Roland PD-140DS (digital series) and eDRUMin compatibility

[gravyface]

Curious to know how well, if at all, the Roland digital line of pads/cymbals (and new hi-hat) work with the eDRUMin module.

EDIT: not very, because it requires USB and has a proprietary onboard controller by the looks of it

[Rob]

I can't be sure about the new hihat, but from my understanding they are class compliant MIDI devices so they should work just fine connected to the USB host port of ED10.

[Dadwrshpdrum]

Might want to check out this YouTube video. It’s not exactly what you are asking, but in there Luke talks about connecting a digital of to a USB MIDI host. That is basically what Rob just suggested.

https://youtu.be/z9Ina9wxnbU

[gravyface]

Might want to check out this YouTube video. It’s not exactly what you are asking, but in there Luke talks about connecting a digital of to a USB MIDI host. That is basically what Rob just suggested.

https://youtu.be/z9Ina9wxnbU

Ok, from what I gathered there is that it would work, but you'd lose positional sensing because that's not transmitted over MIDI.

[bmijts]

I can't be sure about the new hihat, but from my understanding they are class compliant MIDI devices so they should work just fine connected to the USB host port of ED10.

It does work quite well. I'm using the digital ride plugged into the USB host port of the ED10. Cross talk with other pads works perfectly which is a huge plus compared to direct connection to a PC via usb. There are downsides though, without any ability to adjust sensitivity and other parameters you need to use curves in your VST software to get the feel right. The biggest downside as mentioned by others is the lack of positional sensing data.

[monospace]

I gotta say that the demo videos I've seen of the digital hats so far leave me underwhelmed. To Rob's credit, I think a VH-10 connected to SD3 by means of an eDRUMin, and properly dialed in, sounds as good, if not better.

As it happens, all of my gear is Roland, but thanks to the eDRUMin, I no longer feel like I'm locked into that ecosystem anymore. Until that digital hat (or digital pads in general) become commonplace and interchangeable, I'm not interested in dropping almost 900 bucks on a device that isn't going to be much better than what I already have (and that's without the several thousands needed for a compatible Roland module.)

[gravyface]

Is the VH-10 really that good? Others on the vdrums forum say that the VH-14D is "night and day" yadda yadda, so who knows if that's confirmation bias or not.

[monospace]

The VH-10 is literally half the price of the VH-14D (and still plenty expensive at that.)
Is it as good as the digital hats connected to a Roland flagship module? I don't have the $$$ to find out.
But connected to the eDrumIn, it's superbly playable.

[lalo]

I tried the VH-14D, the only thing digital about it is the usb cable… the rest is still mechanical pieces crunching together… it may have a couple more sensors on the bow and a new controller capable of detecting left/right hits but honestly couldn’t hear a difference because the td-50x „samples“ suck anyway… as someone already mentioned, they sound like calling a receptionist at a hotel…

[gravyface]

I'm now frothing over the EF Note 5. What a beautiful looking and sounding kit. The garbage that Roland passes off for in their modules... honestly, highway robbery when you factor everything into something like the VAD 706 at 10K.