Roland TD-50KV2 Review

Ultimate Buying Guide

Introduction:

The Roland TD-50KV2 is the latest iteration of Roland’s flagship V-Drums line. It’s one of Roland’s top electronic drum kits, making it one of the top electronic drum kits in the world.

While the TD-50 V-Drums kit has been around for a while, the TD-50KV2 is the new and improved version, adding several upgrades and unique features to the set.

If you’re looking to buy a new electronic drum set, you’ll be aiming for the top with this one. We’re going to look through all its features and see everything it has to offer. Let’s get started!

Key Features: 

The kit features fully digital pads for the snare, ride cymbal, and hi-hats. These digital pads are incredibly advanced in their technology, giving you organic responsiveness in everything you play.

The rest of the pads are high-quality dual-zone pads. The drum pads are connected to shallow drum shells while the cymbal pads are large and feel great to play on.

The kit is run by the Roland TD-50X drum module. It’s a workhorse drum module that has everything you could possibly think of on its interface. There are so many possibilities with it which we’ll elaborate on later.

Holding the kit together is a sturdy 3-sided drum rack.Here are the exact specifications of all the parts that come with the kit:

X1 PD-140DS snare pad
X1 KD-180 bass drum
X2 PD-108 rack tom pads
X2 PD-128 floor tom pads
X1 CY-18DR ride cymbal
X1 VH-14D hi-hat
X2 CY-16R crash cymbal pads
Chrome rack

PROS: THINGS WE LIKED
  • Incredible sound technology
  • Top V-Drums kit from Roland
  • Digital snare drum, hi-hats, and ride cymbal
  • Roland TD-50X drum module is astounding
  • Large 6-piece kit
CONS: THINGS WE DIDN'T LIKE
  • Very expensive
  • TD-50X module doesn’t have as many preset kits as previous Roland modules

FEATURED ON

Roland TD-50KV2 Review:

What To Expect from This Electronic Drum Set

 

Construction

The overall construction of the kit is fantastic. However, the most notable parts are the snare, hi-hat, and ride pads. Starting with the snare drum pad, it’s an 8-sensor pad that is so responsive that it feels like a real snare drum.

You can even play on it with brushes. That’s something that you can’t do on most electronic snare drum pads.

The ride cymbal pad also has multiple sensors all over, allowing you to play different strokes around it to get different sounds. It’s a large 18” cymbal pad, making you feel like you’re playing a standard large ride cymbal.

The hi-hats are excellent as well. While they’re very responsive, the best thing about them is that you don’t get that jolt that most hi-hat pads have when you open and close the pedal.

Apart from those pads, the kit is very solidly built to last.

Hardware

All the pads are mounted onto a large chrome rack. The rack has 3 sides, allowing you to space the pads out very comfortably.

Typically, electronic drum kit racks are quite small and lead you to have a tight fit. That isn’t the case with the TD-50KV2. You can set it up with the same spacing that you would have between acoustic drums, making it much more comfortable to play.

The rack is incredibly sturdy, and all the mounts are made of metal instead of plastic like the older mounts on previous Roland kits.

The toms and cymbals mount to the rack, but the snare drum pad requires its own snare stand. This gives you much more freedom in how you position your snare drum. It also keeps it more stable which is great.

The rack also has internal space to run all the cables from the drums to the module. This allows you to have a clean look and is a much better alternative to having cables sticking out everywhere.

Module

On the surface, the TD-50X module appears to do everything that you’d expect a drum module to do. It has preset kits, sampled sounds, recording features, and plenty of practice tools.

However, you’ll find that you’re just scratching the surface with all those things. This is the most powerful drum module in the world at the moment, and you’ll find it being used with every top-of-the-range drum kit from Roland.

The sound editing possibilities are virtually endless. If you don’t like the sounds of the drums that come with the module, you can simply edit them to have a sound that you like. Roland’s Prismatic Sound Modeling Engine allows you to do this.

You can also record a multitrack of up to 32 channels with this module. You simply need to connect the module to a computer via a USB cable.

Performance

The overall performance quality of this kit is second-to-none. The sounds are immaculate and the feel of the pads is so natural. It’s not an acoustic drum set, so you shouldn’t compare it to other acoustic kits.

But comparing it to electronic kits, it has some of the best performance quality out there. There’s a big reason why Roland has been at the top of the electronic drum kit game for so long, and this kit is their latest V-Drum innovation.

The great thing about it is that you can always connect it to a computer if you want better sounds. The sounds aren’t the selling factor. Instead, the construction quality is.

Price Value Ratio

The kit costs close to $8000. That’s an incredibly high price point. Unfortunately, that’s how much it costs to get an electronic drum kit of this caliber. When looking at the price-to-value ratio, you may find that you enjoy other electronic kits that are cheaper.

