Roland is expensive, there's no doubt about that, but having owned 4 Roland kits (TD6, TD9, TD 11 and a TD15), over an 11 year period, some second hand, the latest one brand new, I've never had a single issue with any of them in terms of reliability. Personally, I'd rather pay more and have something I can hammer till the cows come home without any issues, than something that breaks once in a while. I think the Alesis Strike looks, plays and sounds great, but who wants a kit where bits break in the first few months of ownership? You get what you pay for imho.
agreed... I've owned tons of Roland gear over the years and it always works flawlessly. Never had a single issue with a piece of Roland gear. Can't say the same for Alesis, M-Audio, etc.
Same here. I have sold two Roland V-drums sets without a single flaw and the third I let my son inherit. His wish to start learning how to play drums by jamming to Slayer took its toll, of course. The black rim on the snare is now a bit bent.
Great topic, another thing to consider when thinking about price and comparing edrums vs acoustic. When you buy an edrum set, drums, hardware and cymbals are included. When you buy acoustic, you typically get a shell pak with hardware and cymbals sold separately. When you add up the cost that way on high end kits and low end kits, you come up with some good comparisons...
Great video! I’ve been following you for years, since you started! Learned a ton! I’ll bet the e-drum companies pay attention to your channel. Watching all your older stuff again! I’m purchasing a td-27 module soon as an upgrade. I took my td-11 to the limit with splitters. Bought a bigger rack from eBay and going with the td27. Every time I have a question I find the answer on your channel! So fun! 👍
I bought a Roland as a beginner just because of the quality. I have an amp and lots of pedals of Roland and am impressed by their quality. For a fraction of the price I‘d have got a Millenium but I had Thomann products and they sort of leak of quality compared to other brands. I always compare Roland to Apple, by quality and pricing.
Thank you Justin! True that you’ve got what you paid for, but overpaying for drums like Roland 50kv is just insane, even if you have the money. That’s the lesson I’ve got today. By the way, I don’t have any grief against Roland, but it seems that they overprice their products a bit too much. Hope we’ll have some serious competition going on to bring the prices down.
100% agree you get what you pay for. If you've been play drums for a while, you will notice the difference between low end kits and the extremely expensive kits. Example: I upgraded from a TD-11 to a TD-25 using the same pads except the snare (I upgraded to a PDX-100) and it made a HUGE difference, not only in sound but in feel as well.
I have a drum kat from 1992 it still work great i paid like 700 for it in 1992 that was a lot of money for that time like you said you get what you for. Grate video thank you
Just like with everything else, IMO, there's a point of diminishing returns with edrums, especially when you're going through a laptop. Somewhere between 1.5k and 3.5k you will get a set that feels really nice to play and will give you no problems triggering any drum software, so the sound of the module itself doesn't really matter. Where you want to go in that scale probably depends on your income, how serious you are about it and definitely about your taste. There's something to be said about playing a set you like to look at. If you're in a situation where a laptop is less feasible (perhaps you need to switch sets on the fly during a song, perhaps you're scared the laptop won't work when you really need it to), there may be a point in buying a higher priced set with a nicer sounding module, but otherwise: Go for nice playing pads with a fast drum module that has enough inputs for you (also, think of possibilities to expand your set with that module), that's really all that matters, IMO.
I don't know if you touched upon this in the subtitles because I was only listening. But I would say you skipped the most important aspect of all: Health. Playing the old Simmons slates would harm your wrists and your fingers in the long run. At the other end, the new VAD pads are better for you than an acoustic setup. Between these outer points are all the rest, with an almost perfectly proportional relationship between price and health. How much is your hands worth? It starts to get very relevant when you have played drums for 45 years.
great video as usual, Justin.. the motto is 'buy what you can afford' try not to go into debt and save up for what you want. going top of the range won't make you a better drummer :)
What I find funny is that all those people who bash electronic drums and insist that they will only play acoustic, are the same ones who idolize metal bands like As I lay dying, Trivium and others who use nothing but samples on their records, play a triggered set live as well, at least the bass drums are triggered, and in a completely ignorant way say that triggers are cheating... Triggers just allow your kicks to be clearer, you still have to play each note, you still have to maintain tempo, could you cheat using triggers? Yes, you could, you could literally had a really high volume and just rap the bass drums ( infant annihilator), that is how he is able to reach those speeds, regardless of that, he still has to be able to maintain tempo. Imagine how hard it would be if you used a double trigger sample, every time you hit the bass two notes were triggered.. You will have to really practice your slow tempos in order to be able to play a convincing part.. So no triggers are just a tool try them before making ignorant statements....
