Alesis strike or Roland TD-17kvx

TD17kvx, Alesis strike or Alesis crimson 2

  • TD-17kvx

    Votes: 12 92.3%
  • Alesis strike

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Alesis crimson 2

    Votes: 1 7.7%

  • Total voters
    13
hey guys. my 1st post on here! anyway im in the market for a new e-kit. ive narrowed down my options to these 2 drumests, but i went to test a roland td17kvx and the floor tom couldnt go any higher nor could the snare and my leg was above both of the drums. im 6 foot 3. i did get to test an alesis crimson 2 but not the strike. and it just felt so much nicer to play, and it sounded great! maybe the rack on the TD17 could have gone higher?

so ive heard lots of people saying that alesis kits are known to break and the cymbals are trash, and the high hat on the strike's dont work properly. but i couldnt find any recent posts on here about that. what do you guys think have they been breaking still these days? some youtube videos have been saying they have been doing upgrades and what not. something about new hardware.
 
Neither. You're welcome.

<beware: controversial views ahead, which will "trigger" (hee!) some owners>

Alesis break and have bad post-sales support.
TD17 has nasty proprietary cable snake - that alone would mean I wouldn't buy it.
Both generally only have two-zone pads (no rim+cross stick+head, or bell+bow+edge for example).

What's your empirical budget and where on the planet are you?
 
Haha I have no experience with a cable snake so I was saying to myself "meh I'm not worried about that" and to be honest if it doesn't affect the performance of the drumset that won't be something I'm going to sorry about. But again with no experience I'll probably learn the hard way.

Anyways I live in Canada. And I REALLY want an all mesh drumset. And my max budget is definitely $2200 canadian. Wich is how much the strike and the kvx cost here. It should really be a $1500 limit but I want something that I won't need to upgrade for another 10 years. That's why I threw the Crimson in the list. The Roland td9 I believe..? Can't remember but it's $900 and the reason I don't want that one is because it has 15 drumsets and that's no nearly enough for my intention span haha
 
Mesh is horrible. Bouncy, not quiet (can sound like hitting Tupperware) and suffers from bad hotspot problems. WHY do you want "mesh"?

Anything breaks on a proprietary cable snake - you have to replace the whole thing. If you are gigging and something breaks when setting up, you can't just grab a lead from the guitarist and carry on - imagine losing the snare for a whole gig (or frantic re-programming)
 
I'd rather had this https://www.lamusic.com/products/dtx582k Fits your budget nicely and doens't have any of the limitations of the others. Indeed, have many many more features. (or https://www.lamusic.com/products/dtx700k)

But, that's just me.

And I gig Roland, Yamaha, Alesis etc etc.
I just went and played the Yamaha kit today and the hi hat is the best hi hat on an electronic kit I've ever tried. But its really sad how small the toms are. They are smaller than my $400 drumset. Way way to small and they aren't mesh, but I appreciate the suggestion. I also got to try an alesis strike today. And it felt like Garbage lmao. I think I'll just have to keep testing sets myself. Im learning drumsets are like vehicles. You gotta test drive it before you buy it
 
Mesh is horrible. Bouncy, not quiet (can sound like hitting Tupperware) and suffers from bad hotspot problems. WHY do you want "mesh"?

Anything breaks on a proprietary cable snake - you have to replace the whole thing. If you are gigging and something breaks when setting up, you can't just grab a lead from the guitarist and carry on - imagine losing the snare for a whole gig (or frantic re-programming)

I just saw this now. I've played a few mesh kits in the store and I have no clue what your talking about they feel sooooo nice to play. Have you not tried a Roland before? And before making this post I looked hard Into other posts to see if anyone was asking the same question. And I saw you telling alot of people the exact same thing. "mesh is horrible etc" and suggesting a Yamaha kit. I'm sure Yamaha would love you for that but not everyone is going to want the same kit
 
(a) they aren't mesh - silicone pads are better than mesh[2]. Less bouncy, and zero hotspots, and support 3-zones.

(b) Size doesn't matter. Seriously. 98% of all your hits on any drum are in a 4-6" circle of the center[1]. This is even more prevalent on mesh heads as you have to hit the center to get a decent response because of the hotspot.

[1]
88325

[2] in my opinion. Down to the individual to decide what they like
 
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I just saw this now. I've played a few mesh kits in the store and I have no clue what your talking about they feel sooooo nice to play. Have you not tried a Roland before? And before making this post I looked hard Into other posts to see if anyone was asking the same question. And I saw you telling alot of people the exact same thing. "mesh is horrible etc" and suggesting a Yamaha kit. I'm sure Yamaha would love you for that but not everyone is going to want the same kit

I have Roland, Yamaha, Alesis, Alternate Mode, Korg, UP, Simmons, Pintech, etc, so I have absolutely no axe to grind here. People ask for opinions. In the budget range we are discussing, I recommend the Yamaha silicone pads over all the other pads I own - and have owned over 30+ years of drumming electronics live.

Everything is personal. If you ask for an opinion, I will provide one from years of experience, e.g. my dislike of proprietary cabling systems. I have kits play sillies in a live situation and had to sort in seconds (Alesis multipad pads failing, Pintech mesh pads failing, Roland hi-hat controller dying, Alternate Mode bloody expensive TrapKat failing), and so the last thing I want to deal with is re-cabling a whole kit as the cable snake has died.

I suggest not from a background of "this is the only kit I have, therefore I'm recommending it", but from "here's my real world experience over decades, take it or leave it".

