Hart Studiomaster vs. Roland TD3

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Tillamook

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Yamaha?

I know it's not in your choices,
But the Yamaha DTXpress III Special is pretty cool. I got one for like $1500 off of samash.com...
Comes with throne, kick pedal, and a realistic Hi Hat setup on a real hh stand. The snare is a three zone pad (snare and two rims), the hi hat has another zone for its edge, the crash has an edge as well, and the ride has 3 zones (the extra's for bell and edge). It looks pretty cool too, with fully rounded cymbals, so it is a definate upgrade than the regular dtxpress. Rolands do typically sound a little better... but I ended up choosing this kit after trying almost everything out due to its value and versatility IMHO
 
Since you're planning on using the TD3 brain, your choice is stemming on the triggers...

I have owned a TD-5 (rubber pads similar to the TD-3 setup) and currently own a Hart 6.3 pro set with mesh heads powered by an expanded TD-10 and a TD-8.

Since I've never owned either of the sets you're looking at, I can only compare based on my own purchases... The rubber pads are very limiting AND tiny compared to the feel and size of their mesh head counterparts.
Not to mention the ambient noise comparing the two... Rubber pads give out a fairly audible 'click' when you strike them... Very noticible depending on the volume you're amplifying yourself.... Some folks in the front row at some of the smaller clubs we played could hear 'em clicking away to the point of distraction...

As far as the cymbals, I think the TD-3 comes with the CY-6... I own 3 CY-8's and I love them... I haven't played with the Hart cymbals being offered in your set, so I can't compare them. My Hart's have the E-Cymbals. I'm probably going to be replacing them with the Roland CY-12 and 14's. Just from personal experience.

The bass drum offered with the TD-3 is free standing and I *THINK* you can set up a double pedal to it... The Hart 'doorstopper' (as my Guitar player used to call my Roland kd-7) is more limiting.

It is OK to mix and match your triggers to work with your Brain... For starting out, I recommend mesh heads, free standing bass drum and the Roland line of cymbals...

Others will no doubt have their own opinions...

Edit: Oh, and the difference between the racks being offered... Roland racks just don't hold up to a lot of setting up and tearing down... The steel racks from Hart are very solid and durable tho.

Good luck!

:)
 
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Thanks for the responses.

Bent Rabbit: Very helpful information about the pad noise, I play at very low volumes, so the less pad noise, the better. I see that the Hart kit comes with Ecymbal S studio series cymbals, I'll assume those are the ones you are talking about, the Roland comes with cy8s. Hmmm, I'll have to price things out with a mix of Hart and Roland.

I'll look into the Yamaha also, but I think it's going to be past my price point if I add the better sounding Roland brain to it.

Cheers,
Bill
 
I just thought I'd update this post with the results of my search:

I ended up getting the TD3 kit that has three toms and a mesh snare for $900.

Spent another $240 on a nice Roc n Soc hydraulic throne and a Pearl Powershifter kick pedal (extremely happy with both, especially the pedal).

Another necessary item: New headphones with decent isolation. I picked up some Sennheiser hd 280s ($100), and while I can still hear the hi-hat pad, it's a big improvement in isolation over my old HD 450II Sennheisers.

I'm REALLY glad I got the mesh head snare, the rubber pads are fine but the mesh is in another class.

I'm pretty happy with the brain, no regrets, I can always midi to my computer for more sounds if I get bored.


Thanks to those who posted advice in my search.

Bill
 
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