Hello friend, Your video, “yes I have a DWe kit” was a game changer for me. Out of all the promo videos I have watched, yours really shows the capabilities of these great drums as you hit them. The subtle nuances is what electronic drums had been missing, and obviously hats off to DW for refining it, but really you demonstrated it in a way that we as drummers would want to know. And now this current video has done the same for, “How does it really sound” unplugged. For me, the the plus’s of this kit out weigh the minuses by mile. I ordered mine yesterday, and feel like a kid waiting for Christmas morning. Thanks for showing me exactly what I needed to know.
Great video and God bless u for breaking down and resetting all those kits up, that must have been a time suck big time! Im experimenting with putting metal cymbals over my lemon cymbals after carefully removing the rubber cover, did one so far and the triggering is the same, definitely louder but in my case it doesn't matter it looks and feels better. Thanks for all you do for the edrum community,, your videos have helped me improve my sound and insired me to convert to acoustic look , even though the kit never leaves my house it definitely looks cooler and feels better to play on,( I put heads from Extreme drums called acoustamesh on the kit,- they are really nice btw) which makes me want to play more. Keep up your great work! Its much appreciated , have a great day. Peace, - Mike
Thank you! It did take a while but I'd say the setup was the quickest part 😅 Oh that's an interesting approach, I'm glad it's worked out for you. Will have to try that at some point. I'm glad you enjoy the videos, thanks for taking the time out to comment 🙏
Nobody can say you didn't go indepth in this video...lol I was like, 14 minutes, I'm sure he'll hit upon other things, NOPE !!!!! You hit upon every aspect of what's louder !!! That's great !!! Can't wait for the full review !!!! Thanks Luke !!! :-)
Those cymbals bother me for some reason. I have some Jobeky low volume cymbals that I mixed in with my VAD507 kit and I love them. But something about these with the metal being on top of the rubber or however they are assembled seems off. would have much preferred just keep them rubber. I have a house so sound is not a huge issue, but even playing with a speaker, I imagine you would have to turn up quite loud so hear the digital cymbal over the loudness of the metal. Even playing with headphones on, I could still see them forcing you to turn up the phones volume in some cases. For the price, I would want these to be absolutely perfect, and to me, I don't think these are it yet, Perhaps V2?
These are great for certain people. I chose to buy a set of drum-Tech triggers and install them in my acoustic kit so I would have a nice hybrid set up and I use regular heads on them with a slightly dampened drum for control. I use my Yamaha kit for practice Because of all the great exercises in it. Perfect set up for me and didn’t break the bank.
Excellent video Luke. I was quite excited about DW/Roland entry into edrums. However, this is not what I wanted to hear. Your video most certainly shed light on probably my most important issue - ambient noise. The DWe setup would not pass muster in my house. My wife has major anxiety issues. It’s why I had to move to eDrums in the first place. I guess I'll stay with my Roland pads & Pearl MimicPRO for now. Thanks again Luke - much appreciated as always.
Agree totally. The DWe doesn't seem to know what it wants to be imo. It's jack of all trades master of none? It's not a great E-Drum and it's not even a complete Acoustic set if you take the triggers out. And for 11k that's jut not acceptable.
Yes, they're far from silent even with the quietest pads and best conditions. The noise from the pedals is particularly bad if you're above another room.
Excellent upload thanks. And Ouch the DWe cymbals are CHONKY sharp/loud, must cut through even closed headphones. Really feel the cymbals overall are the weak point of that £11,000 kit that has no module! lol.
How about a comparison of the capabilities between cymbals? I appreciate what you've done here, but I'd like to know any thoughts about triggering and detail using them as actual triggers. With Roland having USB for Hi-hat's and ride. I'd be curious how the DWe cymbals compare.Thanks
I covered their capabilities in detail in my recent full review and I talk about comparisons to Roland pads in it too - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EVOqrx8afHE.html This video was purely about noise as I'd been asked a lot about it.
The 4 piece DWe shell is a similar cost to the VAD 506. That along w Gen 16 low volume I already own and haedware already owned makes a tough choice to go w a VAD over DWe. For 4500. I have a complete system. Throw some rim protectors on and your done. Drums w mesh heads noise wise were pretty equivalent. Was going to go VAD 507...Rethinking.
Thank you for this excellent video! Really appreciate the thoroughness of this review answering what we all want to understand for at-home kits! On the DWe, do you know whether it'd be possible to further muffle the toms/snare/kick with cloths/dampening material without affecting the behaviour of the triggers? Like, putting the dampening material below the triggering system? Thanks for a great video!
