Roland pricing strategy on the TD series

cpl_hicks

Member
I'm looking to buy a Roland TD-11KV. In the UK this currently retails for £1180, which is a bit more than I want to spend.
I like the features of the TD-11 computer, and want a kit with all mesh heads.

Does anyone know what the usual pricing strategy of Roland is on these kits? Do they normally drop the prices after a couple of years, or do they stay at this level until the next generation is released?

I know I could get a second hand kit like the TD9-KX for a cheaper price, but I normally like to buy electronic products like this new.
 
Are you sure you want an 11? If I'm right, the mesh heads are on toms are freakin tiny tiny tiny (like maybe 5 inches if strike area).

Improves accuracy then? :)
I'm also considering the Yamaha DTX540. A radically different playing surface, which I haven't tried yet.
 
Are you sure the pads are just 5 inches? I don't think they could get smaller than the Alesis pads I have, which are 8".

The TD-11 would be a really nice kit, but I think Roland really prices itself out of a lot of potential market.

Best option I can think of a few years after I bought my first e-kit is go for a midi trigger module of some kind and plug into a sequencer and VST.

- Reggae Mangle
 
Are you sure the pads are just 5 inches? I don't think they could get smaller than the Alesis pads I have, which are 8".- Reggae Mangle

I think Roland actually calls it a 6 inch pad, but I would swear when I was playing them at the local guitar center the other day, there was a good 3/4 inch of white, hard plastic around the edge and the center (mesh) part was tiny. Personally, I'd rather have have a good solid 6 inch + rubber surface than a tiny little crappy mesh surface. But, hey... maybe it's just me.
 
Well I have today spent a good 3 hours playing various kits in the music shop. I tried the Roland TD-11, TD-15, Yamaha DTX-540.
I can say that I was very happy with the sound from them all, and the variety of kits available.
As for the playing surface, I found the Roland mesh heads very comfortable. The Yamaha silicone pads were ok, but I feel that they might be tiring/jarring to play on after a few hours practice session, due to the hardness of the pad. The Roland toms are a little small, as previously mentioned, but that wasn't really a problem for me.

I favour the Roland kits, mainly because their software offers more useful features to me. For instance you can plug in a USB stick containing mp3 songs. You can also set up repeat sections in the song, adjust volume, and even slow it down to practice along with!! I found this to be a very, very useful feature, and spent quite a while practicing the intro to 'Bet you look good on the dance floor' with the tempo slowed to 90%. The Yamaha computer offers none of this functionality.

The only thing disappointing me with the Roland kit was the hi-hat. I found the pedal to be annoyingly unresponsive, and I had to practically take my foot off it to get the open hi-hat sound. I had to stamp it quite hard to get a closed hi-hat, and also the grading between closed and open didn't really seem that gradual. It would go from closed to open with only very slight movement in the pedal.
Now this may be configurable, but the shop assistant seemed to think it was ok, I didn't. Maybe the pedal was knackered due to overuse.
I did think the TD-15's VH-11 hi-hat unit was much better, and felt more natural to play, so I may consider an upgrade to that for my TD-11 kit.

So anyway, the only real downside to the TD-11 is the price. They appear to be very popular, so you get virtually no discount. Best they could do was knock the price down to £1100.
But IMO the Roland is superior to the Yamaha, so is worth the extra money.
I didn't even go near the TD-30KV, which was priced at a staggering £6500 :)
 
How was the hi-hat on the Yamaha in comparison to the Roland? I really want to get a separate module for hi-hat work on my e-kit.

It's the only sore point on my DM10. Some people complain about the sound, but through a VST they sound as good as anything on the market. And a lot of metal guys still use the Alesis DM5 for their triggers, so I don't know why so many people knock it. Of course, the internet is funny in that way.

- Reggae Mangle
 
How was the hi-hat on the Yamaha in comparison to the Roland? I really want to get a separate module for hi-hat work on my e-kit.

- Reggae Mangle

I thought the Yamaha's hi-hat was better than the Roland's. Certainly didn't find it annoying, and the gradation was better.
 
..... I think Roland really prices itself out of a lot of potential market.
They're the largest drum maker in the world. They're outselling every other maker, acoustic and electric. And when you're "king of the hill", you don't need to lower your prices.​
 
^^I'd need to check on that... More e-kits than acoustics? At that price point? Hard to believe. They make great e-drums, that's for sure.

Thanks for the heads up on the hi-hat, cplhicks. Might invest in a DTX500 module now, I need to expand my kit. A better hi-hat would be killer.

- Reggae Mangle
 
They're the largest drum maker in the world. They're outselling every other maker, acoustic and electric. And when you're "king of the hill", you don't need to lower your prices.​

Except when companies like Yamaha are innovating new technology, and selling it cheaper, chances are you wont be king of the hill much longer if you don't pull your head out of your ass and get with the program.
 
I thought the Yamaha's hi-hat was better than the Roland's. Certainly didn't find it annoying, and the gradation was better.

And from what I've seen from a couple other guys on here, the DTX 700 module is perfecto in the hi-hat department. It was either "thebarak" or "theoak" that said so. It's just a damn shame that none of the stores out here have a 700 kit set for demo.
 
.... Yamaha are innovating new technology, and selling it cheaper, chances are you wont be king of the hill much longer if you don't pull your head out of your ass ....
Except innovation and price don't necessarily get you to the top. Just like the acoustic kits, entry and intermediate e-kits far outsell the top-of-the-line flagship models. For every one Yamaha Phoenix kit sold, they sell several hundred Stage Customs. Pearl's cash-cow was the Export kit. And for every $7000 TD-20 Sx ..... Roland sells several hundred $700 HD3's.​
 
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