TD 1KV USB Midi with Studio One & Audiobox USB

[Rebel4k]

Hi folks,

Pretty much a complete noob to the electronic drum scene (& drumming... am actually a Bassist but play a few other things & want to improve my exceptionally poor drumming to help with songwriting)!

Long story short... I have a very basic home studio set-up just for getting song ideas recorded (laptop, presonus audiobox usb w/Studio One Producer, Line 6 PodXT) & am looking into buying the TD 1KV kit.

The potential issue I have is that the TD 1k series has a direct usb connection to the computer & I'm wondering if/how that will interact with Studio One as it's not connected through the Audiobox unit... will I still be able to trigger VSTs & monitor through the Audiobox headphone out?

May seem a silly question but I can't find any real info online (can only find marketing stuff that says it'll work with most DAWs) & want to make sure it does what I need it to do before I shell out a lot of cash!

All help very gratefully received!

[perceval]

will I still be able to trigger VSTs : YES

& monitor through the Audiobox headphone out? : YES

You didn't mention your computer, Mac or PC?

Do yourself a favor and stay away from Presonus. Just head over to their forum to notice the amount of angry customers regarding their USB line of interfaces.
Focusrite is about the same price and has much better support.

Also, Studio One doesn't support all aftertouch info, most notably for us drummer, choking a cymbal. It doesn't work in S1.
Loads of other DAWs out there that do.

My latest fling is with MixBus. Amazing and simple DAW, easy to get into. Pretty cheap too. http://harrisonconsoles.com/site/mixbus.html

[Rebel4k]

Cheers for the info!

Am on PC btw!

S1 has served me pretty well for what I've needed so far, which is just a bit of basic demo recording & getting riff ideas down before I inevitably forget them, but I'll definitely look into MixBus if I get any of the issues you mentioned! Any (preferably cheap) dedicated drum software you'd recommend that I could use to record the kit then port it to S1 to add the other instruments?! Stuff like EZ Drummer etc?!

[perceval]

DrumMic'a! from Sennheiser is a free VST that sounds really good.

Lots of presets and enough tweaking to rival the sounds of EZDrummer and the likes.
Plus, they don't have choking on their cymbals, so you'll feel right at home with S1 (joking).

By the way, funny that from a bass player and new drummer, your avatar says "quietly" ...

[Rebel4k]

Awesome! Big Sennheiser fan so will definitely check that out!

The avatar is actually a stylized version of the "Serenity" logo from the Firefly tv show... but, after many years in Rock bands, thinking of it as "quietly" may help me focus on the current goal of getting used to playing with a lighter touch, better tone & more dynamics... good for bass & drums!

Really appreciate the advice, cheers dude!

Should have the new kit in a couple of weeks so will let you know how I'm getting on with it!

[perceval]

You're welcome.

Very stylized logo... and missing the first character... didn't even recognise it! And I'm a Firefly nuts!

[Rebel4k]

Kit bought, set-up, plugged in (& expanded with the additional cymbal)... all working fine; recording, monitoring & triggering the right drum sounds straight out of the box (unlike the old Yamaha kit I had a while ago)! Happy little camper! Just on the hunt for some new 64 bit VSTs now... time for some forum trawling!

[Rebel4k]

Oh.... and working on actually learning to play the darn thing! Lesson one: not dropping my stick (always the right one) every 5 minutes!

[Jml]

So you like the TD1-KV? I posted another thread on the same model recently and was recommended to higher end kits. Do you feel as though the Tom pads are too small? Do you see yourself upgrading at some point?

[perceval]

So you like the TD1-KV? I posted another thread on the same model recently and was recommended to higher end kits. Do you feel as though the Tom pads are too small? Do you see yourself upgrading at some point?

Let's put it this way...

You feel like you would like to try tennis. But you have never played before. You go to a superstore and buy a tennis racquet and some balls.
You practice everyday and you really enjoy it.

You meet a few new friends at the court you play with. One day, your friend invites you to try his/her racquet bought at 3 times the amount you paid for yours at the superstore. You realise that racquet has much better balance, and you gain in precision and power. That's when you decide you need a new racquet.

Drumming is just like everthing else. If you play once a while, and do not consider this too seriously, then yes, a TD1 is fine.
If you practice a lot and at one point you feel the TD1 is holding you back, you will probably decide to upgrade.

It comes down to how much time you think you can devote, and how much you are willing to spend.
In a perfect world, everyone would have the top if the line item.
This is not a perfect world (unfortunately) and we do the best we can.

[Jml]

Perceval,

Thanks. I think that's a good analogy. I guess I have to figure out what I really want out of this and what I'm doing eventually. I've never practiced or played formally but now have the time and desire to play. So it comes down to saving up money for a high end kit and wait to start, or get something less expensive to get me going, but will eventually need to be replaced. Noise, money and space considerations limit my options. Otherwise a small, decent acoustic kit would fit the bill but noise makes that next to impossible. I'm starting with a practice pad and stand and have to figure out what to do next.

[Rebel4k]

Yup... that pretty much covers it! I bought the TD1, mainly, because it was the cheapest kit with a mesh snare that I could find & I only, really, need a kit to help with my songwriting (find it easier & quicker to play parts in rather than program them) and to improve my playing a little.... not planning on becoming the next Neil Peart or even switching my primary instrument from Bass so this kit does everything I need it to do!

As with most Roland stuff it is upgradeable... to a point... so you can add to it or improve parts as you progress until you feel ready to upgrade but I find it great for a complete novice like myself who's only mucked about on friend's kits before! The Coach functions & Friend Jam are also a bonus!

In terms of space & noise, I live in a small-ish high rise flat & haven't had any complaints so far! The footprint of the kit is tiny & will happily fit in the corner of a decent sized bedroom! The tom pads are pretty small to fit the compact frame but I look at it this way: if I can learn to play on these then hitting full size toms accurately will be easy!

Basically, as Perceval said, buy for your needs... I'd always recommend that any beginner, no matter what instrument they want to play, starts with something decent but comparatively cheap (there are far cheaper & generally nastier e-kits out there) so they're not wasting too much if they decide not to pursue it... there's always the option to upgrade later & you'll have something to sell or trade to help with the cost

That's my 2 cents anyway!

[Jml]

Thanks for the tip. I'm a novice myself, which makes the e-kits helpful with the coaching functions. The small toms are a negative but that seems to be prevalent (along with rubber toms) until you get to the high end kits. Why does no one make large, mesh head kits for a decent price (and work well - otherwise Traps kits would dominate the market)????

[Rebel4k]

Well, there's always ebay!

Would have to research to be sure but I think the TD1s will support the PD-85 & PDX-100 Toms so could always pick them up second hand & upgrade gradually if they really become an issue! Tbh I'm getting used to the tom pads pretty quickly - although larger mesh heads would be great, obviously, so I'll probably upgrade at some point in the future but it's surprising how quickly you adapt to using them!

Just checked up & the mesh heads are only half an inch bigger than the rubber ones anyway so, unless you wanted to go for a full set of the 10" PDX-100s (which, judging by a quick ebay check, wouldn't be a lot pricier than the TD-80s tbh) it wouldn't make a lot of difference in terms of size... definitely feel better though!

[Jml]

Yeah the pads aren't much different in size between the rubber toms included in the TD1 and the smaller upgraded mesh heads. I thought the rubber toms on the TD1 were actually softer than the rubber pads on the more expensive TD11 when I tried them out. That's a plus that you can upgrade the toms if desired, and I know about the upgradable kick pedal. Only drawback is the inability to possibly upgrade the hi-hat pedal.