Roland or Yamaha?

Ginov

Junior Member
Hello, I am new to this community, and I hope to leave doubts.
good is that I'm thinking about buying an electronic drum at a price in my range. and now I'm undecided between the YAMAHA - DTXPRESS IV SPECIAL SET or Roland Td-9. since around about the same price and that is not true for any choice. anyone tried both? or know which is better sound ... etc etc. I hope your answer, thank you very much. and sorry for my bad english.

Yamaha DTXpress IV Special
Yamaha%20DTXpress%20IV%20Special%20Electronic%20kit.jpg

Roland TD-9
RolandTD9K.jpg
 
I'm not experienced with the TD-9 but I own the DTXpressIV and I like it a lot. If you are willing to take the time to tweak the settings to make your own kit, then you will probably be happy with it. The Yamaha Custom series sampling almost makes it worth it alone....I sometimes also use it to trigger my acoustic kit.
 
I'm not experienced with the TD-9 but I own the DTXpressIV and I like it a lot. If you are willing to take the time to tweak the settings to make your own kit, then you will probably be happy with it. The Yamaha Custom series sampling almost makes it worth it alone....I sometimes also use it to trigger my acoustic kit.

nice...can you tell me if this sounds like the acoustic kit ... you think are worth buying? I'm almost decided on the yamaha. thanks
 
Yamaha, since they make acoustic drums, sample drums from their various acoustic lines and imput those samples into their e-kits. Roland, while being "the largest drum company in the world", does not produce acoustic drums. So Roland samples are a little more "generic" sounding.
 
They use different technologies.

Yes, Yamaha kits' sounds are based on sampled acoustic kits. The pads are generally larger than Roland and like all their gear - they are a very good manufacturer. All the ones I've seen are rubber, which is fine. The Yamaha kits tend to be larger than Roland and so if portability is an issue you may prefer Roland.

The Roland kits drum brain takes electronic signals from the triggers during play, and uses built-in sounds and a variety of other electronic technologies to recreate the sound of authentic drums, recreate or synthesize percussion instruments of all types, and to signal other MIDI-capable gear to perform various electronic tasks. This means that any drum/percussion instrument can be emulated. There are websites dedicated to supply e-kits for download to the Roland brains. This could be Bonham's kit from Led Zep II etc etc.

The better Roland kits also use mesh heads, which some prefer to rubber pads. The TD9 you mention has the ability to change the size of the various drums and so you can have a 1" up to a 20" hihat for example. Experimentation can be a lot of fun.

All of which means nothing if you haven't tried either. So give them both a whirl.

I'm a big fan of e-kits but you will find a depressing high number of forum-lurkers who spend a good portion of their time putting them down. Just ignore them, they may grow up one day and accept that other people have opinions too.

Peace
Davo
 
You certainly should play them both and compare before you buy.

I have TDW-20 with TMC-6 which allow me to add up 5 tom-toms and up to 10 cymbals and few bass pedals and I know that premium models of Roland much better than Yamaha in all aspects: quality of drumheads (quite mesh pads v. rubber pads), modules and their functions etc.

However I have tried Roland TD-9 and it sounds better than Yamaha, because it's a budget model it doesn't mean that they have cheap synthetic sound, even Roland HD-1 model with limited number of pre-sets has a better sound than Yamaha equivalent.

Recently I tried the newest flagship Yamaha model: no comparison to TDW-20 whatsoever. Therefore personally I prefer Roland, market leader in e-drum gears.


Sega
www.whatdrum.com
 
You certainly should play them both and compare before you buy.

I have TDW-20 with TMC-6 which allow me to add up 5 tom-toms and up to 10 cymbals and few bass pedals and I know that premium models of Roland much better than Yamaha in all aspects: quality of drumheads (quite mesh pads v. rubber pads), modules and their functions etc.

However I have tried Roland TD-9 and it sounds better than Yamaha, because it's a budget model it doesn't mean that they have cheap synthetic sound, even Roland HD-1 model with limited number of pre-sets has a better sound than Yamaha equivalent.

Recently I tried the newest flagship Yamaha model: no comparison to TDW-20 whatsoever. Therefore personally I prefer Roland, market leader in e-drum gears.


Sega
www.whatdrum.com


Absolutely disagree with your comments about "flagship Yamaha model: no comparison to TDW-20"....that's just not an accurate statement....the xtreme III is every bit as good a kit as the TD-20/TDW-20, and in some aspects better!
 
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In the end, it is all a matter of personal perference. Go to the store, try both brands out repeatedly, look for what kind of expansion stuff is available online, and then buy what suites you best.

Personally, I hate Yamaha electronic drum kits. I have played every make and model trying to find one I like, and I just can't. I even think their samples of Yamaha drums sound fake to me. I hate how they feel, and think that visually they look at a lot worse than Rolands. I have been thinking about an e-kit for the last year, and have spent hours behind various ones at Guitar Centers, Sam Ashes, etc. To my personal perference, a mid-level Roland is better than a top-of-the-line Yamaha, in feel and look, and comparable in sound. The top of the line Roland is unlike any other electric kit I have played, I love it to death, and there isn't a kit that can touch it for what I want and like from an e-kit.
 
