Roland PM-01 Personal Monitor

The Roland PM-01 Personal Monitor is a basic drum monitor suitable for electronic drums. We’ll go over the features and facts a bit later on, but first, here’s a comment from a user review . . . “Good sound, decent output for small room personal sessions” . . . read more (by Rick Lyon, Amazon).

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Features . . . this is a 15W drum monitor designed to go with the Roland HD-1 electronic drum set (see our reports on that). Users say the sound quality is good, but . . .

The customer complaint was that it’s not loud. One customer said that it was enough volume for practicing alone in a small room, but the general consensus is that it’s not loud enough for playing with a typical band. Of course, this is what you’d expect for something at it’s price level, and customers are saying that it certainly is good value. If you want a louder amp with good sound quality, you are going to have to pay a lot more . . .

Louder Alternatives to the PM-01 include the Roland PM10 which is 30w, the Yamaha MS50DR 50 Watt Electronic Drum Monitor System which has a 50W bass unit and two satelite speakers but hasn’t had any user reviews yet, the Alesis TransActive Drummer Electronic Drum Amplifier which is not well-liked by customers, Simmons DA200S Electronic Drum Set Monitor which is very well-liked by one customer, or if you want to stick with Roland, you could consider the Roland Cube Monitor / PA which gets good reviews from a lot of users but is only 30W so not that much louder than the PM-01.

Don’t forget that you can choose any stage monitor as they’d all be suitable for drum monitoring (according to quality and power, of course), so have a look at some more stage monitors. If you want to use an amp rather than a monitor, don’t forget that guitar and bass amps are specifically designed to color the sound so are not what you need for drum monitoring, and a keyboard amp would be much more suitable as it’s designed to produce an uncolored sound.

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Here’s another user comment from a consumer report by someone who has used the PM-01 in practice . . .

“For the price . . . {snip} . . . there’s no equal. ” . . . read more (by Rick Lyon, Amazon).

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In summary, the PM-01 is fine for practicing alone and well-suited to the HD-1 electronic drum set, so why not check the current Amazon price of the Roland PM-01 Personal Monitor

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Roland TD-4 Electronic Drum Set Check price

The Roland TD-4 Electronic Drum Set is one of Roland’s mid-priced electronic drum sets. We’ll go over the features in detail a bit later on, but first here’s some user comments . . . “The sound quality, compared to the TD-3 is nothing short of amazing” . . . (by MonoSpace, Vdrums).

Read the rest of the review below . . .

Contents:- Features, Pros/Cons, User feedback, Alternatives, Summary.

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“If I could give this drum kit more than 5 stars I would. It’s absolutely superb!” . . . (by Thomas Kulczycki, Andertons).

“This is a truely great kit, its silent, plays nicely and not to mention easily.” (by Johnathan Hentley, Andertons).

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ROLAND TD4 Features

This Roland TD-4 Electronic Drum Set features Roland’s excellent mesh V-pads, as well as velocity-sensitive toms plus cymbals with choke capability (said by one user to be “smooth and top-notch”). The new four-legged stand offers improved stability, and is light-weight and stable, and users say that it’s a big improvement on the TD-3 and TD-6 stands. The trigger inputs are on a DB-25 connector which makes it easy to connect them all.

ROLAND TD4 Pros/Cons.

Pros.
The “brain” module is a significant improvement on the TD-3, and comes with 25 kits, 125 sounds and nine ambience types, and includes brand new acoustic drum sounds. It featutures very easy editing of the kits such as fast access to tuning and muffling straight from front panel.

The “brain” also features the “coach mode” which gives you various ways to improve your drumming in terms of speed, accuracy and stamina. You can use the “quick rec” mode to record your performance and play it back straight away, and if you use the internal metronome while you do so, the TD-4 brain can evaluate your performance for you as well. The “mix in” socket makes it really easy to play along with any external audio source.

While the “coach” function is said to be a great help for anyone who wants to improve their drumming, users say to keep in mind that this in no way means that the drum set is only suitable for “learning” drummers, and as so many users say, the sounds and usability (“fabulously playable” was one users comment!) are very proffessional on this kit.