Hi Justin here is a question for you, I just bought a strike pro to replace my aged td11, now the question is could I rip the guts out of the roland pads and put them into the strike pads. you do some good work here the research you are able to do really helped me when I bought the strike kit, thanks again keep up the good work
So, a friend from India got the Millennium mps 750e drum kit for me, got it yesterday and it's really good, wouldn't say it would beat my other kits but for the price it does a great job, it's a really good sounding kit and great vid man and if it was available here in USA, it would probably cost around $500 and it has mesh drum heads!!how great is that!! but i feel the cymbals are from medeli, but i could be wrong
Justin, great video. I don't want to re-state you video, because you made a lot of great points. My only observation is, I wonder how much price difference there is if you were to buy the cheaper drum pad (Go E drum) and retro it with a better trigger set up and better sensor, etc. Would it still be cheaper than Roland is selling. I know that's extra time and effort, but for me, I'd take a great looking kit and see if I can retro it; I actually made my own tom's and they trigger great on my Roland TD-15. But as you said, the module is a different story. You either have a module (engine) that can do the work or you don't, but pads are more like tires on a car, you need quality tires, but surely you can have decent tires without buying the most expensive. Just a thought. Thanks again for the video.
Hey, I've heard the term latency talked about in your videos quite a bit. Would it be possible for you to do a video on how latency will affect the electronic drum experience either on stage or in the studio?
Calron1988 I think justin made a video already about latency and how to reduce it. After resisting for a while I finally shelled out 90 bucks on a focusrite scarlet pro and got latency less than 2 miliseconds which is indetectable to me. It also enabled me to have addictive drums and youtube/vlc or whatever coming through my headphones at the same time so i could play along to stuff, which wasnt possible before as the asio4alll drivers I had to use hogged the sound card.
Marcus Spain thanks for the advice on the gear I'll definitely keep an eye out for it. My question though was more or less about how can latency become an issue when playing either live or in studio. Sorry for not being clearer.
Calron1988 latency , the time it takes from when you hit the drum and when you actually hear the sound, if it it's too much latency, you will not be able to play with a band or along with a recording because you will hear the sound after you physically produced it.
Great video Justin. I'm planning to buy an Edrum set this year, maybe for my daughter's bday. Are there any mid range sets and would you recommend them? What about the actual responsiveness? Are cheap sets as responsive? Or are they all pretty responsive these days? I know nothing about edrums, I've played around with one a couple times but that's about it. We aren't drummers, but we both have a great sense of rhythm and we both want a set, but I live in the city and playing a real drum set would probably get the police at my house so I'm considering edrums. Should I just get a cheap set? Is there anything in particular to stay away from, or to look for?
I would just like to say Justin you have an awsome channel for 1 and 2 I just don't understand how you can compare any electronic drum set to a Roland specially a Roland td50!!!! Yes they are very expensive but we all know that Roland is the best on the market for triggers and all around kits specially for being around for along time as of right now the td50 in my opinion and a lot of people's choice is the best in the market!!!! Just wanted to put in my input and also for others I know thanks would like to hear your input on this topic and not talking about price points I'm talking about quality!!
Hey Justin, there’s a uk based company called gear4music, who’ve recently developed their e-Drums, and they seem to be getting fairly decent. Could you take a look- in particular the dd480? Cheers
Thank you for the informative video...I’m hoping to get paid this week which means I’ll be able to get my Roland td-50kv kit that I’ve been drooling over for weeks now. My biggest dilemma now is deciding where to buy it from. I’m leaning towards the Memphis Drum Shop which has all items, including the left footed pedal I’m upgrading to, in stock. Do you, or anyone reading this, have any experience with them?