This week I'm playing Roland, for example. Triggered with a mix of Roland, Yamaha and a Triggera Bix (again - the latter is something I highly recommend)

As a final note- not all mesh pads feel the same. Not all rubber pads feel the same. The silicone ones are a love or hate. Trust me - I've played 'em all.

You are absolutely doing the right thing and test-driving. It's a very personal opinion. I have offered mine. Good luck with your decision and enjoy your kit,
 
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(a) they aren't mesh - silicone pads are better than mesh. Less bouncy, and zero hotspots, and support 3-zones.

(b) Size doesn't matter. Seriously. 98% of all your hits on any drum are in a 4-6" circle of the center[1]. This is even more prevalent on mesh heads as you have to hit the center to get a decent response because of the hotspot.

[1]
View attachment 88325

Yea I know but it just doesn't feel like a nice kit when the floor tom is the same size as the high tom. On a real accoustic kit the floor tom is so big because it creates a lower deeper sound with the bigger shell. So when I sit at an electronic drumset I still want it to feel like an accoustic kit to SOME extent. Even if all the toms are the same size that's ok but they are just to tiny for me. I wasn't missing the drums or anything it just felt like a toy
 
I have Roland, Yamaha, Alesis, Alternate Mode, Korg, UP, Simmons, Pintech, etc, so I have absolutely no axe to grind here. People ask for opinions. In the budget range we are discussing, I recommend the Yamaha silicone pads over all the other pads I own - and have owned over 30+ years of drumming electronics live.

Everything is personal. If you ask for an opinion, I will provide one from years of experience, e.g. my dislike of proprietary cabling systems. I have kits play sillies in a live situation and had to sort in seconds (Alesis pads failing, Pintech mesh pads failing, Alternate Mode bloody expensive TrapKat failing).

I suggest not from a background of "this is the only kits I have, therefore I'm recommending it, but from here's my experience, take it or leave it.

This week I'm playing Roland, for example. Triggered with a mix of Roland, Yamaha and a Triggera Bix (again - the latter is something I highly recommend)

As a final note- not all mesh pads feel the same. Not all rubber pads feel the same. The silicone ones are a love or hate. Trust me - I've played 'em all.

You are absolutely doing the right thing and test-driving. It's a very personal opinion. I have offered mine. Good luck with your decision and enjoy your kit,

I really appreciate your feedback and opinion dude! I didnt mean to come off as rude. And fyi I'm not in a band I'm just a hobbiest drummer that likes to play alot! I also hook my drums up to rock band 4. They have a pro mode now with the cymbals added so it's really awesome. But I still don't want a drumset that will fail on me. So I think alesis should be out of the question hey?
 
I really appreciate your feedback and opinion dude! I didnt mean to come off as rude. And fyi I'm not in a band I'm just a hobbiest drummer that likes to play alot! I also hook my drums up to rock band 4. They have a pro mode now with the cymbals added so it's really awesome. But I still don't want a drumset that will fail on me. So I think alesis should be out of the question hey?

Alesis, not out of the question if you play and like them. However, the gear does come off as less well made. I currently have two Alesis ControlPads (one of which lost a pad live) and a SamplePad which now won't read SD cards....
 
I recently bought a TD-17KV and I initially thought I wanted an Alesis because of the price. But after testing them out, the Roland was far and away better. The Alesis felt very cheap. I'm not a pro and not in a band. I just play at home and I wanted something for quiet playing to compliment my acoustic set.

For me, playing on the electronic set is not at all the same as an acoustic set and I feel like I play better on the acoustic set. However, for practice it is fun to play because of all the sounds and the fact that you can program almost any part of the kit to what you want. The tom and snare pads allow you to assign different things to the pad and the rims. The snare does allow cross stick and the crash cymbals do have bow and edge support and choke. Since you are looking at the KVX you will get the triple-zone ride cymbal which also gives you the bell. I like the mesh pads as they are nicer to hit and are quieter than the rubber pads. Ultimately it is up to you, but I am very satisfied with my purchase of the Roland.
 
I recently bought a TD-17KV and I initially thought I wanted an Alesis because of the price. But after testing them out, the Roland was far and away better. The Alesis felt very cheap. I'm not a pro and not in a band. I just play at home and I wanted something for quiet playing to compliment my acoustic set.

For me, playing on the electronic set is not at all the same as an acoustic set and I feel like I play better on the acoustic set. However, for practice it is fun to play because of all the sounds and the fact that you can program almost any part of the kit to what you want. The tom and snare pads allow you to assign different things to the pad and the rims. The snare does allow cross stick and the crash cymbals do have bow and edge support and choke. Since you are looking at the KVX you will get the triple-zone ride cymbal which also gives you the bell. I like the mesh pads as they are nicer to hit and are quieter than the rubber pads. Ultimately it is up to you, but I am very satisfied with my purchase of the Roland.

wow thanks so much! i think im definitely gonna try the roland :)
 
None of them are amazing and if your Alesis lasts more than a week before something breaks, count yourself lucky.

I have one at the place I just started working. Complete piece of crap.

If you must have electronic and this is your budget, buy something better second hand.
 
Unfortunately, these links are no longer valid, so we have no idea what "this" is.
One was a DTX582
One was a DTX700

But that was nearly two years ago!
 
Had an Alesis. Absolute junk. Now have a TD17kvx & couldn't be happier :)
 
TD17 has nasty proprietary cable snake - that alone would mean I wouldn't buy it.
THIS!!!! Have you seen how expensive they are to replace if you damage just one part of it? At least other brands it's individual jacks so replacing them is quick, cheap and easy.


This has been really interesting, I'm thinking about what the next kit will be now I've had my electric for a year and a half or so.
 
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