I had an ATV aD5 and it was crazy how much it sounded like a real drum kit right off the bat. The TD-27 module doesn't sound quite as good, but that's just out of the box. I noticed with mine that the cymbals sounded and played kinda blah, and the bell on the ride was nearly non-existent. I spent a few days in the settings for sensitivities and volumes and decays. There's so much more to play with there, but I got it to where it works for me right now. There some some standard kits on the module that sound great, some that are pretty mediocre. However, there are plenty of high quality samples specifically for the TD-27 out there that are just fantastic and not expensive. I picked up a 60 kit sample pack for around $60 and got some amazing samples out of it. Of course, you can also tweak to get your own kits, use your own samples, etc... as I stated before. So, I would say with some tweaking, you can get it to sound great!twelvepoint wrote: I recently tried a TD-27 kit at my regional shop. At $3,000, it wouldn't have been a capricious purchase, but in terms of my hearing, and consideration of neighbors, I would have justified it. The positives with these newer rigs is the snare and ride use some kind of digital sensor, using a USB-A connector, possibly transmitting some electrostatic and other positional data that's meaningful to the samples being played. A cross-stick on snare is played quite well. The ride has a nice sensitivity too. Hi hats, however, seem to be the old two 1/4" cable deal they always had, and IMO, if Roland is going to sell a next-generation kit that's 200% pricier than its competitors, the hats should reflect similar technology.
I think I found a kit in the bank that was just "classic rock" or something and it sounded fine.
I ended up just getting neoprene mutes for my RB Gretsch, and some Zildjian L80 cymbals, reviewed elsewhere, and it's acceptable for practice, and when i want to record, I can just switch the kit over in 2 minutes.
The fucked up thing about that TD-27 kit, is that it has the VH-10 hi-hat. It's not that great, but not terrible. The VH-13 is miles ahead, but then you have to shell out even more cash for it. I don't think the VH-13 is available for the smaller kits, only when you get to the acoustic-looking full kits. Though, most online drum retailers offer custom builds and even make their own sample packs that are installed on the modules for you. I don't have the TD-27 kit, just the module. I have an ATV ESX-5, which I think is a better kit than the TD-27 for the price: you get a better ride and hi-hat for a little bit cheaper price.
To circle back to the origin of this thread, between IRs and vdrum modules, you can capture guitars and drums in your own home, make great sounding music, and it would be really hard pressed to find someone who could tell the difference.
