Roland TD-50KV with KD-A22

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| DECEMBER 2016 WWW.MUSICRADAR.COM/RHYTHM

GEAR REVIEW

samples. Other noteworthy features of the

TD-50 include balanced left and right XLR

master outputs in addition to the standard ¼"

jack outputs (meaning no more DI boxes for

stage or studio use), a new routing engine

which allows, among other things, the kit

mixer to control only the headphone monitor

mix without altering the front-of-house mix,

10-channel USB audio that allows multi-track

recording straight to a computer, and kit

chains have been replaced with ‘Set Lists’ and

users can name and save up to 32 separate

lists. A new menu layout means general

navigation is a little easier and also

Also try…

Are there plans

for other sizes

of the KD-A at

this stage?

“The KD-A22 is

the ﬁ rst thing of

its kind in the

market. We’re

trying something

new here that’s

not been done

before so we

started with the most popular acoustic kick

drum size amongst drummers for the ﬁ rst

available product. If it is popular, I don’t see

why we would not make a 20" and maybe even

an 18" version available down the line.”

The acoustic sounds are limited at this point,

namely the rides and hi-hats. Is there a

reason for this and are there more on the

way soon?

“Actually, not at the moment, no. We’ve

focussed on quality of internal sounds (or

‘instruments’ as we call them) here and not

quantity. Because the audio quality is higher

– longer sustain, increased tonal range all in

higher deﬁ nition audio – we chose to use the

internal memory space for just a few large-

ﬁ le ‘staples’.”

What would you say is the real game-

changing feature of the TD-50?

“There’s a few. Firstly, we know we needed to

update our sound. So we have a brand new

library of acoustic sounds. Secondly, for the

ﬁ rst time in over 30 years, we are the only

company to move triggering technology

forward beyond the TRS stereo jack

connection. [Also] allowing samples to be

loaded into V-Drums was a big change for us,

but it’s the layering function we’ve added

that’s really revolutionary and follows our

Hybrid sound strategy all the way.”

Jules Tabberer-Stewart

European Drum Product Manager

They say…

THE NEW DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY

BRINGS NOT ONLY AN EXTENDED

RANGE OF DYNAMICS, BUT ALSO

A MORE FAMILIAR, DARE I SAY,

ACOUSTIC FEEL TO THE TABLE

CONNECTION

The new ride and snare

pads use a digital signal

over USB connection

SNARE

The new 14" snare pad

features a 3-ply head and

feels much more realistic

accommodates the increased functionality

well. The new page up and down buttons to

the right of the LCD display combine with the

standard F1-3 buttons along the top to open

up access to multiple banks of tabs and

sub-menus, each crammed with a frightening

number of possibilities. Within the mix

settings alone it’s possible to access multi-FX

(up to three), compression and EQ. Within

these options, each trigger can be altered

completely independently.

New ‘R’-dials situated under the display

relate to particular parameters on screen at

any given time, meaning less button pushing.

Each dial is surrounded by a funky LED ring

which can be colour-coded from kit to kit.

Useful for grouping kits by category, or just

having your own private disco.

Despite a wealth of kit presets, the new

instrument samples are limited. Roland’s

European Drum Product Manager Jules

Tabberer-Stewart explains that they have

chosen quality over quantity for their new

sounds and are in no rush to push out more.

This means less choice than we’re used to (ie:

just two ride cymbals and two hi-hats), but a

much higher level of customisation, including

shell depth, head and mufﬂ ing options,

microphone positioning, cymbal size/

thickness and even ping level/type. The new

transient menu also allows for deeper

customisation of individual instruments

and samples.

Hands On

Playability has been undoubtedly improved by

the larger sizes of the 14" snare pad and 18"

ROLAND TD-30KV

We say: “Pay out for a

high-end acoustic kit

and you only get one.

With this set-up you get

hundreds of kits and the

cymbals thrown in too! ”