Cons.
One of the few customer complaints was that some users thought that the TD-4 brain being mounted in the center might be a problem, although many said that in practice it is no problem at all. If you wanted to move it to somewhere else on the rack, the DB-25 connector means you might need to take it to a professional to extend the cable length, but that’s nothing too challenging for anyone who knowns what they are doing with this type of standard multi-connector. One user commented that it’s a shame that the brain is “impossible to move”, but another user said that it’s good that it’s not hard to move the “brain” if you want to

Don’t forget that you need a drum throne, or drum sticks or a kick drum pedal or drum monitor to go with your TD-4, Amazon does those as well. (If you want more info on electronic drum concepts, see the Wikipedia page on electronic drum).

Alternatives to the ROLAND TD4

Alternatives to the Roland TD-4 include the Yamaha DTX550K Electronic Drum Set Kit (which at the time of writing is priced the same as the TD-4) although keep in mind with eletronic drum set comparisons that the majority of users say the Roland mesh-head pads are far superior to the pads made by anyone else.

There is also the Roland HD-1 electronic drum set which is less expensive than the TD-4 (and less powerful). Another option is the Roland TD4S V-Compact Electronic Drum Set, which is a less expensive version of the TD-4 (judging by the picture, only the snare uses a mesh-head), or if you want a bit more, the Roland TD9SX is priced a bit higher than the TD-4.

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ROLAND TD4 user feedback

Here’s some more user comments by people who’ve used the TD-4 in practice . . .

“I love this kit and would recommend it to anyone! ” . . . (by Alison Ayres, Andertons).

“Very quick and easy to get set up with a comfortable layout.” . . . (by J Law, Andertons).

“There’s a depth and a resonance to the sounds that is very close to the real thing.” . . . (by MonoSpace, on Vdrums).

“This is a truely great kit, . . . {snip} . . . Cant fault it.” . . . (by Johnathan Hentley, Andertons).

“The ride performs beautifully and realistically” . . . <(by MonoSpace, on Vdrums).

“Absolutely love these drums! . . . {snip} . . . They sound amazing . . . {snip} . . . easy to assemble . . . {snip} . . . fabulous!” . . . (by Johnathan Hentley, Andertons).

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In summary, the TD-4 is rated 5-star by almost all its users, so why not check the current Amazon price for the Roland TD-4 Electronic Drum Set.

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Price check on the Roland TD-9SX Drum Kit.

The Roland TD-9SX Drum Kit is one of the mid-priced Roland electronic drum sets. We’ll go over the features a bit later on, but first, here’s a few user comments . . . “Overall, the drum pads are bouncy and responsive, with excellent Velocity sensitivity. Even when played lightly, they respond like an acoustic instrument would.” . . . (by Brad Schlueter, GearWire).

“What a great set!” . . . read more (by Joanne S. Daugherty, Amazon).

“I was impressed with the TD-9SX. The layout was well designed, and both the rack and the pads look sturdy enough for gigging.” . . . (by ZZSounds).

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Note that the TD-9SX may no longer be available on Amazon, so we suggest the Roland TD-9KX2-S V-Tour Series Kit Drum Set instead.

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Features . . . all the drums on this kit are mesh-heads, so you get a consistant playing surface accross the kit. As with other Roland mesh-head drums, you can adjust the tension of each head yourself which is really useful, so, for example, you might want a really bouncy snare, but a much lower-tension floor-tom. The manual even goes into details such as suggesting playing techniques to get a consistant rim sound. You can choke the cymbal sounds by grabbing the edges, just like a real cymbal.

The “double-bass” kit uses the hi-hat pedal to give you a second kik drum, which some users will love! You can of course play along with any audio source (such as from mp3 player or computer) using the audio-input jack. The USB connector lets you save your kits to an external device. One user commented that they didn’t need to look at the manual to use the “brain” which shows how intuitive and easy-to-use it is.

Roland uses its “Composite Object Sound Modeling” (COSM) technology to physically model some of the sounds available from its brain, and also some of the environments which are included in the Ambience settings. One big advantage that COSM technology has over samples is that it allows you to dramatically change the shape and size of the instrument. For example you could create a cymbal diameter of anywhere between 1-inch and 40-inches, which is perfect for creating sound effects or making unusual sounds that still behave in very realistic ways.

The editing of drum sounds on the TD9 is very easy to use by drummers, because the parameters are things that drummers already know. For example, on a snare, you can dampen the sound by adding 1 or 2 O-rings, or tape. For a kik, you can add a blanket or a softer beater.