In the end, it is all a matter of personal perference. Go to the store, try both brands out repeatedly, look for what kind of expansion stuff is available online, and then buy what suites you best.

Personally, I hate Yamaha electronic drum kits. I have played every make and model trying to find one I like, and I just can't. I even think their samples of Yamaha drums sound fake to me. I hate how they feel, and think that visually they look at a lot worse than Rolands. I have been thinking about an e-kit for the last year, and have spent hours behind various ones at Guitar Centers, Sam Ashes, etc. To my personal perference, a mid-level Roland is better than a top-of-the-line Yamaha, in feel and look, and comparable in sound. The top of the line Roland is unlike any other electric kit I have played, I love it to death, and there isn't a kit that can touch it for what I want and like from an e-kit.

We'll just choose to agree to disagree...I've played and owned both Roland and Yamaha....and if you'll take the time to learn the Yamaha modules, you can create some incredible sounding kits....just have to take the time to learn it...it's kinda like learning to tune an acoustic drum...out of the box they don't necessarily sound great, but once tuned...it's a different story!...Yamaha e-kits are alot like that...they give you the raw kits and expect you as the end user to create your own kits sounds (VST's are also alot like this)....and let's be honest roland modules are similar....hence the reason for vex...
 
I don't own an electronic kit, but every opportunity I have, I play one. I've played the top kits from both manufacturers. The Yamaha DTXtreme lll is a great kit, but the Roland series has to be my favorite with the the Roland TD 12 or it's bigger brother the 20. For a kit to play around on or for practice, the Roland TD 9 SX, the one with the mesh heads, is also incredible kit. I just feel more comfortable playing the Roland E kits compared to the Yamaha, and I own a Yamaha acoustic kit. Any of the better kits from either manufacturer are worth having. When your spending that kind of money, you have to sit behind them and try them out. Each series really does have a different feel to it.

For me, it probably comes down to liking the mesh heads a bit more than the others.

Dennis
 
We'll just choose to agree to disagree...I've played and owned both Roland and Yamaha....and if you'll take the time to learn the Yamaha modules, you can create some incredible sounding kits....just have to take the time to learn it...it's kinda like learning to tune an acoustic drum...out of the box they don't necessarily sound great, but once tuned...it's a different story!...Yamaha e-kits are alot like that...they give you the raw kits and expect you as the end user to create your own kits sounds (VST's are also alot like this)....and let's be honest roland modules are similar....hence the reason for vex...

Honestly, we don't disagree! I know that Roland is best...for me. I also believe you when you say that Yamaha is best for you.

The point being, anyone who ever asks "which is better" on here is going to have people that are on each side of the argument. It's fine to ask, but unless you try them yourself, you will never know what is best for you.
 
I don't know about you guys, but my personal experience with Roland v drums is horrible! If you're going to use it for stage performances, I'd stay away from those. There is a casino in town, that my band frequents, and they insist the house kit is used. In this case it's a v drum kit with a td 20 brain ( or something very close) supposedly near the top of the line for this product. There is 0 sensitivity, so no accents, the latency is horrible, and all the samples sound like a Casio keyboard... Granted, you could probably spend HOURS programming the samples and MAYBE add some sensitivity, but after I tune the heads on my acoustic kit, I'm ready to go! Sounds awesome and I have total control over accents, ghost notes, etc... HOWEVER! If you're just trying to jam in your apartment and not piss off your neighbors a vdrum kit Is probably good... That is the end of my angry v drum rant...
 
I don't know about you guys, but my personal experience with Roland v drums is horrible! If you're going to use it for stage performances, I'd stay away from those. There is a casino in town, that my band frequents, and they insist the house kit is used. In this case it's a v drum kit with a td 20 brain ( or something very close) supposedly near the top of the line for this product. There is 0 sensitivity, so no accents, the latency is horrible, and all the samples sound like a Casio keyboard... Granted, you could probably spend HOURS programming the samples and MAYBE add some sensitivity, but after I tune the heads on my acoustic kit, I'm ready to go! Sounds awesome and I have total control over accents, ghost notes, etc... HOWEVER! If you're just trying to jam in your apartment and not piss off your neighbors a vdrum kit Is probably good... That is the end of my angry v drum rant...
The casino owners (or whoever provides the kit) obviously don't know jack about dialling in the proper settings. And while it might take HOURS of stuffing around to get a decent sound you're personally happy with, it should take about 5 minutes to adjust the sensitivity to your desired level on each pad (depending on how many there are).
 
I've owned both Roland and Yamaha, and personally Roland is the brand I prefer as the sounds just seem a little more 'real' to me. The mesh pads was another important factor for me when deciding which brand to upgrade to. But it really is down to personal preference and I think most people would be happy with either!

Couldn't disagree more with those saying there's no sensitivity or ability to play ghost notes and accents - I can get a great range of sounds from my Roland (just as I could from my Yamaha) and so can many other players.
 
In my opinion, Yamaha snare and toms sound like real drums while Roland toms sound completely electronic. And yes, I've played both side by side. I own a Yamaha DTX535K and wouldn't trade it for any model Roland. Plus, Roland's additional pads are extremely expensive compared to Yamaha's pads.

Go with the Yamaha, you won't have a single regret.

My 2 cents, Defender
 
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