USB Electronic Drums vs MIDI Electronic Drums (Urgent!!)

TheComposer

New member
I'm going to buy an Electronic Drum set, I have 2 options, a set with a USB ONLY module (Alesis DM6), and the other with a MIDI ONLY module (Simmons SD5K), no more options, these are local and super cheap.

This is the dealbreaker:

Can both of them do Multitrack Recording?, I think you can do it with MIDI, not sure if you can do it with USB.

Another dealbreaker:

Can you plug the USB of the Alesis DM6 and at the same time, plug my Tascam 1800 interface so I can plug my guitar, bass, keyboards and vocals??

As you can see, I intend to connect every instrument to the computer for different purposes, it's easier to connect a MIDI out to the back of the Tascam, but I still want to see if I can do it with USB (connected to the PC).

Please confirm!!
 
I use an Alesis set via the midi on the back of my Tascam 1800. I can def do multiple instruments at the same time. My piano goes via USB. Have never tried to play multiples with it. The DM6 claims to be CORE midi compliant (whatever that means.)
 
The USB on the DM6 is midi. Instead of using a midi cable into a midi interface, it just uses a USB cable to get midi into the computer. The only thing you would record would be the midi information, which you would then use something like ezdrummer or steven slate drums to trigger the sounds from. The multi track capability comes from the midi instruments. If you just want the audio from the sound modules, both are just stereo out and would need to be plugged into an audio interface.
 
Thanks Jay, I have the Alesis Studio 10S and it will do either, but I use the midi as there are already a lot of demands (I have 11 USB devices plugged in). That is a huge consideration. If you already have the US1800 + mouse and keyboard + a stick and a couple of externals you can rack up USB slots in a hurry. Using the Simmons set at least uses the midi capability of the US1800.
 
Back
Top