Alesis/Roland/Techtonic

Be26

Member
Bear with me, this is a fairly broad question. I've been saving with an eye towards getting a reasonably inexpensive electronic kit for a while now, primarily so I can play whenever I get the opportunity without having to worry about noise concerns. I have about £600 to play about with and I'd like to get some feedback on the companies in the title.

Alesis - I want at least two cymbals plus the hi-hats on whatever kit I get, so that seems to suggest I should be considering the DM6 or the DM8 USB kits. There's an ad in this month's Rhythm for Anderson's (Anderton's? I don't have it to hand) that's offering the DM10 Studio kit for £599, which is looking tempting because the extra pads give me options to play about with and at that price, it's cheaper than the DM8 Pro seems to be. Any general feedback on these kits would be appreciated

Roland - I know Roland have an excellent reputation, but it does seem like the only kit of theirs in my price range is the HD-1 and when I tried that, it left me a bit cold initially - possibly because the bass is controlled by a pedal alone rather than a beater, maybe because it seems a bit too compact. The lack of kit customisation was a bit disappointing as well, is that something I can change?

Techtonic - I don't know a whole lot about these guys besides what I've seen in Rhythm over the past few months. They had a review of the DD502 a while back and then the DD512 a couple of months ago, and the latter did grab me: it's cheaper than my other options and the module comes with input space for a second crash and a fourth tom, among other things. Irritatingly, it's one I wouldn't be able to test out myself - the closest stocker to me is in the same county, but I'd need a car to get there.

Again, any general feedback on it would be helpful, ditto any opinions on my situation as a whole.
 
I have a DM10 kit and find it useful to practice on for those times when I can't play on my acoustic kit. It's quite flexible, but it does not feel quite the same as an acoustic kit and I find the hi-hat feel very odd (too soft) and the snare too small. However I think it was much better than the Roland HD-1 which I really didn't like as it was not adjustable enough. I preferred the Alesis pads to the solid rubber type, but I only use it occasionally and probably don't bash it as hard as a real drum, so I can't attest to it's long-lasting durability.

HTH... :)
 
Back
Top