For example, the Alesis Strike Pro SE is a similar kit that costs less than half the price. It’s obviously not as good, but you’ll be saving a lot of money by choosing that instead.

Roland’s other flagship set, the VAD706, costs a bit more than the TD-50KV2. That kit is arguably much better as it’s a closer adaptation of an acoustic drum kit.

Taking these things into consideration, the price-to-value ratio of the TD-50KV2 isn’t the greatest. However, it’s an excellent kit to get if you can comfortably afford it.

FAQ:

When did the Roland TD 50KV2 come out?

The Roland TD-50 has been the flagship kit for Roland since it was introduced in 2016. A few versions of it have been released since then with the TD-50KV2 being the latest model.

The TD-50KV2 itself was released in the earlier part of 2021, making it a very recent addition to Roland’s electronic drum kit lineup.

Before the TD-50, the flagship kit from Roland was the TD-30. Many drummers around the world still play on TD-30s, but they fall short compared to the TD-50 models.

The other Roland kit that got released in 2021 was the VAD706. It’s another top-quality product from Roland. The difference between the VAD706 and the TD-50KV is that the VAD kit has more of an acoustic appearance.

Both drum kits use the TD-50X drum module. So, they’re very similar to each other when it comes to sounds and features.

How To connect your Roland TD-50KV2 to a Computer?

To connect the Roland TD-50KV2 to a computer, you simply need to run a USB cable from the module to your computer. You’ll need to use a USB to MIDI cable. They’re fairly easy to find in most places.

You’ll most probably have to install a few drivers, but those tend to pop up as soon as you plug the module in, making it an easy process.

Having the ability to plug the TD-50KV2 into a computer opens up a whole new world of possibilities. While the TD-50X drum module is limited by what it has onboard, there are no limitations on a computer.

You can download as many VSTs as you want to in order to get a large array of sounds for your kit. That’s one of the big beauties of owning an electronic drum kit and a computer. There is so much you can do with it through a computer.

How to Record the Roland TD-50KV2?

If you want to simply record what you just played and play it back to yourself, there’s a recording button on the module that allows you to do that quickly and easily. If you want to do multitrack recording, there’s a process that is a bit more complicated.

You have to connect the module to a computer and run the MIDI connection through a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). From there, you can choose to record all the output from the electronic drum kit.

The great thing about the TD-50KV2 is that you can record up to 32 channels. That’s incredibly useful when recording drum parts.

How to update the Roland TD-50X Module Firmware?

Roland regularly releases updated versions of the firmware on modules. This lengthens the lifespan, giving you more options down the road.

To update the module, you need to go to the Roland website and find the page that has all the information on the TD-50X. You can see there if you’re using the latest version. If you aren’t, you can download the update file and follow all the instructions that are laid out for you. It’s an easy process once you get the hang of it!

Roland also occasionally sells higher-quality updates for the modules. You need to buy them, but the investment is worth the upgrade.

Things to consider:

Roland TD-50KV2 in the Studio

A V-Drums kit isn’t the most ideal option for recording in a studio. Typically, a studio producer will want to record an authentic acoustic kit. However, the TD-50KV2 works fairly well in recording environments.

This is particularly true if you’re someone who doesn’t have extensive knowledge about microphones and recording. All of the nitty gritty is already done for you on the module, so you just need to worry about playing the right thing when you’re recording.

It’s a good recording option for drummers who don’t have microphones or mixing experience.

Roland TD-50KV2 for a Live Gig

The kit is a great option for a modern day live gig. It looks sleek and provides you with sounds that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to play on an acoustic drum set. This kit and the VAD706 are the two best electronic drum kits at the moment.

So, it’s one of your best options if you want to use an electronic kit on a live stage. A great example of someone who utilizes this kit incredibly well on live stages is Michael Schack. He plays with DJs, using the electronic capabilities of the kit to their full potential.

The kit will also work well for more classic music. There have been many cases of bands using the TD-50KV2 to play on radio shows and talk shows.

Here’s another example of a TD-50 kit being used for a live setting. The kit in this video is the older TD-50, but the TD-50KV2 would work exactly the same way in the environment.

Roland TD-50KV2 Review
  • Build Quality
  • Performance
  • Price to Value
4.8

Conclusion

At the end of the day, the TD-50KV2 is one of Roland’s luxurious drum sets. All the luxury parts and features come with a high price tag, so you can’t expect the kit to be affordable.

With that being said, it’s a fantastic electronic drum set for anyone who can afford it. It will arguably be the top e-kit in the world along with the VAD706 for a long while. Everything about it screams professional quality.

Brett Clur has a Drum Performance Diploma from Trinity College London  has been playing drums for over 20 years. He is passionate about advanced concepts and uses his years of experience to teach his students about them. While he is a full-time drum teacher, he is also working on growing a YouTube channel where shares his insights. You can see him playing there, or on Instagram where he posts daily videos.

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