MonitorAccess - if the local shop has helped you and you want to support them, go for it. Otherwise, that’s a lot of sales tax not charged by a mail order company, who may also have bundled hardware packages available.
I am new to edrums coming from a high school drummer with 1 or 2 years of experience. I need something to practice and my family doesn't like loud noises. I need something to practice on that will last at least 5 years. Doesn't have to have great sounds not performing with it. I am relatively small and have a budget of about $ 300-500. Any recommendations any help is really appreciated. I was thinking something like an Alesis nitro but was wondering is it worth the extra 200 dollars? I'm used to a 14" snare so is it worth 200 dollars to get an 11" instead of an 8"?
Luke'sAivation hell yeah dude. Same here. Love it. Let me know if you have any questions and if you don't know already, there is an alternative HiHat controller unit by GoEdrum for only $60 that works perfectly if you are having trouble dialing in your HiHat.
Ive owned kits from 4 diff companies (Alesis, Yamaha, Pearl and Roland). Roland's more expensive, but Ive never had anything from Roland fail me. I cant say that about the other 3. I hate Roland's prices too but reliability is a factor of choice, so I just bitch about it and fork it over.
Hey Justin! First of all, I love your videos, keep up the work man! Quick question hahaha if you had to choose between a Yamaha DTX532K and an Alesis DM10 Studio, which one would you go for? I'm planning on using it for occasional live playing and practicing. It's been a month and I can't decide hahaha HELP!
I've pretty much ran my acoustic set into the ground, and for Christmas my dad is buying me a drum set of my choice... For $300. Hey, beggars can't be choosers, and I'm very grateful. But it's no secret that $300 isn't going to get a great kit. So my question: Generally, what would be higher quality for $300? Electric (I'm specifically looking at the Alesis Nitro) or acoustic? (Sorry if the answer is obvious. I'm more of a guitarist than a percussionist).
I guess it's crucial to mention that I will never be preforming, nor recording with this kit. It's just for my own personal development on the instrument.
Honestly, I would buy used acoustic because cheaper edrums are less durable than similarly priced acoustics. If you were to save some more money though, higher priced acoustics are less different to mid priced, whereas high priced edrum kits are much more value for money compared to the mid priced ones. Sorry if its hard to understand, its hard to explain without showing you examples.
For your 20,000 video you should do a giveaway and make a point to give the GoEdrum HiHat controller to a lucky Alesis Strike owner lollll but seriously a little giveaway could be cool. Only of course if you have the means to.
Alukin19 they can be, yes. But you can find decent quality kits at a pretty wide variety of price points if you look. Especially if you're willing to consider a used kit
I always assumed part of the reason for the price is poor sales. For how expensive of a product is it to mass produce theres not a lot of people buying them and most people who want one already have one plus theres not much of a reason to upgrade. And even then most people buy them used even this guy as much as he loves edrums has 2 preowned kits so hes not giving the company itself any money. Just my theory
The question are: 1)Why are these sets so expensive? 2) Who are the targeted customers? 3) All of pro drummer friends have all stated that they would never pay this much for a kit.
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
Roland is expensive, there's no doubt about that, but having owned 4 Roland kits (TD6, TD9, TD 11 and a TD15), over an 11 year period, some second hand, the latest one brand new, I've never had a single issue with any of them in terms of reliability.
Personally, I'd rather pay more and have something I can hammer till the cows come home without any issues, than something that breaks once in a while.
I think the Alesis Strike looks, plays and sounds great, but who wants a kit where bits break in the first few months of ownership?
You get what you pay for imho.
They always say Alesis sent me a new________ right away. F that. Plus the constant software updates. I just want to play.
agreed... I've owned tons of Roland gear over the years and it always works flawlessly. Never had a single issue with a piece of Roland gear. Can't say the same for Alesis, M-Audio, etc.
Same here. I have sold two Roland V-drums sets without a single flaw and the third I let my son inherit. His wish to start learning how to play drums by jamming to Slayer took its toll, of course. The black rim on the snare is now a bit bent.
