a problem with the feel of the cymbals (mainly the ride) on the cheaper electronic kits. What do you guys recommend?
Click to expand...
Find a used TD11 or TD15 with all mesh pads and you will have a very decent kit.
My TD11 10 years ago in the video below is now paired with my TD27 as shown in the second video.
note that I added extra cymbal pads by making my own splitters. Yes I dropped the stick at the end but I recovered instantly and finished the song.

The current kit:

 
austinz said:
Yeah the budget is the main problem here haha. I'm just hesitant to spend too much since I may have to sell the kit anyway since I'm moving cross country again after 6 months or so. Will check out Alesis - I've played a few good ones at Guitar Center before.
Click to expand...
You can pack the entire kit in the boxed that it comes with, just save them.
 
austinz said:
Yeah the budget is the main problem here haha. I'm just hesitant to spend too much since I may have to sell the kit anyway since I'm moving cross country again after 6 months or so. Will check out Alesis - I've played a few good ones at Guitar Center before.
Click to expand...
You can make payments at Sweetwater and get yourself a better kit.
A Roland TD27 which goes for $3849 is $81.82 a month for 48 months. Anyone can afford that.
The TD27 comes with the digital snare, digital hats, and digital ride. currently the best pads money can buy.
Also you can record multitrack to a DAW without an interface, you can even record directly to the module including the backing track or not if you only want the drums. You can add sound packs for very little $$ and sound like this:
www.vexpressionsltd.com

V Expressions Ltd

Custom modeled kits for Roland, Pearl, Yamaha & more!
www.vexpressionsltd.com www.vexpressionsltd.com
And don't sell your kit when you move, save the boxes! you will love playing drums on that kit. since you mentioned you want the VAD kit, get it with the TD27 which is a lot more expensive ($6000 or $127.50 a month for 48 months). but you only live once.
Edit: You can use the $$ you currently have and only finance the rest, your payments will be even lower!.
 
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Acoustic2Electronic said:
Ha

Hard agree. Alesis doesn't have an amazing reputation - worth Googling Alesis + pad and cymbal problems, hi hat problems, latency, rack issues, module dramas, etc.
Click to expand...
i'm a Roland guy but I own 2 Alesis modules the DM5 and the Alesis I/O I also use the Alesis DRP100 headphones I never had an issue with any of them, in Fact the DM5 still has a lot of kits that are usable in some musical situations.
 
doggyd69b said:
Find a used TD11 or TD15 with all mesh pads and you will have a very decent kit.
My TD11 10 years ago in the video below is now paired with my TD27 as shown in the second video.
note that I added extra cymbal pads by making my own splitters. Yes I dropped the stick at the end but I recovered instantly and finished the song.

The current kit:

Click to expand...
Love the set up man!
 
doggyd69b said:
you
doggyd69b said:
You can make payments at Sweetwater and get yourself a better kit.
A Roland TD27 which goes for $3849 is $81.82 a month for 48 months. Anyone can afford that.
The TD27 comes with the digital snare, digital hats, and digital ride. currently the best pads money can buy.
Also you can record multitrack to a DAW without an interface, you can even record directly to the module including the backing track or not if you only want the drums. You can add sound packs for very little $$ and sound like this:
www.vexpressionsltd.com

V Expressions Ltd

Custom modeled kits for Roland, Pearl, Yamaha & more!
www.vexpressionsltd.com www.vexpressionsltd.com
And don't sell your kit when you move, save the boxes! you will love playing drums on that kit. since you mentioned you want the VAD kit, get it with the TD27 which is a lot more expensive ($6000 or $127.50 a month for 48 months). but you only live once.
Edit: You can use the $$ you currently have and only finance the rest, your payments will be even lower!.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
I'll definitely keep that in mind. It's true... you only live once haha!
 
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