I have a DM Pro KIT....should I buy acoutic drums for my HR setup instead?

[Seeker of Rock]

DM Pro kit, with the mesh heads, for my main drums. I play them "live" in tracking, but am getting fed up with all the shit I have to go through in screens to get the sound I want, and marginal at that. HOWEVER, bought the kit when I lived in an apartment...now I live in a house, but close to neighbors and thin walls. Oh yeah, and I usually write the parts to the songs as they come, so LOTS of playing before ready for tracking. Neighbors wouldn't dig that, so digital is good in that respect. So I wonder, purchase a real kit or deal with the electronic BS? BTW, if I were to purchase, no more than $500 on the kit. Cymbals, maybe a little more as I would obviously need them. Kick pedal have. Throne have. Mics for drums, Oh shit, another expense. What would you recommend?
Figure drum forum is the place to get some juicy feedback.

 

[RawDepth]

DM Pro? That sounds like an Alesis product. I never owned one but, I do own electronic drums. I use acoustic drums with mesh heads except for the real kick drum head. My kick has a trigger sandwiched between several inches of foam behind the head. I got a set of those DDrum Red-Shot triggers for the rest of the kit and it's been two years now without a trigger failure. I play them both in the studio and when my band plays live.

I have demo'd the Alesis modules along with many other brands. I ended up buying the Roland TD-10 module a few years ago and simply love it. I admit, I did have to go through lots of setup screens to get it tweaked the way I wanted. But it undeniably has the best sound of any module out there. The DM Pro had a sort of fake sounding, mechanical character to it. The Roland does not. I got exactly what I wanted in natural studio quality sound. Now I just turn it on and start playing. No fuss, no muss. I have little to no button pressing anymore.

If you go back to acoustic drums, you also go back to the age old struggle of getting them to sound good in the studio. It CAN be done but, it is a lot more work than spending an hour pressing buttons.

I believe the Roland TD-6 has some of the same sampled sounds as the TD-10 but for a lot less $$.

Good luck,
RawDepth

 

[Seeker of Rock]

Hadn't thought of that option. I've heard the Roland units and like them. Keep the kit (no trigger failures yet for me either,knock of wood) and replace the module. I heard the TD-7, TD-8, and TD-10 a few years back. Like the controllability of all. More "on the fly" than the Alesis. TD-7 is probably comparable to the newer TD-6, and I liked the TD-7 sounds at the time. May have to check one out today.
Thanks!

 

[drummerdude666]

You see quite a few second hand TD-10 brains going cheaply. I'd look into that.

Although probabally no warranty....emmmm.....ok just buy a new one.

 

[RawDepth]

TD-7 is probably comparable to the newer TD-6, and I liked the TD-7 sounds at the time.

I never played with the TD-7. I wonder if it is as easy to use as the updated TD line. I believe the newest line now consists of TD-3, TD-6, TD-8, TD-10, and TD-20. With each higher model you get more samples, more inputs and outputs, and more editing power. The number of outputs was the most important concern to me. I wanted each drum to have a separate line out so my soundman could control levels during a show. The same theory works well in the studio too. The TD-3 and TD-6 have two (stereo) outputs. The TD-8 has 4 outputs. The TD-10 has 8 and I am not sure what the TD-20 has.

Cheers

 

[mikeh]

Switching to an accoustic kit is not as simple as buying a $500 kit. You need a decent sounding room, you need mics, cables and a way to route them into your recording medium. While dialing up sounds on a module is a pain, trying to get (and keep) accoustic drums sounding good is also a fair amount of work.

I like Alesis stuff, (I still own an HR16 and a D4) but I use the Roland TD-10 as my primary studio module. The Roland provides many more control parameters than the DM Pro - but keep in mind, that also means more windows to scroll thru, etc.

I would never argue that electronic drums are "better" than accoustic drums, however I think most home studios are better off with electronic drums. The cost of a decent accoustice kit, cymblas, mics, etc. etc can be much more than an electronic kit - and decent sounding drum rooms in a home studio are few & far between.

 

[Seeker of Rock]

After checking into the TD-6 and the Yamaha DTS (think that's the name...not the DTXpress, the higher model) I think I'm sticking with the DM Pro. I messed with DM Pro for a few more hours the other night and have the sounds where I want them now. AAARRRGGHHHH, how tedius it is, though!!! Again, it is a bitch of a module setup, not nearly as friendly as the TDs, but I love the sounds of the DM Pro. Wasn't impressed with either the TD6 or the higher-end Yamahas, and I agree with using electronic drums in home projects, which is why I bought them in the first place I guess. Anyway, thanks for all of the great input!

p.s.-guess I didn't knock hard enough on wood (see original post)...my hat controller pedal gave out shortly after I posted! Got an FD-8 on order.