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Why do I still only have a TD-9

You might have come across my V-drumtips videos and wondered why the person who’s so much into E-drums is not owning the best module/kit on the market. I am still using a Roland simple TD-9 Version 1.0 although I am the one who recommends the TD-12 as the best choice out there all the time. So why don’t I have a TD-12, 20 or 30 myself? (BTW, I do not count in the TD-25 for a good reason.)

There are several answers to this question:

I am not playing as often

Let’s be honest, how many hours are you playing yourself? Everyone who has a full time job, kids, other hobbies or anything that takes time, can understand me better. There is just not much time to use the kit anyway. For me it is effective 3 hours a week. Do I need the most fanciest drum kit for 3 hours a week? No!

Features

The only reason to buy one of the 3 best Roland modules is a feature called positional sensing. The Roland TD-9 does not have this feature on the snare and ride. Playing a snare with positional sensing is much more fun and feels way more realistic. But is this little feature worth paying 500€ for a TD-12, 1000€ for the TD-20 or even 2000€ for the TD-30? Not for me.

The Module Sounds

The sounds of TD-12 and 20 are worse than the TD-9 sounds. Simply because these modules are a bit older. The TD-30 Sounds are not worth an upgrade either, they sound nowhere near like a real drum kit. The only way to enjoy the features of those 3 modules is using them as trigger Midi Converter together with Superior Drummer 2.0.

New gear does not enhance my productivity

I would consider myself already as the owner of an awesome drum kit. However, I do still not use it for many recording projects. A bigger kit will not change this fact. My song writing and recording work is not affected by the gear I use. I am pretty sure that some people out there write awesome music with an old Roland TD-3, while others write nothing with the newest Roland TD-30KV.

But what about other modules?

The TD-15 is not a TD-9 upgrade. The only real upgrade is the option to connect it directly to a PC via USB cable. The missing Midi Input is an actual downgrade that does not allow the user to expand the kit and the sounds are still not great. The alternative to Roland would be a 2box module, but since the hi hat is nowhere near as good as the Roland VH hi hats, I cannot consider this module. Even though the sounds are the best ones I ever heard, processed by an e-drum module.

The TD-9 has still everything I need. It has MIDI in- & output, it works perfect with the Roland VH-11 hi hat, it has lots of setup features of different triggers and I can use it with EZDrummer2 or Superior Drummer 2.0. And until I get one out of this 3 other modules for a very good price (I am always aiming for a TD-12) I will keep my TD-9.

Don’t get me wrong. My biggest passion are E-drums, but that does not mean I’ll spend everything I have on them. I know the TD-30KV is awesome and the best kit out there, but not a must have for me. Not yet 🙂 It is like the iPhone 6, it is a nice smartphone, but a Samsung S3 does the job too.

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