Deal
Roland VAD504 ·
Source:
Roland
Roland VAD307 ·
Source:
Roland
Roland VAD103 ·
Source:
Roland
There has never been a better time to buy a Roland V-Drum Acoustic Design kit! We look at four different VAD kits for varying budgets.
Roland has led the way on e-Drum innovation and design for nearly three decades since the launch of their V-Drum range. The Roland V-Drum Acoustic Design range seeks to take all those years of e-Drum advancement and place them into kit designs that more closely resemble their acoustic brethren. Here are four kits that enable you to enter that world and save yourself some money to boot!
Roland VAD103 e-Drum Kit
Roland’s VAD103 kit is their entry level V-Drum Acoustic Design model that enables you to get the flexibility of e-Drums with the look and feel of an acoustic kit. Consisting of four drums, two cymbals and a hi-hat, the VAD103 uses Roland’s TD-07 sound module to deliver authentic acoustic and electronic drum sounds.
The kit consists of an 18″ x 7″ kick drum, a dual-zone 12″ snare, 12″ and 10″ tom plus a 12″ hi-hat, 12″ dual-zone crash and a 13″ triple-zone ride, the latter two both featuring a choke sensor. You get all the mounting hardware except for a snare and hi-hat stand and kick pedal. I always find this a bit mean of Roland with kits at these price points.
The TD-07 is a more than capable module with 25 preset kits and space for 25 of your own design. You have the ability to choose from 143 instruments, all of which can be edited and processed through the onboard EQ, ambience and FX. There’s USB for audio and MIDI as well as Bluetooth and a built-in coaching function.
Roland VAD307 e-Drum Kit
The VAD307 takes the half-shell concept of the VAD103 and expands on it. This goes for the number of drums as well as the drum module. The VAD307 adds a second dual-zone tom, and extra dual-zone crash and the relevant mounting hardware
The expansion isn’t just limited to the hardware. The TD-17 2.0 module ramps up the kit and instrument countby nearly double! 336 instrument sounds, 70 preset kits and space for 50 user kits really ups the game. There are 11 multi effects and you can import WAV samples of your own sounds via an SDHC card. Each instrument sound can be altered in numerous ways. For example, with the snare sounds, you can adjust things like the snare wire tension. Damping is another per-instrument adjustment you can make.
Connectivity gets a real boost here too. USB audio and MIDI sit along side traditional MIDI ports and analogue outs. There’s also Bluetooth Audio and MIDI capability and the unit features a built-in smartphone tray. There’s also two extra trigger inputs should you want to expand your kit’s hardware. Pedals, snare and hi-hat stands are available separately.
Roland VAD504 e-Drum Kit
Stepping up the range, we have the VAD504. This is basically the same configuration as the entry-level VAD103 but this time we have full-depth shells, bigger cymbals and a much-improved drum module! The VAD504 really does up the game on both the visual and audio stakes.
Starting with the drums, we have a 20″ x 16″ kick, a 14″ x 5″ Digital snare with stainless steel shell, a 10″ x 7″ dual-zone tom, and a 14″ x 13″ dual-zone floor tom. These are complemented by a 14: digital hi-hat, a 14″ dual-zone crash and an 18″ digital ride. The kick and tom shells are all wood construction.
As you’d expect, the TD-27 drum module is brilliantly specified. First up, it uses the same Prismatic technology featured in the range-topping TD-50. This clever function allows the unit to create variations in each individual sound to mimic the behaviour of real acoustic drums.
There are 770 sounds and 75 preset kits. Users can create 45 of their own as well as importing up to 500 WAV samples of their own. The TD-27 is no slouch in the effects department either with the IR-based reverb delivering truly realistic reverb settings. You’ve got all the analogue and digital connections you could want, including Bluetooth and USB audio and MIDI.
Expansion is catered for with four extra trigger inputs and there’s an SD card slot to enable the WAV sample import.
Roland VAD507 e-Drum Kit
With the Roland VAD507, not only will you sound the part, you’ll look it too. Like the 307’s improvement over the 103, the 507 adds another tom and cymbal to the package. The extra tom is a 12″ x 8″ affair whilst the additional cymbal is a 16″ example.
All the mounting hardware is included. Suffice to say, you will still need to provide your own snare stand, hi-hat stand and kick pedal. C’mon Roland! Adding these to the kits surely can’t cost too much. I appreciate that pedals and stands can be a very personal thing, but it just feels unduly mean to leave these out when other manufacturers include them.
That said, you get a fantastic kit for the money here. The VAD507 retains the TD-27 module that we saw on the VAD504, so scroll up to check out the specs there. Of course, should you want to upgrade to the top-of-the-line TD50, the amount of money you save on this kit during the deal offer almost covers half that cost!
The Roland TD-50 is also currently on offer with over €500 off!
*Note: percentage discounts may vary according to your region and currency conversion rates on the day of purchase. Displayed percentage discounts are guidelines only.
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