Brilliant video and one Ive looked for for years! as I thought, Im afraid the Acoustic kits, especially the DWe kit (which I could never afford anyway) are far too loud, mainly the kick, rims, metal cymbals and the toms have quite a lot of resonance to them still. I'll stick with my TD50k2, which im now using the DW Soundworks VST on anyway :)
Just to add to this, some of the resonance you hear in my own acoustic conversion kit is from the DWe floor tom being nearby. I made a note of this in the kick drum section but just in case it was missed. My kick is particularly loud due to the drum-tec Pro head - if you used a regular 2 or 3 ply head it would be quieter, but nothing would be as quiet as the pad kit overall! How are you finding Soundworks?
@@TheeDrumWorkshop the kits sound amazing and work out of the box with my Roland TD50k2 and its TD50x module connected to my Mac with Apollo Twin x Quad and into LUNA DAW. I did have to adjust my module HiHat setting to get it to have a closed hihat though. And the VST does crash LUNA a lot when clicking on the drums in the VST. But the kits sound great, not over processed and fit into my mixes much better that most of the over processed Superior Drummer 3 kits do.
Great video, Luke! Is there anyway you can add something to your next DWe video? I’d love to hear how loud the cymbals sound (the room noise, as you did with this video).when their are rubber tips on the drumsticks.
Thank you for the video. I'm a studio-only musician and am really torn between getting the DWe or the VAD706. On one hand the DWe is the obvious choice, but on the other the 706 offers the module + rubber cymbals which are MUCH less noisy and more pleasant on the ears. I prefer to play with amps facing me directly to simulate the sound of real drums and my concern is that the DWe noise is going to overpower the amps and sound terrible by comparison. One of my concerns with the Roland is that they are about to drop a brand new flagship next year and the 706 is going to plummet in price. Any feedback is highly appreciated.
I have exactly the same concern, thinking about the DWe. Never liked electronic metal cymbals, cause the ones I`ve played were noisy as hell and they didnt feel like a real cymbal at all. Its like playing a cymbal with a big rubber/plastic mat glued to the underside. A thick, hard metal puck that bounces the stick in a very unnatural way..AND destroys your sticks, too. Just like real cymbals, only worse, because they dont bend. Roland, on the other hand.... -I currently own the 706 and the 16" crash cymbals that it comes with are sooo good to play on. They`re 50% thinner than Rolands other crashes, and even bends like a real cymbal! I`ve even been using the same pair of sticks for a year on my Roland kit;) To wrap it up: -The 706 is the best there is when it comes to the hardware and triggers. There`s just nothing better out there and Roland is only 4 years in with the whole VAD-series-thing:) NOT TO MENTION THE DIGITAL HI-HAT! Its truly nothing better out there, and to me, this thing was a REAL gamechanger when it comes to electronic drums. Finally they made I hh that is totally natural to play on. When it comes to new kits, thats not gonna happen from Roland in the high-end department. IF it does, Ill eat my shoe. If anything, there`s gonna be a new high-end module, because Roland is behind in the sample-department and need to keep up with the competition. In the durability and quality-hardware-department, they are the undisputable best. Give the DW company some years, and they`ll give us rubber cymbals. Remember, Roland OWNS DW....;)
I ended up buying the DWe kit in white. I’ve read some really good reviews from the actual drummers that own one already and the general consensus is that the DWe is superior to anything else, including the 706. But the wait time is unreal - I wont be getting it until late January 2024 😮
@RunningInSuits I'm looking at the Efnote Pro 706 or the Dw e kit. Only thing I was nervous with the dw e kit was that I wanted expansion toms like 8 inch rack and 16 inch floor, extra crashes, splashes and china in the future. The sales rep wasn't sure. Do you know If they'll offer that?
Am kinda in the same spot, this one does not really seem better to me compared to a VAD706 - especially because i feel like i get a worse tradeoff in the cymbal department. Additionally, it seems like roland could release a new flagship soon so maybe it's better to wait it out right now..
Appreciate the video. I'd love to know the dB for ALL of the comparisons you did. Mic/speakers allow for comparisons/ratios but not actual dB. Thank you!!!
I didn't have a decibel meter in the studio to do this. But even if I did, the problem is that all dB readings are relational and aren't really applicable to anyone else's environment. If I took a measurement from 6 feet in front of the kit, that would give me one dB value. Another 6 feet away would give another. 3 more feet, the same. Even being on one side of the kit compared to the other will likely give different read-outs as I'm closer to different pads. Outside of the room would be the same deal - my floor, walls and furniture will be different to yours and the position of my kit in the room could be completely different too, so the dB reading I get wouldn't really mean anything for you. It would still just be another comparison between each kit in one particular environment at one particular distance. What I can give you is the average difference in dB between the peaks of each waveform taken from each microphone on my full kit playing example - AKG (5 feet away from the kit at ear height) - DWe is approximately 10dB louder than my converted kit, which in turn is approximately 4dB louder than the small pad kit. So approximately 14dB difference between the DWe and the quietest pad kit setup. Neumann (outside) - DWe is approximately 2dB louder on average than the converted kit which in turn is approximately 4-6dB louder than the pad kit. (It really depends on which point I'm measuring from.) So approximately 6-8dB difference outside the room between the DWe and the quietest pad kit. So the difference in the room is much more pronounced. Outside the room, the noisiest component is the kick drum overall - this is what affects the dB readings the most. But the _perceived_ volume difference of the DWe cymbals is way louder than the dB readings suggest, as you can hear from the demo. In a home, I think you'd notice the difference between cymbals from another room much more than pure dB readings would indicate as they've got a very peircing clack to them. (Edited a few times for clarity.)
