$5000 E-drum budget decision

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whattaguy

New member
Hi, our church is going to switch to electronic drums, and I'm trying to come to the decision of which to get. I have come down to 3 choices.

1. Roland TD-20 http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TD20SBK/
2. Hart Dynamics Pro 6.4 with Roland TD-20 module http://www.rmcaudiodirect.com/Hart-Dynamics-Pro-6-4-Kit-p/dsb-hp6.4.htm
3. RET Percussion Fusion Pro with Roland TD-20 module http://www.fullcompass.com/product/338360.html

We are a mobile church using a school auditorium, so this equipment needs to be rugged and appealing to drummers. The first choice would be the easiest, but most expensive option. The second choice is a little cheaper but from readings and reviews, they feel better and more realistic than the TD-20 set. The third choice was recommended by our church consultants. I have never heard or read anything about RET drums. From the pictures, they don't look as sturdy as the other two options.

Can you drummers give me some advice and/or recommendations?

Thanks.
 
I've only played the Rolands. You'll have to try before you buy to make any kind of informed decision.
 
I played and toured with the Hart's for about 2 years... They will take anything you throw at them and the trigger responses were supurb.

I used them with combo TD8/TD10 brains (I also had the Hart Multipad for percussion sounds) and they dialed in quite nice.

But as Supercreep says, the best thing for you to do is to check em out for yourself and decide... I'm sure you'll be happy with any of the choices above.

:)
 
hermanmern said:
hi, im new here but i've been wacthing RET drum set for a while. you should check the video on youtube. heres the link and you should find more about the RET drum from other video in there. hope it will help u.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jXntCofC9k
Click to expand...

I've played roland, alesis, and yamaha. Never even heard of RET.. That video, those drums sound great cuz of ezdrummer. He's just triggering ezdrummer with an alesis midi controller, the fact that he's using RET triggers is irrelevant. You could get identical sound with ANY module with a midi out (or any midi controller for that matter) and ezdrummer on your PC. Even an entry level TD-3 kit with rubber pads, you could get the whole setup for well under a grand.. Even if you get all mesh head dual trigger drums and 3-zone cyms, you'll be in way under budget. Why spend the $$ on the biggest baddest module if all you need is a midi controller?

Anyway, that's a whole separate thing.. If you're going to use the sounds on the module, or you want to be flexible to do either, Roland is currently (and has always been imo) the king of sample quality and realism. The samples on the TD20's are the best I've ever heard. The drum tones are perfect, I can't tell the difference (Im a guitarist so take it fwiw..) The cymbal sounds, well NO modules have perfected them yet, but the Rolands are close.
 
Well...we got our RET Percussion kit. I'm not 100% satisfied. A company that does not have kits to test out at any retail outlet that does not have a money back, trial period, isn't a very solid company IMHO.

The triggering on the snare isn't too sensitive. Any off center (maybe an inch and a half) hits sound very unnatural. The triggering sensitivity is inconsistent. Sometimes it picks up the hits, sometimes it doesn't. The hi-hat pedal is a system found on low-end kits. The hats and the pedal are separate. The hats do not open and close, although it has a high-hat top and bottom. The open and close are controlled by a Roland pedal. The told me that they had a hi-hat stand option available. It turns out that they just send me a Pintech controller that you can put on any hi-hat stand...I thought it was a bit deceiving how they said that they have an option. After I had voiced my discontent, they denied saying anything like that, and told me that there were no refunds.

The kit, however, looks very nice. The hardware is solid and fairly easy to setup and take down. Also, the TD20 is an awesome drum module. The kit would be crap without it.
 
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