This Roland V-Drums TD-9KX Hands On Opinion is provided by Itamar Tadmor, a working man and drummer, who was at first wary of Electronic Drums and later became a true believer. He is also the one who tipped us on the amazing Super Mario Brothers Drums and the crazy Distric 9 Arc Gun DIY.
Here he goes over his point of view of the Electronic drum kit from Roland.
Roland V-Drums TD-9KX Review:
As an old school drummer that has been playing an acoustic kit for years, it was hard for me to believe that an Electric drum set will satisfy me; I just can’t believe that plastic and rubber will result the same feel and sound as wood and iron been providing so for so many years. No matter how many forums I’ve read or promotional videos I’ve seen, I just couldn’t get a sense of what to expect; I still thought it’s a cool gadget but definitely not a musical instrument – I was proven Wrong!
Now, after playing the TD9KX Roland drum set for almost a year, I can only say that I’m still amazed by this cutting edge and innovative piece of technology and can only regret it took me so long to finally make the transition.
Once all the components were removed of the boxes, it took just about 30 minutes to install the kit. I immediately sat down to have a first try and the feel was just amazing…almost like the real thing! Moreover, you can get straight into it and notice the possibilities and options almost immediately. The Roland TD-9KX has at least two triggers in each drum and cymbal, which gives you two different sounds right off the bat. You are able to use your own favorite kick pedal which gives you even a more realistic and personal feel you have been used to for years. It also works great with double pedals – absolute feedback. And what about choking the cymbals and tuning the drum head for maximum sensitivity?
As for the sound module, with 999 real samples of different instruments like cymbals, Latin percussion, and 49 ready to use drum kits, you simply can’t get enough options and variety.
When I purchased the V-drums I asked the salesman about the different kinds of drum kits, such as, can I change the sound of each drum? Can I change the cymbal? I was told that it doesn’t matter, for usually drummers pick 3 favorite drum kits from the rest and you mainly play them. This ended up being a really amateur answer, for there is such a large variety of sounds and customization options that grant you new realms of creativity and richness. You are able to choose the type of wood, size of cymbal, drums with mufflers or not, the type of room for ambience sounds and much more, which just makes it easy for any drummer to create and define his or her own unique sound and custom set. Moreover, it is so easy to switch between settings, so jumping from cool latin instruments to a drum kit from the 30’s is only a second away, providig both new possibilities and never ending fun (for major drummers).
The TD-9KX also has a built-in metronome and 30 midi songs, so you can play along or practice, which only sweetens the package. Even more, this Roland V-drum kit may also be expanded to 2 more devices including drums and cymbals using the 2 extra inputs on the module, providing even further possibilities to expand and deliver on a drummer’s demand for growth.
Over all, to think that this drum kit is quite pricy prior the purchase is rather funny, for after spending time with it and realizing the different features, options, possibilities, sounds, effects, and more, I can only say that it was the best value for my money when it came to an electronic drum kit; the hours of fun squeezed from this machine are definitely worth it and more importantly, it fills the empty space left by the absence of my acoustic kit (which simply doesn’t fit my sardine size city apartment).
This current model may not be found at your current dealer, so you may take a look at the Roland TD-9S which is similar or the Roland TD9SX which is an ultimate electronic kit.
