I started with a TD 9kv set up and was blissfully happy with my electronic kit having not played drums for years. However as you progress you do feel the need to expand so I bought a KD9 kick pad and the VH11 controller also a nice pearl pedal for the kick. But after seeing and playing the TD25 I decided on my 50th that an upgrade was again on the cards. I really liked it to begin with but there's something about the way the cymbals rarely cut through and the hi hat that has always bugged me. I try for hours to get something I like but never seem to get past this. I feel it may be the fact my headphones don't block out enough of the actual stick hitting rubber sound which dulls the ting of cymbals but I am onto that next.
So for a laugh I thought why don't I try out triggering GarageBand's drum sounds from my iPad. You can do this very easily with the camera connection kit and the Midi out via USB. And it was a revelation. Not perfect but wow this opened up some very interesting possibilities. It wasn't long before I downloaded the demo of EZ Drummer 2 to check out what all the fuss was about...
Unbelievable. Just so good it makes me weep. Now all I do is drum, not worry about settings, just drum with expression and subtlety that I only thought was possible on the TD30. The HiHat set to curve 1 in the preferences is pretty much perfection for me, and subtly shifts though the sounds without any choppiness. It's a joy. Cymbals sound pingy yet rich, and sustain beautifully. Latency feels like zero, it's that good. Almost like the sound is triggering before I hit the pad, which is mental. This makes playing hugely more attractive. The kit sounds are just beautiful and the limited range of adjustment seems perfect really since these already sound mental out of the box.
So then I thought I love EZ Drummer 2 with the TD25 why not try the demos of Addictive2 and BFD3. They are far more customisable than EZ and the same price. There is no comparison. Just the fact that out of the box they both take so much tweaking to get nowhere near the smoothness of the HiHat was the kill switch for me. And as for customisation, EZ sounds full and rich and smooth, where both Addictive and BFD sound compressed and machine gunny.
So to get back to topic, I highly recommend without any hesitation pairing the TD25 with EZ Drummer2. Yes the drums aren't as customisable but the sounds and atmos that comes out has been crafted to pure perfection, by a producer who knows what he is doing. I know next to nothing about recording and producing drums so the extra customisation of the others just leads you down the forever tweaking path instead of just playing. Which is what I do a lot of now! And it's a joy not a chore.
Out of the box the TD25 is a very impressive piece of kit, but pair it with EZ Drummer 2 and it's nirvana. What would make my life complete Toontrack would be an iPad version of EZ Drummer 2. I know it's a lot of work and maybe your priorities are correct in sticking with a desktop version. But touch control, a far smaller footprint ( no computer needed next too your edrums) and the convenience of downloading new kits from the app store would be fantastic. I know there are many other Virtual Instrument manufacturers who are embracing the iPad as a serious music making machine, so if there's a chance you would consider it that would be brilliant. You have a very eager beta tester too if ever you were to traverse this path.
All the best
Richard