My wife walked in at the wrong time on this video.. ‘nicer 9inch rubber...’ 😂😂🤣
Great topic, another thing to consider when thinking about price and comparing edrums vs acoustic. When you buy an edrum set, drums, hardware and cymbals are included. When you buy acoustic, you typically get a shell pak with hardware and cymbals sold separately. When you add up the cost that way on high end kits and low end kits, you come up with some good comparisons...
Great video! I’ve been following you for years, since you started!
Learned a ton!
I’ll bet the e-drum companies pay attention to your channel.
Watching all your older stuff again!
I’m purchasing a td-27 module soon as an upgrade. I took my td-11 to the limit with splitters. Bought a bigger rack from eBay and going with the td27. Every time I have a question I find the answer on your channel!
So fun! 👍
I bought a Roland as a beginner just because of the quality. I have an amp and lots of pedals of Roland and am impressed by their quality. For a fraction of the price I‘d have got a Millenium but I had Thomann products and they sort of leak of quality compared to other brands. I always compare Roland to Apple, by quality and pricing.
I really enjoy the Sample Pad Pro! I'm happy with it for the money! Everything else was $200+ more
Thank you Justin! True that you’ve got what you paid for, but overpaying for drums like Roland 50kv is just insane, even if you have the money. That’s the lesson I’ve got today. By the way, I don’t have any grief against Roland, but it seems that they overprice their products a bit too much. Hope we’ll have some serious competition going on to bring the prices down.
Hehe I was waiting for the Alesis Strike dig! "For example - the Alesis STRIKE PRO" LOLL Gotemm
since i live in Sweden you always upload at night for me, which is awesome since then i have something to look forward to!
Perfect :)
i know right!!!!!! :)
100% agree you get what you pay for. If you've been play drums for a while, you will notice the difference between low end kits and the extremely expensive kits. Example: I upgraded from a TD-11 to a TD-25 using the same pads except the snare (I upgraded to a PDX-100) and it made a HUGE difference, not only in sound but in feel as well.
'all rubber wasn't created equal' .. :-D
Love the channel mate, thanks for all the info, I can see you've got real passion for drums. Awesome!
I have a drum kat from 1992 it still work great i paid like 700 for it in 1992 that was a lot of money for that time like you said you get what you for. Grate video thank you
Thank you. Straight to the point.
Good presentation with valid points made.
Just like with everything else, IMO, there's a point of diminishing returns with edrums, especially when you're going through a laptop. Somewhere between 1.5k and 3.5k you will get a set that feels really nice to play and will give you no problems triggering any drum software, so the sound of the module itself doesn't really matter. Where you want to go in that scale probably depends on your income, how serious you are about it and definitely about your taste. There's something to be said about playing a set you like to look at.
If you're in a situation where a laptop is less feasible (perhaps you need to switch sets on the fly during a song, perhaps you're scared the laptop won't work when you really need it to), there may be a point in buying a higher priced set with a nicer sounding module, but otherwise: Go for nice playing pads with a fast drum module that has enough inputs for you (also, think of possibilities to expand your set with that module), that's really all that matters, IMO.
GOLD !!!
I don't know if you touched upon this in the subtitles because I was only listening. But I would say you skipped the most important aspect of all: Health. Playing the old Simmons slates would harm your wrists and your fingers in the long run. At the other end, the new VAD pads are better for you than an acoustic setup. Between these outer points are all the rest, with an almost perfectly proportional relationship between price and health. How much is your hands worth? It starts to get very relevant when you have played drums for 45 years.
Do a mid ranged price for Roland vs. Yamaha vs. Alesis
Very nice and honest.
great video as usual, Justin.. the motto is 'buy what you can afford' try not to go into debt and save up for what you want. going top of the range won't make you a better drummer :)
what is your opinion on the pintech kits
What I find funny is that all those people who bash electronic drums and insist that they will only play acoustic, are the same ones who idolize metal bands like As I lay dying, Trivium and others who use nothing but samples on their records, play a triggered set live as well, at least the bass drums are triggered, and in a completely ignorant way say that triggers are cheating... Triggers just allow your kicks to be clearer, you still have to play each note, you still have to maintain tempo, could you cheat using triggers? Yes, you could, you could literally had a really high volume and just rap the bass drums ( infant annihilator), that is how he is able to reach those speeds, regardless of that, he still has to be able to maintain tempo. Imagine how hard it would be if you used a double trigger sample, every time you hit the bass two notes were triggered.. You will have to really practice your slow tempos in order to be able to play a convincing part.. So no triggers are just a tool try them before making ignorant statements....
