Members vamp hunter d Posted April 6, 2004 Members Share Posted April 6, 2004 how is this unit? I was conisdering buying an alesis DM-5, but I heard it cant comprehend fast playing. Can the TD-5? And all around how does it sound? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Scheming Demon Posted April 6, 2004 Members Share Posted April 6, 2004 I don't think they make that one anymore but I may be wrong. I believe the TD-6 isn't made anymore either. The lowest one they have available is the TD-6S (I think). I recently purchased a TD-8. I got one to trigger my acoustic kicks only. The unit works great. As fast as I can go, the unit has no trouble keeping up and I can go pretty fast. I fooled around many years ago with a DM4 and had much trouble with missed beats and double triggering. Could have been the quality of the triggers plus I didn't know what I was doing way back then. This time around I read the manual from cover to cover and got Roland triggers made specifically for kicks. There are more settings than I cared to know about. I am still a beginner with this but the unit is very easy to work with and I am having no trouble whatsoever. I had a great sound happening in about 30 minutes and have constantly been tweaking it ever since. I asked a question on a message board a few weeks ago about brain recommendations and the Roland came highly recommended. In turn I can highly recommend one from personal experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vamp hunter d Posted April 6, 2004 Author Members Share Posted April 6, 2004 cool, I'll look into it. I was going to try a few at guitar center today but the salesman wouldn't give me any sticks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fafnir777 Posted April 8, 2004 Members Share Posted April 8, 2004 Originally posted by D. how is this unit? I was conisdering buying an alesis DM-5, but I heard it cant comprehend fast playing. For about 95% of the drummers out there, the DM5 would be fine as long as you only use the INTERNAL sounds. Two issues come into play regarding the Trigger to MIDI Interface: #1. If you try to trigger sounds in another sound source, there is a definite delay. #2. If you are using the Heel-Toe technique playing Double-Bass, It's like there is a traffic jam of notes - there are more strikes than it can effectively keep track of. So, as long as you are not playing an Extreme form of Metal like Black Metal or Death Metal, and you can live with the internal sounds (which I can't stand) - the Dm5 will work just fine for you. It's just not what I would call a "Professional" grade unit. I personally don't suggest them, because I won't use one....and I find it a bit hypocritical to say,"Sure go ahead and buy a DM5!" when I tend to view anything that Alesis makes as an overpriced, electronic doorstop. Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members HeavyPet Posted April 10, 2004 Members Share Posted April 10, 2004 I've had TD-5k for years now (that'st the TD-5 brain plus the Roland Kit outfit at the time). This is not to say that I like it. Just that it can be expensive to upgrade I use it with the original single-trigger TD-5 pads (hard rubber). I tried a td-7 dual-trigger pad in a few different places (snare, ride) and liked it less than the 5! It's fine for practicing, it's okay for recording: but you will get annoyed at the snare sounds, and you will wind up trying to fix mis-hit kicks in the sequencer (if you record to sequencer). From a performance standpoint, It's best feature is the high-hat. Its worst features are the kick, ride, and snare. The problem with the ride is that single-trigger pad: Start getting heavier with the ride sound, and suddenly it switches to bell-sound. [EDIT: you CAN play with the "curve" of the attack and how the instruments respond to dynamics, but it still never quite gets "good and right"] The kick trigger is annoying as heck, and as I say I often tracked (in the studio) to sequencer rather than raw audio, so that I could fix all the mis-hits and poor dynamics. And the snare sounds will grate after a while. But heck, for the time it was pretty fly, and NOW although it is no longer fly, you can probably get it on ebay for a song. as it were. The best way to get consistent sound out of the TD-5 is to use heavy sticks and a heavy foot and play simply. (mind, this can be plenty of fun Actually, I found the best sound and fun not with a pair of tapered heavy sticks, but with a pair of beefy-but-not-too-heavy timbale sticks (they don't taper: same cross section from head to butt). These are not the super thin timbale sticks but rather.. not sure how to explain them but they were made by Regal-Tip [EDIT: no wait, Vic Firth?] and were painted purple. Alternately, flip your regular sticks around backwards and hit with the butt end, if you can stand the vibration in your fingers. (hitting those hard rubber pads with flipped regular tapered sticks can be jarring) Something about a nice beefy striking end kept the TD-5 in-line. (but also sacrificed dynamic for steady punch) Summary: not for those who like dynamics, but a fun toy if you can get 'em cheap. Meanwhile, I need to start a thread asking people if they've played the new Roland TD-20 and the latest ddrum4. hmm... Cheers, and no matter what HAVE FUN PLAYING, -pet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vamp hunter d Posted April 11, 2004 Author Members Share Posted April 11, 2004 Originally posted by Fafnir777 For about 95% of the drummers out there, the DM5 would be fine as long as you only use the INTERNAL sounds.Two issues come into play regarding the Trigger to MIDI Interface:#1. If you try to trigger sounds in another sound source, there is a definite delay.#2. If you are using the Heel-Toe technique playing Double-Bass, It's like there is a traffic jam of notes - there are more strikes than it can effectively keep track of.So, as long as you are not playing an Extreme form of Metal like Black Metal or Death Metal, and you can live with the internal sounds (which I can't stand) - the Dm5 will work just fine for you.It's just not what I would call a "Professional" grade unit.I personally don't suggest them, because I won't use one....and I find it a bit hypocritical to say,"Sure go ahead and buy a DM5!" when I tend to view anything that Alesis makes as an overpriced, electronic doorstop. Tim the thing is, I really like double bass, and I like to use it alot. That is one reason I'm shying away from the Dm5, and leaning more towards the td-5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vamp hunter d Posted April 11, 2004 Author Members Share Posted April 11, 2004 oh, and also, how is the Roland td-3? You can buy them new pretty cheap. Does it track better than the dm-5? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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