TD-20 or TD-15KV-S v-tour series

OC Drummer

Junior Member
I am looking at getting a set of electronic drums. Budget is $2500-3000 I am new to drumming and of course would like acoustic but I think electronic will fit the neighbors better. So I can find TD-20 used but am needing to know if the new super natural is that much better. That's why I was thinking TD-15KV-S. I was thinking of later upgrading the control to a TD-30 if I get the TD-20 but as far as I understand the drums are different too. So if I understand this correct I would need to upgrade the drums to make use of the supernatural technology. For those of you who know more about this and have played on both what would you do? TD-30 is out of my price range right now. My other option is to get the TD-15KV-S and upgrade to the TD-30 control later.
 
You would prefer an acoustic kit and have 3 grand as a budget?

Lets assume that 3 will turn into 5 in the next couple years with a new module,add a pad somewhere.Maybe a fancy double pedal.
Now you are talking the kind of budget that can soundproof for the acoustic kit,if the acoustic kit is indeed your preference.
I dont know your situation,but assuming the worst that you are surrounded by neighbors top bottom and all sides,then I would suggest moving your creative mind out and soon.
If it is more a matter of the house next door,then strongly consider soundproofing a room.Going down that road has much much more room for growth and potential than working around the latest electronic technology.You can now play your acoustic kit any time you want,and also just created a perfect recording environment.

Just saying,if you would prefer the acoustic kit,and have the money to play with,then to me its simple.Most get the cheap e-kit because they are surrounded by neighbors and broke.So if you're not so surrounded,and not so broke,then consider making an actual investment that will still be effective in 50 years.

If you just have too many neighbors,just move.I wouldnt be able to live with myself if I turned my back on my own needs,all to satisfy a pissy neighbor.Seriously,I have had cool neighbors who would let me play loud and late,and ones who didnt,but I could never lift a stick without thinking about how loud I am being in that situation.Never truly let go and got into the creative vibes,more just on edge if im about to get an earful from a neighbor.

Sorry I didnt really answer anything.I just heard that you had money,and were about to spend it on something you would rather not.To me that meant you were overlooking more important options than which version of something you would settle for.
Oh and if you later give up on the drums,you just created a very cool theater.
 
I bought a td 15 about 8 months ago. I was choosing between a td12 and a td15. I was able to spend a good amount of time on a td15 in guitar center. The td12 I was able to play around with for only a half hour or so. I thought the td15 sounded way better. I wasn't able to really dig into the editing features of the 12 since it was someone's gigging kit and he didn't want me screwing up his kits.

I'm very happy with the td15. I can only imagine how much better the td30 is. I'd go with the 15 if I were you.
 
With that kind of money, you could get yourself a brand new Yamaha DTX700 kit, with a mulit-12 pad and probably a couple extra pads. I just don't understand why people always assume Roland has the best stuff. I suppose I'm biased because I have a Yamaha kit, but I absolutely love it! And wouldn't trade it for an overpriced Roland kit for anything.
 
Well I am very new to the drum world. I looked at the Yamaha but the reviews I have seen most people seem to like the Roland better. Now I honestly don't know which is better. That's why I am here to ask for help. Acoustic won't work for now. I rent a house and want electronic due to I will have more time to practice when the wife is sleeping. I wake up early and will be able to practice when she is sleeping. Until I buy a house I will be on electronic. I am very new to this so I need more practice anyways. I guess my main question is will I be happy with the TD-20? I have found plenty of used sets with seat double pedals etc for $2600 on craigs list. Can I change to the TD-30 module later or does it use different pads? If your budget was $2500- $3000 what would you guys buy?
 
I am surprised when someone says to go for the TD-15 over a TD-20 especially a TD-20x or a TD-20 with the TDW-1 expansion..............TD-20 all the way over a TD-15 for me!!
 
I am surprised when someone says to go for the TD-15 over a TD-20 especially a TD-20x or a TD-20 with the TDW-1 expansion..............TD-20 all the way over a TD-15 for me!!

I never played the TD20x or W1 expansion. I was only giving my opinion based off my experience. I still love the 15. I think it sounds better than the 12(which I believe is pretty much just like the 20 with a few less outputs). I have no idea what the 20x sounds like. I do know that edrum modules have changed quite a bit over the last 10 years and I wouldn't recommend a 10 year old module for someone willing to spend upto $3k.

@ Defender.... As for yamaha, I think they're great. I just happened to choose Roland. I know they're more expensive. I buy everything used off of eBay and havn't had a problem yet(knock on wood).

I would tell the OP to go over to the vDrums forum and to some research. Alot of good discussion. Right now tho they're pretty much pushing the 2Box module. Im really looking forward to seeing this thing in a store. I need to try it out.
 
If your plan is to use the module samples/sounds, then I would recommend the 2box kit...it is going to have the largest file size space available (4GB)... None of the other current modules come close to this...the next nearest module is the DTX900 with somewhere around 500MB....that being said NAMM is just around the corner...so who knows what may be coming out....and yes size does matter when it comes module sounds...

If you plan on using VST's, then any good module will work....
 
Hi OC Drummer,

I had the roughly same decision to make at the beginning of the year. Do I spend a bunch for a TD-30KV (about $6 K) or less ($3.5 - $4 K) for a slightly older (but newest version) TD-20SX. Much between the 2 were very similar: same MDS-25 rack; Toms not much different etc but the TD30KV having the upgraded module, snare and hats. Since I hadn't play ANY drums in many years, I thought I'd save a few dollars, make my wife less irratated (about the expense) and probably end up having about the same amount of fun.

