Roland’s digital pads have been a game-changer in the electronic drumming world. While the digital snare and ride cymbal pads had all the spotlight for a few years, Roland’s latest addition to the lineup has been the VH-14D digital hi-hat pad.
It’s an incredible pad to add to your electronic drum kit setup, and we’re going to look at all the details in this article. We’ll see what makes it so good, and we’ll explain which drum modules it can be used with.
We’ll also see whether it’s worth upgrading to compared to what you already have on your e-kit.
The Roland VH-14D is a 14-inch rubber pad with an incredibly authentic playing surface. It’s a digital pad that has dozens of sensors that trigger dynamic sounds. While other hi-hat pads have a few sensors, this pad has several to allow you to get the same sounds that you would from acoustic hi-hats.
Its design requires it to be mounted to a proper hi-hat stand, which is much better than mounting it to a hi-hat arm on a rack.
It has separate triggers on the bow and edge to give you even more realistic playing options. The edge sounds are more aggressive, while the bow sounds are more subtle.
It can only be used to its full extent when paired with the Roland TD-27 and TD-50 drum modules. It works best with the Roland TD-50X module.
The Roland VH-14D is the highest-quality hi-hat pad on the market. While the sounds are purely determined by what module you’re using, the potential of those sounds is established by this hi-hat pad.
You’ll get the most realistic playing experience when using this digital pad with Roland’s top modules, as it’s designed to feel close to real hi-hats as possible.
The pad is also highly durable. It’s designed to take many beatings without wearing out or developing scuff marks, which is often what you get with cheaper hi-hat pads over time.
The biggest construction aspect that gives the VH-14D such good playability is the fact that it has separate triggers for the edge and the bow.
You get a trigger for the edge that senses everything you play when hitting the shoulder. Then you get a trigger for the surface that senses everything you play on the top of the pad. These triggers work together to give you more responsiveness than any other hi-hat pad on the market.
The 14-inch size is also fantastic, as it matches the common size for acoustic hi-hats. Most other hi-hat pads are a bit smaller, so it’s a great feeling to play the usual size on an electronic set.
The VH-14D has four main performance features. The first is the smoothness you get when playing the pad open or closed. With so many sensors, you get different sounds depending on how loose your foot is on the pedal. This is a huge step up from other pads that have two distinct sounds for open and closed playing. The pad offers an excellent foot splash mechanic. Again, it’s incredibly realistic compared to other hi-hat pads.
The bow and edge playability is the big performance feature that most drummers love this pad for. Whether you like playing on the edge or surface of your hats, you’ll love this pad. Lastly, the choking mechanism of this pad is extremely tight and clean. The sensors on the edge are so articulate that you can even play expressive swing patterns while opening and closing the hats and choking them with your hand.
The price is the huge downside of the VH-14D. It cost over $1000, which is an extremely high price. You could get a decent entire electronic drum kit for less than that.
So, this isn’t a pad that most drummers will fancy buying, especially if they don’t already have a kit with a TD-27 or TD-50 drum module.
However, it’s a good purchase for people who want the best available hi-hat pad on the market. If you already have Roland’s digital snare drum and ride cymbal pads, you’ll most likely be prepared to pay the high price for this.
If you use an electronic drum set for recording drum parts, the VH-14D will help you dramatically when it comes to playing authentic hi-hat rhythms. It allows you to create musical sounds that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to do with a standard hi-hat pad.
However, if you’re not looking for improved hi-hat playability in studio settings and you’re happy to adjust a few things in post-production, you won’t need to pay the high price for this pad.
The biggest benefit of using the VH-14D pad for live playing is that its 14-inch size feels a lot better to play than any other smaller pad. Playing electronic kits doesn’t feel as good as playing acoustic kits at live gigs, but it’s great to have anything that will slightly boost the experience.
The other benefit is that the pad will allow for more expressive playing on your hi-hat. You could arguably even use it for a jazz gig. That’s a very controversial opinion, though!
Overall, the Roland VH-14D is an amazing pad that will drastically improve the quality and playing experience of your electronic drum set.
Just keep in mind that you can only add it to your kit if it has a Roland TD-27 or TD-50 drum module. If you have another Roland drum module, it will work, but it will just work the same way as the hi-hat pad you already have.
Drum Teacher
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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