ddrum 4 vs. Roland TD-10

A

ap

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Any input would be appreciated.

I've read that ddrum may have better cymbals.

I wish someone would explain the whole concept of how the ddrum 4 works. You can download new samples, right? So is this thing really a sampler? Is that essentially what the rolands are also, or are they some kind of synthesized sounds? I don't understand how you can play varied dynamics without a different sample for each escalation in intensity- for 127 midi volume values, that's 127 samples for each hit!

Can the ddrum transmit midi to a sequencer so you can record a midi track for later experimentation? can it play a previously recorded midi drum track? to/from separate midi channels 1-16 or just 10? I know it has midi functions but it seems these are more for patch management or something.

Please excuse my ignorance, I've been to vdrums.com and ddrum.com and can't figure it out from there. Everyone just assumes everyone else knows what's going on so there's not alot of basic info.
 
The only thing I know about V-Drums... is that they are EXPENSIVE!!!! But, if you consider the fact that you will never need any drum mics (remember a pair of descent overheads will run you $1,800 if you aren't careful) or mic stands, and all the gear that is envolved in micing acoustic drums. plus you will need only a corner of your shitty acoutic bedroom instead of renting out a bad ass room with good drum acoustics.

When you think of how you can just plug em im, hook em up, throw a Midi cabel into your Logic set up... then you can quantisize all the retarded rythms that drummers are famous for making our lives miserable with... I think that personally a $5,000 set of electronic drums turn out to be well worth it.

That being said...those slick V drum sound module brains from Roland have some EXCELLENT sounds. BUT.... they also have about 2,000 dumb rediculas unusable sounds. I really wich that Roland would come up with a drum brain for serious minded drummers, and not release all these "catch all" all little something for everyone, kind of ideas.

Also... the V drums can easily be spotted on a track as being fake drums. BUT usually only by other drummers, and experienced audio engineers. Joe Schmoe won't notice that they are "fake", but the fact is, they are perfect. You have PERFECT seperation (meaning that one drum doesn't bleed over into the mic of another drum. You can pan the tom drums into a circle and it really can give the listener the feeling that he is sitting behing the drum kit, or reverse the panning and the listener is sitting right infront of the kit.

The drums sound Great, but the symbols tend to leave something to be desired. And unless you are using the top of the line Roland, the cymbals sound like SHIT! One cool solution is to use the v-drums, but then use real cymbals. This way you can actually make use of Logic's recording midi and audio at the same time. The ride cymbal in the V drum kit is so "pinggy" and it tends to sound the same no matter where you hit the pad or how hard you hit it. The drums are MUCH better, but a ride cymbal is the tell tale of a shit V set.

If there is anything else i can help you with (If I have helped at all, then just let me know.
 
I don't know how well this will help, but if you go to Hart Dynamics webpage , you'll find a section where they rate different drum modules, including the ddrum 4 and the Roland TD-10. One thing that I like about the Roland units is that you can adjust the "tuning", "shell depth", "drum head type" and what not. For an awesome demo of the TD-10, check out some songs from Dimmu Borgir's latest CD. Their drummer uses a TD-10. You might not like the band but the drummer will blow you away.
 
Thanks guys.

I've heard the cymbols were the main drawback to modules in gerneral. That's one of the reasons I was interested in ddrum. I've read in a couple places that they have the best cymbols- not necessarily good, but the best.

I've read lot's of good stuff about Hart but never thought to look at their site for anything about modules. Their remarks are exactly what I was I looking for. It'd be nice to find more stuff like that, mainly just to get a second opinion. I give their remarks alot of respect though, since they have no reason to lie, I guess, and everything they say seems to jibe with what I've been reading on various forums.

I wish there were more people around with ddrum experience.
 
ap...

What are ddrums? I have never hard of them. What company makes them and where can I read about them? I mean I guess by reading your post that you are looking for that kind of info too, but you are obviously ahead of me beacuse you at least know what ddrums are.
 
It's the same sort of thing as a v-drum module: a sound module dedicated to playing drum sounds triggered by piezo sensors. ddrum is the company, like Roland, and the ddrum 4 is their latest and greatest(I think), like Roland's TD-10. ddrum also makes highly reputable triggers for mounting on acoustic drums.
 
Ddrum all the way!! definitely over roland for me.

for the person who asked, Ddrum is made by Clavia (who make all the Nord gear).

to me, the snares on the Ddrum sound more "there" and the bass drums are a lot better.
 
Hey Longwave, do you own one? Have you heard the downloadable samples, or just the ones that come with it? Are the downloadable samples free? Can you answer any of the other question in my first post? Thanks.
 
Dude...like, did you notice that Uladine already posted that link?:D :cool: How many people actually read the whole thread?:rolleyes: LOL

That link is so good it's worth posting twice. The more I look at it the more I think the ddrum 4 would be too much of a hassle in real life due to the false triggering issue.

Few other things I found interesting from that link:
  • ddrum 4, all the Alesis, and the Yamaha STX2U received a 5 quality rating(but only 4 overall), while none of the Rolands received a 5!
  • TD-6 (?!?!yeah, 6!) got a overall 5 rating and a 4.5 quality rating! Better triggering than TD-8 or TD-10.
 
ap said:
Dude...like, did you notice that Uladine already posted that link?:D :cool: How many people actually read the whole thread?:rolleyes: LOL
Click to expand...

I was in a rush, and saw the thread, and then read your initial post, and posted you a link I thought would help you.... No time to read all the in between details... my kid was crying... I just wanted to get the link up for you...;)

Joe
 
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