It's been 10 months or so with the kit and I haven't regretted the decision 1 minute.

Chris
 
If you want 'real' drum samples then the 2Box cannot be beaten....but if you like to tinker around with drum heads, mics, dampners and EQ's etc then the Roland top end modules TD-20 or TD-30 will be hard to beat...
 
well first the guy wanted advice on a kit........ not to be told to move... most people just cant pack up and move because they want to play drums.

so some real advice? find the cheapest set, Roland and Yamaha are the best ekits. I have played 2box and although they sound pretty good.. they are flimsy and cheap made. the kit was shaking and moving all over.

that being said... I own a td20 expanded with 7 toms. and 4 cymbals. I got it for 3k a few years back with a double pedal, gig bags, all kinds of goodies. so if you shop deals are out there. I would almost ALWAYS go used for your first ekit because you can get a better kit for less.

The mesh pads are great on the Roland.. and the bigger toms (td20) are amazing to hit. the Yamaha silicon pads feel ineradicable. I almost traded up to the latest DTX a few months ago

as far as sound goes.. don't even use the exit samples... use VSTS. I have an old macbook with 2gb of ram running superior drummer , Steven slate, BFD2 and a few more. Vst's will sound better than ANY ekit, including one you can put your own samples on. google it or search all the forums, including vdrums forums have alot on vst.


you can get a $200 peice of junk ekit, and use vst's and it will sound better than the 9k td30
 
OC Drummer,

seeing where you're new to drumming, the TD15(and td11) also has some coaching features to help with your timing. You can put mp3's on a flash drive, plug it right into the unit and play/record yourself while playing along with the songs. You can slow parts of the song down, and even loop any part of the song to keep playing it over and over. Like if you had a crazy fill you just can't nail. Great fun and makes you realize immediately what you need to work on.
 
I've used Superior Drummer 2.0 and I admit I loved it but I found it cumbersome running Pro Tools and then SD as a plug in.......

Check out VExpressions depending on the module you get. Ironically I got a TD-30 last night after having a TD-20X and I am blown away by the quality of the TD-30 straight out of the box....
 
As someone who has owned a TD-9, TD-20, TDW-20 and now two TD-30's I can say that the TD-20 is not something I would buy. Maybe the TDW-20, or the TD-20x modules will work, but I was not happy with the sounds on the TD-20.

The TD-9 was okay, and I would probably say the sounds are a bit better on the TD-9 vs the TD-20, but you are limited in your tuning capabilities. You will find these same limitations on the TD-15. The ability to seperately EQ each individual pad (head and rim) vs. only having a master EQ for the whole set is a huge advantage on the flagship modules. Having more V-editing options for each individual instrument gives you many more possibilities for different sounds. A flagship module has many more editing options and can make one instrument sound like 10 different instruments. A module like the TD-9 or TD-15 can really only make one instrument sound like 3 or 4 different instruments due to its limited tuning capability.

The supernatural effect of the sounds is a real thing. My TD-30 sounds much better than the previous TDW-20/20x module. Everything sounds just that bit more natural. I dont know how much better the sounds are on the TD-15 over something like a TDW-20 module, but I am just guessing that you will like the additional sounds of the TDW-20 more than you would like the "natural" sounds of the TD-15.
 
I use superior, slate, bfd.... I have them all on the same laptop.... its older and it works just fine..

Its a BIT of effort to learn how to use vst,s and set them up yes....... but my laptop stays on.. and i have it set to autoboot reaper... which opens my session with my drums set up... so i turn on my ekit and it just works.

the sounds are night and day.... yes, even compared to the td30 with v-expressions.

on that note.. i have a tdw-20 and i have v-expressions.. that is one way to get the BEST possible sounds of of the module.... but i have yet to spend more than 20 minutes on a td30 to be a true judge.. i would bet its much better than the 20... i just saw mixed reviews before too
 
One great feature of the TD-30 is that it has the TD-20 and TD-20X kits loaded on so you can flick through the various banks of kits. If you jump on a TD-30 go straight to the Fusion kit. I can't recall the number..........I flicked through all the kits on the TD-30 and thought yep these sound more 'alive' than the TD-20x but once I played the Fusion kit............holy lord, I'd pay the money just for that kit............it's sounds phenomenal

Just like Phil Gould with Level 42 (Tama) if you are a fan.......

Another amazing feature is the separate slide for Ambience, slightest change on this makes a HUGE difference to a kit

TD-30 has better kicks, snares, hi-hats and toms (they've done a stroke of genius by eliminating that machine gun tom roll)

I am just running my TD-30 on a kit with a KD-7 kick, four PD-8 pads. CY-8 cymbals and Yamaha cymbals and a piezo triggered snare. it all sounds great

I guess what I am getting at is to spend the money on the module, better pads can be added with time for a small amount of $$. Modules can't
 
One more thing for me, Superior Drummer is superb, I'll give it that.............brilliant. But I play live a fair bit and use electronic drums so running Pro Tools too is not worth the hassle for me. If your kit stays in a bedroom then it's an avenue to explore but my kit is in my car all the time
 
Thats true.. I use my tdw20 to trigger my kick of my acoustic when i play live..

I'm already bringing a 6 piece kit, cymbals, stands, module, cables, headphones, I'm not adding a laptop and charger to the amount of gear to have in an old bar.

the tdw20 kit is always just sitting in my house so the laptop is kinda part of it..

on a side note.. with it be worth upgradeing just the tdw20 module to the td30 with the same pads?
 
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