The 700 Series is Roland’s latest lineup of high-end professional electronic drum kits. The brand has always offered the best products in the business, and these new e-kits have pushed innovation even further.
In this review, we’re specifically going to look at the Roland TD716 electronic drum set. It’s the highest-quality kit that Roland offers that doesn’t form part of the VAD line.
We’ll explore the features and discuss which drummers this kit would be ideal for.
The TD716 has some seriously high-quality drum pads. This includes a digital snare drum, hi-hat, and ride cymbal. The toms are from Roland’s PDX line of pads, and they have some great improvements compared to previous iterations.
The kit is powered by the Roland V71 drum module, which is Roland’s latest flagship module that offers some incredible features.
There’s a thick metal rack holding all of the pads together, ensuring that the kit is incredibly sturdy.
When hearing this kit being played, it’s quite noticeable how good it sounds. The impeccable sound quality comes from a mixture of the new module and the digital pads.
While the digital pads aren’t new, the newer sound samples on the module are what puts this kit above any other V-Drums that came before it.
You get such detailed responsiveness from dynamics that it makes it feel like you’re playing a proper acoustic drum set. You then have all the benefits of electronics, like changing sounds and recording easily.
It’s best to compare this kit to the Roland TD-50K2, as that was the flagship set that came before it. In most areas, the quality is a massive improvement compared to that set.
One of our favorite construction features is the throw-off on the digital snare drum. It’s not something you typically get on an electronic kit, so it’s such a unique experience being able to turn the “snares” on and off.
We’re also incredibly impressed by all of the features on the V71 drum module. With new sounds sampled from DW drum kits and fresh editing tools, it’s a premium experience using this kit.
There is another version of this kit called the TD713. The difference is that the 713 has a smaller kick pad, a plastic rack, and no die-cast hoops on the tom pads.
While electronic kits have never matched the performance of acoustic kits perfectly, the Roland TD716 comes pretty close.
The inclusion of die-cast hoops on all of the drum pads is a notable new feature. While you’re not going to be hitting those most of the time, they make the pads feel a lot more authentic to play on.
We’re also huge fans of the new V-Edit software that allows you to edit the module sounds on a computer. It makes it so much easier to get better sounds that you can spend a lot of time fine-tuning to fit your preferences.
Overall, the performance quality of this kit and the VAD716 is unmatched in our opinion.
The kit costs around $8000. That doesn’t include a kick pedal, hi-hat stand, or snare drum stand. However, if you’re happy to pay this much for a kit, you probably have those things laying around already.
We can’t sugarcoat the fact that this is one seriously expensive drum set. However, when we compare it to all of the other high-end electronic kits on the market, the price seems quite competitive.
It will always be a drum kit that a small percentage of the drum community are happy to pay for. If you’re part of that group, you’ll find that the value is well worth the money!
Sometimes, new editions to product lineups don’t offer too much change compared to previous kit models.
We were worried that would be the case with this new Roland line. However, we’re thrilled with what Roland is offering us here, and we’re incredibly impressed by the TD716 electronic drum kit.
If you have no problem spending close to $10,000 on a drum kit, we highly encourage you to consider one of these new Roland flagship sets.
Founder of TheDrumNinja
I’m crazy about drums, it’s been my passion since I was 12 years old. I played in numerous bands going through different styles like Rock, Progressive, Pop & Jazz-Rock. After being featured in major music publications (Drumeo, Guitar Guitar, AudioIssues, MusicThinkTank) I started this website to share my knowledge and create a resource for drummers of all levels.
We specialize in helping drummers of all levels become rhythmic assassins and develop ninja-like skills, quickly. Our mission is to create the best resources for all musicians and build a community where you can learn and share everything related to your musical journey.
Our team is committed to exceeding our clients’ expectations with uncompromising honesty and integrity. We focus all of our energy on helping musicians of all levels achieve their goals and build a foundation of skills that will last a lifetime.
Enter your name and email below to get instant access to our FREE eBook, “9 Powerful Tips To Get Faster On The Drums (And The Mistakes To Avoid!)”
Enter your name and email below to get instant access to our FREE eBook,
“9 Powerful Tips To Get Faster On The Drums (And The Mistakes To Avoid!)”
