Best deal on an electric kit for running SD2.0?

[melovine]

The drummer in my band is looking at investing in an electric kit and has the budget of roughly $1800, what would be the best most comfortable electric kit in the range?

-if it will be triggering SD2.0 would he need to invest in a drum module?

-would there be much lag if we run it off of SD2.0?

-what would be the best deal?

thanks!

 

[heshian46]

Stick with Roland. There are other decent cheaper brands out there, but roland is #1 for a reason in the electronic drum market.

Run MIDI out of the Drum module into your interface, adjust the drum map if needed, boom.

 

[melovine]

but is there any decent roland kit in that price range? also could it get around not buying the drum brain if im going to be using samples from SD2.0?

 

[lordofthestring]

I use the DM5 Pro at my studio but swapped out the kick pedal and use a Pintech one (30 bucks). It is superb and have no complaints with it. Slight learning curve for drummers but response is great and rebound is definitely good enough. Only 250 bucks. Alesis holds good place in the market too, not just Roland ;-)

 

[heshian46]

but is there any decent roland kit in that price range? also could it get around not buying the drum brain if im going to be using samples from SD2.0?

Best bet is to go to your local shop and have your drummer play whats available. They all have different feels to the pads, and he may like the feel of some over others.

And get this for going into SD2.0 from the pads.

 

[thomas1831]

The new behringer kits look interesting for the money,, the model with USB looks to be around the same quality as the alesis DM7USB or DM8. I own a Yamaha DTXtreme IIS if you can snag one of these there incredible! I scored mine for $400 from a church here in my home town .. It has large 3 zone Pads, USB and lots of I/O options in the module. I also owned a DM7 USB it wasn't that bad for the price but instantly got rid of it when I scored the yamaha. (traded them for a Dixon Demon kit)

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

Man I'm using a cheap ass used TD-3 (bought used for $400) and it triggers just fine.

If I had it to do over with more cash I would have bought a cheap ass acoustic kit, 5 cymbal pads, the hat trigger pedal, a module of choice (maybe alesis new ipad setup or something) and the stuff to covert the acoustic to electric triggers.

That's just me though.

If I wanted something factory for $1800 or less it would be a TD-9. Don't cheap to much on the module, mine for example does not do dual zone on the tom inputs (not that I really care) and anything else except the snare (I think) is only dual zone input.

A module that can accept those variable high hats (the ones that do more than just open or closed) are probably really nice to have.

A word to the wise though, if you drummer isn't into tweaking stay away from the Alesis DM10. Amazing module, shitty stock settings (I was incredibly floored at how bad it was out of the box actually, but when it's dialed in right it's sex).

 

[valdiorn]

I am currently in the process of converting an old Pearl Export into an electronic kit. I won't recommend you do that unless you have 3 weeks of spare time, lots of tools and like to DIY , but here are some thing I've learned in the short time since I decided to get an E-kit:

Roland is great, but insanely expensive.

Don't always expect pads and modules from different companies to work well together (they will *work*, but not well).

Most of this stuff is seriously overpriced! It sucks, but it's the truth. (you realize that when you see people building better stuff than Roland can offer for 1/10th the price. If you don't believe me, head over to Vdrums.com DIY forum ).


Your questions:

-if it will be triggering SD2.0 would he need to invest in a drum module?
You need an interface to connect the triggers to your computer, i.e. triggers in -> Midi out (or USB connection). I'd say get an Alesis TriggerIO, it's the cheapest option, and a relatively good one. IF you do decide to get a big $$$ Roland kit, though, buy a Roland module!

-would there be much lag if we run it off of SD2.0?
That completely depends on your audio interface. It is not the software that determines latency, it is your hardware. What kind of latency can your computer handle? Only way to find out is to try it. (FYI: Most interfaces today are pretty good, even my Behringer UCA202 gives me 64sample latency at 48Khz on my 2 year old Lenovo X200)

-what would be the best deal?
It depends on who's going to be playing the kit. If an Alesis USB Studio or an Alesis DM10 is enough, then get that. But if the player is unsatisfied with anything but the best (meaning: it feels just like an acoustic kit) you may end up having to drop 5 grand on a Roland TD30 :/

(of course, if you do it yourself you can build a kick-ass kit for less than a grand, but it takes skill and time)

 

[digitaldeath]

I'm selling my Roland TD-3...