This video was obsessively detailed, lol. Great job though. I think those DW cymbal would really suck in a live performance. That ticking sound would definitely be audible in a soft to medium loud volume setting. I performed once with the ATV 12" hats and even those were fairly audible from the audience. I don't see the metal cymbals lasting for them. I don't even think they look that cool. They just look like really cheap cymbals with no lathing. I can't wait to see the wireless trigger system to trickle down into the next Roland flagship.
That's how I do 😅 Thanks Justin! I think for small shows you're probably right. We ran into that with my TD-50 at a few small shows - my kick drum pad and the digital ride could be heard over the low overall volume. It would be accentuated with these. I don't think it's that visible with my lighting but the cymbals are lathed. Not super deep, but it's there. Totally get what you mean though - I'm torn on them myself. Will expand in the full review, of course.
it feels way more natural. For me, the biggest complaint I had with my Yamaha DTX6k3 was how unnatural the cymbals felt, and I just wasn't able to do much of anything intricate and/or get natural sounds from them. Just got the DWe and it feels much better / like a regular acoustic kit
Could you do a video with the dwe kit converted to acoustic? I’d like to hear if it is the same quality sound as a regular collectors series kit. Also, does is the sound works software a subscription thing? If I’m paying all this money for a kit I don’t want to be charged a yearly fee to keep playing it. How do you “tune up” the mesh heads? Like, how tight do they need to be compared to putting on a Mylar head? Cheers!
My friend I’m not sure if I missed this but I have a question. I’m seeing these dw cymbals being sold separately like 14” and 16” for like $500-600us. If I were to buy one of them, would it work with my td50x module? Is it 3/4 plug. Thanks and cheereers 🥁
how do i get more slots for drums, my module has 12 slots if you include Hi hat control and kick,do better modules have more or is there some other way
The metal sticks and rims do chew up sticks more like acoustic drums, yes. So far I've not had any issues with the mesh heads but it is something I'm wary of.
I have an acoustic kit but I'm thinking about grabbing a Roland td-17kvx2. My question is about my kick pedal. My beater is felt and I'm hearing you shouldn't use that on a mesh head. Is that what the Roland bass drum is? Can I just turn my beater and use the hard plastic side or should I put a patch on it? I'm very new to learning drums. Thank you
The kick pad that comes with most Roland kits now (the KD-10) is technically not the same kind of mesh that is used for the other heads and I think Roland says that felt is ok with those pads. However, anecdotally I've seen people saying that their pads have shown early signs of wear when using felt beaters with it. I don't have one so I can't speak from experience, unfortunately. I generally always recommend using a patch on any kick drum, whether that's mesh, acoustic or otherwise - it will almost always help to prolong the life of the impact zone. If you use a patch then the beater type becomes less important too - felt will be fine on most patches (though my preferred nylon patch actually wears down the felt on my beater, so that's one exception). I'd say it's worth using a patch anyway just for peace of mind.
People who live in apartments or basement suites, the people who really need a quiet kit, can't afford the high end electronic kits. Those that can afford them don't need to worry about the noise where they live, and would just get an acoustic kit. The expensive e-kits don't have much of a market, imo.
@@jakethepitador2558unfortunately it does not make sense. Your entire argument is built on false narrative because you object to the price. You don’t know the market or understand it.
I am really concerned about the PITCHES of these DW edrums. why? every drum and every cimbal has its own pitch sound whitch is loud and it could interfere with the actual sound you are playing if its in a different pitch/note. or am i wrong?
Hitting metal will always be louder, that's a given but the cymbal response acting like a entry level CY-5/8 Roland kit, especially on the open hi hat that's really disappointing to see.
My questions are not about volume, that's a non-issue for me. However, I am very curious how this kit fairs in a live situation. It looks like there is only a L/R main out. So the sound person would not be able to mix your kit individually, which is crucial for a good mix. I feel like it would take a lot of time spent with the band to dial in the individual sounds to nail that down just for it to not line up perfectly in all spaces.. or am I wrong here? My band is fully di and would be cool to do the same myself. Very curious about this kit, but dunno about how it does in this specific situation. Anyone have any experience or thoughts?
You can buy a USB audio interface that has roughly the same outputs as a TD-50x for around $150, I realize that a $10k drum set should already have that…however.