Hi Justin here is a question for you, I just bought a strike pro to replace my aged td11, now the question is could I rip the guts out of the roland pads and put them into the strike pads. you do some good work here the research you are able to do really helped me when I bought the strike kit, thanks again keep up the good work
So, a friend from India got the Millennium mps 750e drum kit for me, got it yesterday and it's really good, wouldn't say it would beat my other kits but for the price it does a great job, it's a really good sounding kit and great vid man and if it was available here in USA, it would probably cost around $500 and it has mesh drum heads!!how great is that!! but i feel the cymbals are from medeli, but i could be wrong
You can buy it from thomannmusic.com for $500 plus about $35 shipping.
K-Fusion well we learn new things everyday thanks for the information
Justin, great video. I don't want to re-state you video, because you made a lot of great points.
My only observation is, I wonder how much price difference there is if you were to buy the cheaper drum pad (Go E drum) and retro it with a better trigger set up and better sensor, etc. Would it still be cheaper than Roland is selling. I know that's extra time and effort, but for me, I'd take a great looking kit and see if I can retro it; I actually made my own tom's and they trigger great on my Roland TD-15. But as you said, the module is a different story. You either have a module (engine) that can do the work or you don't, but pads are more like tires on a car, you need quality tires, but surely you can have decent tires without buying the most expensive. Just a thought. Thanks again for the video.
Hey, I've heard the term latency talked about in your videos quite a bit. Would it be possible for you to do a video on how latency will affect the electronic drum experience either on stage or in the studio?
Calron1988 I think justin made a video already about latency and how to reduce it. After resisting for a while I finally shelled out 90 bucks on a focusrite scarlet pro and got latency less than 2 miliseconds which is indetectable to me. It also enabled me to have addictive drums and youtube/vlc or whatever coming through my headphones at the same time so i could play along to stuff, which wasnt possible before as the asio4alll drivers I had to use hogged the sound card.
Marcus Spain thanks for the advice on the gear I'll definitely keep an eye out for it. My question though was more or less about how can latency become an issue when playing either live or in studio. Sorry for not being clearer.
Calron1988 latency , the time it takes from when you hit the drum and when you actually hear the sound, if it it's too much latency, you will not be able to play with a band or along with a recording because you will hear the sound after you physically produced it.
Great video Justin. I'm planning to buy an Edrum set this year, maybe for my daughter's bday. Are there any mid range sets and would you recommend them? What about the actual responsiveness? Are cheap sets as responsive? Or are they all pretty responsive these days? I know nothing about edrums, I've played around with one a couple times but that's about it. We aren't drummers, but we both have a great sense of rhythm and we both want a set, but I live in the city and playing a real drum set would probably get the police at my house so I'm considering edrums. Should I just get a cheap set? Is there anything in particular to stay away from, or to look for?
I would just like to say Justin you have an awsome channel for 1 and 2 I just don't understand how you can compare any electronic drum set to a Roland specially a Roland td50!!!! Yes they are very expensive but we all know that Roland is the best on the market for triggers and all around kits specially for being around for along time as of right now the td50 in my opinion and a lot of people's choice is the best in the
market!!!! Just wanted to put in my input and also for others I know thanks would like to hear your input on this topic and not talking about price points I'm talking about quality!!
Hey Justin, there’s a uk based company called gear4music, who’ve recently developed their e-Drums, and they seem to be getting fairly decent. Could you take a look- in particular the dd480? Cheers
Thank you for the informative video...I’m hoping to get paid this week which means I’ll be able to get my Roland td-50kv kit that I’ve been drooling over for weeks now. My biggest dilemma now is deciding where to buy it from. I’m leaning towards the Memphis Drum Shop which has all items, including the left footed pedal I’m upgrading to, in stock. Do you, or anyone reading this, have any experience with them?