The Ambience setting puts your drum in different spaces . . . you can adjust the size, wall-material and mix position to get any ambience you could wish for. The brain provides a nice big backlit display and large buttons, so it’s easy to use anywhere.

The TD-9 brain gives you a stereo output, so you might need to do some detailed editing of individual drums to change levels etc. to get things just right. By contrast, the more expensive Roland drum brains (such as with the TD-20SX) offer individual outputs so the sound engineer (whether on stage, or in the studio) can make adjustments (such as level, tone, spacial position, reverb, etc.) directly. Of course, you have MIDI-out so your drumming can be recorded (by youself, or in the studio etc.).

The TD9 brain includes two additional trigger inputs, so you can expand your kit if you wish. These are available in either 12 inch, and 10 inch dual-trigger mesh-heads.

One of the customer complaints was that the plastic clamps on the rack don’t look all that sturdy. The more expensive TD-20SX uses metal clamps and a stronger rack.

As with any good product, you get a lot of people saying they love the TD-9SX, and one or two saying they don’t, but that’s what you expect from a variety of users. Most users say that it is a great electronic drum set.

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Don’t forget that you need to buy a throne, and kick-drum pedal to complete the kit, unless you’ve got those already. Amazon also provides a great range of headphones to use with your TD9.

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Alternatives to the Roland TD-9SX include the cheapest in the range HD-1 V-drums, the TD-4 which is between the HD1 and the Td-9 in price, or if you want better, the top-of-the-range TD-20SX.

Electronic drum sets from other manufacturers include those by Yamaha, and Alesis.

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Here’s some more user feedback by people who’ve used the TD-9SX in practice . . .

“Fantastic electronic drum kit! ” . . . (by Kemp, MusiciansFriend).

“because the TD-9 is so easy to use, it is suitable for the novice as well as the more experienced drummer.” . . . read more (by Brad Schlueter, GearWire).

“you can adjust the tension of the mesh heads give you so much versitaliy, this kit has alot of great features ” . . . (by Music-man183, MusiciansFriend).

“Nothing comes close to the Roland v Drums. They feel and sound amazing . . . {snip} . . . The Yamaha kits don’t even come close. ” . . . (by SteveDrummer, ).

“Great sounds, easy to customize. I think it is a very inspiring drum tool to practice and experiment with.” . . . (by Rimshot, MusiciansFriend).

“I haven’t been so inspired to play drums like this in years.” . . . read more (by Shaka62, Amazon).

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In summary, the TD-9SX is a great electronic drum set, easy to use for anyone new to these products, yet highly recommended by many professionals. Why not check the Amazon price of the Roland TD-9SX Drum Kit , or the Roland TD-9KX2-S V-Tour Series Kit Drum Set
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Roland DTHD1 Drum Tutor

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(available for windows XP and Vista). It shows you exactly how much you are ahead of, or behind, the beat, and can really improve your performance.

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Roland TD-20SX electronic drum set

The Roland TD-20SX Electronic Drum Set is said to be the best electronic drum set in the world, by many, but how good is it really? We’ll take a look at what is being said by people who’ve used one. We’ll be covering the features below, but first here are a few user comments . . . “Excellent drum set ” . . . (by anonymous owner, MusiciansFriend).

Read the rest of the review below . . .

Contents:- Features, Pros/Cons, Alternatives, User feedback, Summary.

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“In my opinion, if you want the best electronic drum kit available and can afford it, I would recommend this kit without hesitation.” . . . (by an Anonymous user, rmcaudiodirect).

“I definitely recommend this to anyone wanting a pro-quality electronic drumset.” . . . (by da-matt-yo, on MusiciansFriend).

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Roland A: TD-20SX Electronic Drum Set Features

The features of this Roland TD-20SX electronic drum set are many. It is a major upgrade on the earlier TD-20 and TDW-20 sets, and has new V-Pads, new larger V-Kick, as well as new V-Cymbals and V-Hi-Hat. The set has a “brushed chrome” finish and the cymbals have a chrome metallic look. Roland is offering shell wrap kits in either brushed Red Metallic or brushed Blue Metallic which can be purchased as an accessory and installed by the user.

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Roland A: TD-20SX Electronic Drum Set Pros/Cons.

