I'd be interested to know what you've done. I added Remo falam pads to the heads to get more tone out of them.
The L80s are a reasonable volume for me, but the SS heads are *too* quiet compared to them. The BD is especially disappointing.
I'm also struggling to balance drum volume with practice music volume. I'm used to playing my Roland e-kit with the iPad plugged into the aux input. I was thinking about mic'ing the kit and going through a mixer, but that's getting rpetty involved for a practice kit and I don't want to add the cost of triggers if I can help it.
Long story, should probably be its own thread, probably will be when I can get my posting straightened out.
Short version: the best compromise among the factors of volume reduction, feel, instrument balance, and drumlike sound has been all Quietstrokes over Muff'l rings, with foam tips over the sticks and a layer or two of gaffer up the shank of the stick to kill the clanking. The toms get a variable amount of additional "muting," first with gaffer, then once the size is fine tuned, I put pieces of either the clear Aquarian Dura Dot (adhered better than the white), or Falam Slam bits (when I was out of Dura Dot; they perform about the same) on the underside of the Quietstrokes, away from the impact area. This yields a somewhat choked sound, like roto-toms or hydraulic heads, moreso on the 8" and 10" toms, but not offensive, especially in full context. Avoid a dead center impact point for best results. The toms need to be tuned very, very loose. I tightened each lug carefully, just until it stopped rattling. Then, I barely budged each lug, probably twice around. The lows will bloom, and the bounce will seem about normal when you're dialed in. Adjust the pitch with the reso heads, I found I had to tighten them a little, not much. They need to be exactly in tune with themselves, of course, so take some time here.
The kick took a bit of work. I have a Kickport, I haven't tried a full head yet, as I believe it will boost volume. The Quietstroke and Muff'l alone sounded pretty ungratifying, and I really wanted to reinforce the beater area due to durability concerns. Most pads introduce a stark boxy attack that overwhelms the note on doubles or double bass work. I found the Aquarian Super-Thin Kick Pad to have nearly no effect on attack, while protecting the head (a felt beater sounded best, but is known to eat mesh), and adding some bass due to the "muting." About a half a moleskin sheet below the beaters results in a kick drum sound that would likely pass uncommented if you didn't know it was under 80dB. Gaffer won't stay on. In fact, gaffer was unpredictable about where it would or wouldn't stay. 8 and 10 inch toms, it was eternal. 12 inch tom and the 14 floor, fell off constantly, worst was the 12, not my most used target either. 16 inch floor, stuck for good. It is also tuned loose, as above. Tightening it brings out the boxiness. I think I very slightly tightened the front head.
The snare took the most work. I started with a Sabian Quiet tone, which, with the pad and resn cranked, and the snares adjusted, actually sounded pretty good. Short, snappy and bright, the feel was nearly indistinguishable from a drum. It was useless for sidesticking or rimshots, but most problematically, its volume was noticeably low compared to the kick and L80s (if hit with the stick shank vs the foam tips alone). I finally opted to try the Quietstroke and Muff'l. There is a decision to be made about the Muff'l. Without it, the sound is not as good, and can actually be a little weird by the time you tighten the snares enough to not be overwhelming, but the volume is great. With the ring, there is a better variety of tuning options, the peak sound quality is much better, but the kit starts to get a little loud. Either way, the best sound is with a Super-Thin patch in the center, striking it. Off center is a little quieter. The Aquarian dots are highly re-adherable, so you can take them on or off and move them around quite a bit as your needs at that moment change. In it's final form, you can definitely sidestick and rimshot the thing. It's tuned almost normal; the snare-off sound is very convincing. I'm not a crank-the-reso guy normally, but it helps a lot. Fiddle with snare tension until you get the snap without excessive sustain or choking the reso.
The Muff'l-ed head is also a little quieter tuned a little down. Since I already had the Sabian Quiet Tone, I can always just throw it on for quiet time or for when perfect rebound is critical for practicing; it's not quite as good sounding as on a normally headed snare, but good enough. Otherwise, I'd consider using it without the ring, and living with the reduced sound quality.
I accidentally left part of the sheet I cover my kit with laying half across the snare, this quieted it down a lot, unexpectedly. I haven't experimented with this as a super-quiet option.
As for the cymbals, I mentioned the best sounding route is the practice tips and some gaffer on the shanks. This screws up the balance badly, of course. I tried several layers of Plasti-Dip, which sounded worse than tape and was just as heavy. If you can't deal with the weirded up sticks, you can just use the practice tips, and avoid the shank completely. If that messes with your technique too badly, you'll just have to live with the clanks. I did end up with a few dots of gaffer on the top hat, and on the Gen 16 china. I had some long, thin strips on the ride, which quieted it and made in darker and trashier, but took them off after I taped the sticks. The thin gaffer strips are a neat way to re-voice the cymbals if you aren't liking the bright/clean sound.
70s 5x14 Supraphonic, turn-of-the-millenium all-birch Starclassics, 8-10-12-14-16-20x18, L80 14" hats, 16" crash. 18" crash/ride as second crash, 10" splash, 20"ride, 16" Gen 16 china.