MonitorAccess - if the local shop has helped you and you want to support them, go for it. Otherwise, that’s a lot of sales tax not charged by a mail order company, who may also have bundled hardware packages available.
Great video.
I am new to edrums coming from a high school drummer with 1 or 2 years of experience. I need something to practice and my family doesn't like loud noises. I need something to practice on that will last at least 5 years. Doesn't have to have great sounds not performing with it. I am relatively small and have a budget of about $ 300-500. Any recommendations any help is really appreciated. I was thinking something like an Alesis nitro but was wondering is it worth the extra 200 dollars? I'm used to a 14" snare so is it worth 200 dollars to get an 11" instead of an 8"?
Cool informative video!! Have you contacted this companies to ask them to send you their equipment to test? It might be a job opportunity?
I just got the alesis strike
Luke'sAivation hell yeah dude. Same here. Love it. Let me know if you have any questions and if you don't know already, there is an alternative HiHat controller unit by GoEdrum for only $60 that works perfectly if you are having trouble dialing in your HiHat.
Thanks i keep it in mind
any dramas out of the box ?does it work well
So How many parts don’t already work?
Ive owned kits from 4 diff companies (Alesis, Yamaha, Pearl and Roland). Roland's more expensive, but Ive never had anything from Roland fail me. I cant say that about the other 3. I hate Roland's prices too but reliability is a factor of choice, so I just bitch about it and fork it over.
The hihat response is what makes or breaks an edrumset for me, and it doesn’t come cheap.
That's very true
Hey Justin! First of all, I love your videos, keep up the work man! Quick question hahaha if you had to choose between a Yamaha DTX532K and an Alesis DM10 Studio, which one would you go for? I'm planning on using it for occasional live playing and practicing. It's been a month and I can't decide hahaha HELP!
Cheap plastics and materials have no place on a drum kit. You are literally hitting it!
This is off topic, but should i switch one of my 2 main toms to act as a 2nd floor tom?
CTI if you feel more comfortable with it, do it! I did and i feel much comfortable
Great video (Keep it up)
Thanks dude!
Do a mid ranged price with Roland vs Yamaha and Alesis.
Great video
A company sends you a drum kit to review, and you end up using it as set dressing. Ouch!
I've pretty much ran my acoustic set into the ground, and for Christmas my dad is buying me a drum set of my choice... For $300. Hey, beggars can't be choosers, and I'm very grateful. But it's no secret that $300 isn't going to get a great kit.
So my question: Generally, what would be higher quality for $300? Electric (I'm specifically looking at the Alesis Nitro) or acoustic? (Sorry if the answer is obvious. I'm more of a guitarist than a percussionist).
I guess it's crucial to mention that I will never be preforming, nor recording with this kit. It's just for my own personal development on the instrument.
Honestly, I would buy used acoustic because cheaper edrums are less durable than similarly priced acoustics. If you were to save some more money though, higher priced acoustics are less different to mid priced, whereas high priced edrum kits are much more value for money compared to the mid priced ones.
Sorry if its hard to understand, its hard to explain without showing you examples.
For your 20,000 video you should do a giveaway and make a point to give the GoEdrum HiHat controller to a lucky Alesis Strike owner lollll but seriously a little giveaway could be cool. Only of course if you have the means to.
Hey Justin, I want to buy a TD50KV... Any idea how to contact the devil so I can sell my soul??? Thanks.
Hi. Accoustic drums are also very expensive....
Alukin19 they can be, yes. But you can find decent quality kits at a pretty wide variety of price points if you look. Especially if you're willing to consider a used kit
I always assumed part of the reason for the price is poor sales. For how expensive of a product is it to mass produce theres not a lot of people buying them and most people who want one already have one plus theres not much of a reason to upgrade. And even then most people buy them used even this guy as much as he loves edrums has 2 preowned kits so hes not giving the company itself any money. Just my theory
They cost more.
The question are: 1)Why are these sets so expensive?
2) Who are the targeted customers?
3) All of pro drummer friends have all stated that they would never pay this much for a kit.
First comment AGAIN
Back to back CHAMPION
11th