Pros.
It is the most advanced electronic drum set available from any brand, with the well-known mesh-head pads that perform far better than the pads by any other maker and were said by more than one user to be better for feel than an acoustic kit. The “brain” is second to none, with 920 sounds, 100 kits etc. and allows you to choose mic positioning and beater type as well as the sound itself, also with added ambience, and everything is very customizable.

The new hardware on the Roland TD-20SX Electronic Drum Set provides a very stable and solid setup, which is a big improvement on the earlier versions, and the looks of this kit are stunning too. The improvements on the earlier TD20 are significant, with new sounds and dynamics, as well as the new much-improved hardware. The “key tuning” is said to be remarkable.

Amazon does of course sell the additional components not included in the TD 20SX package, such as kick drum pedal, snare stand, and hi-hat stand.

Cons.
One of the customer complaints was that to have more than one user preset, you need to pay for additional memory. Other than that, the only consistant complaint was the cost . . . it’s not a cheap kit, but if you are serious about drumming, it’s the best there is, period.

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Alternatives to the Roland A: TD-20SX Electronic Drum Set

There are no real alternatives to the TD-20SX because it is the only “best electronic drum set” there is. The only factor that would really make someone choose a different set is the price, and of course there are many less expensive electronic drum sets available.

Roland produce many other electronic drum sets, from the HD1 which at around $600 is about a tenth of the price of the TD-20SX, up through the TD4S (at under 1000 dollars), the TD9SX (at just over $2000).

Other big name brands that produce electronic drum sets include Yamaha (with sets from just over $300, upwards), and Alesis (with sets from under #300, upwards).

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Roland A: TD-20SX Electronic Drum Set user feedback

Here’s some more comments by people who’ve used the Roland TD-20SX in practice . . .

“Simply the Best Electronic Drums on the Market” . . . (by an anonymous user, rmcdirect).

“One of the best sets ever.” . . . (by Ian Flores, ).

“I highly recommend it to anybody with the money” . . . (by CARNEDU, MusiciansFriend).

“This is THE ultimate electronic drumset” . . . (by iiJames, MusiciansFriend).

“My main reason for loving this kit so much is the sheer amount of customization available” . . . (by Moxxi, MusiciansFriend).

“This kit has an exquisite feel (actually better than acoustic” . . . (by The Space Pope, MusiciansFriend).

“the Roland TD-20SX is THE e-kit of choice.” . . . (by HMC, MusiciansFriend).

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Roland A: TD-20SX Electronic Drum Set Summary

In summary, if you can afford it there is no other choice for “best electronic drum set available”, so why not check the Amazon price for the Roland TD-20SX Electronic Drum Set.
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Roland HD-1 V drums lite electronic drum set

It gets a 4.5 user rating by Amazon (from 6 users), but how good is it really, and how does it compare to similar products by other companies? . . . let’s find out!

First a couple of comments from people who’ve bought and used this drum-set . . . “Quality is excellent {snip} . . . and the pads and very nice and responsive.” . . . read more (by K. Lin, at Amazon).

Read the rest of the review below . . .

Contents:- Features, Pros/Cons, Alternatives, Summary.

“This kit is near-to-perfect for someone who finds their acoustic kit has become too loud, too big, too difficult to transport, and too time-consuming to set up. {snip} . . . The voices are sampled and really sound incredible” . . . read more (by GCH, on Amazon).

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Roland HD-1 V-Drums Lite Features

The features of this Roland HD-1 drum set are many (click here to learn more about electronic drums) . . . The HD-1 is equipped with an external input for connecting CD-players, iPods®, and the like. Jam along with your favorite songs, and control the blend of music and your live drumming through headphones or an amplifier.

The kit Configuration is Kick Pedal, Snare, Hi-Hat, Hi-Hat Pedal, Tom x 3, Crash, Ride Drum Kits. It has 10 patterns, metronome, output and headphones, mix-in (so you can very easily jam along with your favourite tracks), and MIDI-out (so you can record your playing or use it to control external samples). You can get 0% interest financing from Amazon if you wish.

Roland HD-1 V-Drums Lite Pros/Cons.

Pros.
One of the most important features of this Roland HD-1-Lite drum-set is the MIDI-out. Several customers who reviewed it said that they would have liked more sounds, however, this is easy enough using the MIDI-out and additional equipment, such as a laptop or drum-machine, and effectively increases the range of possible sounds to infinity, which is just one of the huge advantages of electronic drum sets. One way to use this feature would be to practice at home with the built-in sounds, then when going into the recording-studio with the band, use the MIDI-out to make full use of the studio’s library of drum sounds, including individual effects for each sound as needed, limitless tweaking etc. The latency was also said to be very low by one user, at around 9ms.

Cons. One of the customer complaints from several users was that the pedals are not of great quality. Other limitations mentioned include the lack of detailed configuration settings, and small range of adjustability in terms of mechanically positioning the different drums.

Some users are unhappy with the cymbals, but other users said that they are OK. A few users consider this kit a little over-priced for what it does.

The overall user feedback is that this is a decent practice or beginners kit, but as you’d expect, not the same quality as others costing much more. See below for the alternatives to the HD1, and see our other product reports on the right, for more professional Roland electronic drum sets.

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Roland HD-1 V-Drums Lite user feedback

Here’s some more user comments from consumer reports by people who’ve used the Roland HD-1 V-drums Lite in practice . . .

“I LOVE this drums. {snip} . . . ecstatic with the sound quality. ” . . . read more (by Caro Smart “Caro S, Amazon).

“Overall it’s a great practice kit {snip} . . . Overall I can say I’m quite content of the kit.” . . . read more (by HB., Amazon).

“this has been great for my needs. It has 10 kits but at least 4 are very useable. ” . . . read more (by mxbmx930, Amazon).

“work great. The cymbals are great also. {snip} . . . Great purchase. no buyer remorse what so ever!! ” . . . read more (by Kuppy, Amazon).

“I really like how small this drum set is {snip} . . . The snare drum on this is really nice- good response and velocity.” . . . read more (by Icubus2112, Amazon).

“I used this drum set and the software to play along with the lessons in the software, and plugged in my iPod to play along with songs. It is completely amazing. Nothing short of a miracle. ” . . . read more (by K. Lin, Amazon).

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Alternatives to the Roland HD-1 V-Drums Lite

As for comparison, there are three main competitors to the Roland HD1. These are the Alesis DM6 Kit Performance Electronic Drumset and the Yamaha DTXPLORER Electronic Drum Set, and the DD-502mkII Digital Drum Set.

The Yamaha is (at the time of writing) priced the same as the Roland HD-1, with the Alesis and the DD a bit lower priced.

Comparing these drum-sets, the DD gets a 4.5 rating by users on Amazon (same as the Roland), but the snare is only single-zone. The Alesis has a dual-zone snare, and a USB interface to computer (which saves spending a few dollars on a MIDI to USB converter), one big advantage is that you can make up your own sets of sounds. The Yamaha has more sounds and kits available, and gets good user feedback too (no reviews on Amazon yet, but what’s being said elsewhere is good). So, as usual, to some extent you get what you pay for.

In summary, overall the Roland gets good feedback from those who’ve used one, with the Yamaha getting good comments too. The Alesis and the DD are a bit lower priced, and have some good and bad points each. Of course, the DD is not a well-known brand like the others, so who knows if they’re going to be around in the future for spares and support etc. There is no obvious winner here between these different electronic drum sets, so it is really up to the individual to compare features and see what fits their preferences most exactly. Going with user ratings alone, it would be the Roland that wins, or the DD if one cannot afford the Roland.

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Roland HD-1 V-Drums Lite Summary

In summary, users generally agree that this is a great drum set for beginners, but not as professional as much more expensive electronic drum sets, as should be expected.

A final thought is that a lot of people who buy these electronic drum sets complain that some of the sounds that come with it aren’t suitable for the type of music they like (while most people do mention that a few of the drum-kit sounds are great, too). This comment makes little sense as it is very easy to connect the MIDI-out (or USB-out even easier) to an external sampler, or computer, and have whatever sounds you like most (from the unlimited numbers available). For example, the Reason software has a large range of really excellent drum-sets for many different music genre’s, all offering extremely easy use as well as total programmability. The huge advantage of an electronic drum-set is that it is so easy to use it with any of millions of sounds available, (which is impossible with an acoustic set), so there is really no excuse for anyone complaining about some of the sounds that come with these electronic drum kits . . . that’s missing the point of what these electronic drum kits can do.

So, why not check the current Amazon price of the Roland HD-1 V-Drums Lite
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