Roland TD-27KV Electronic Drum Set Review

8.6

Value for money

8.5/10

Features

8.0/10

Playability

9.0/10

Sound quality

9.0/10

Pros

  • Excellent TD-27 drum module
  • Build Quality
  • Feel and size of the mesh heads
  • Great snare (ghost notes and rim shots)
  • Suitable for Double-bass drum pedals

Cons

  • A larger pad for the floor tom would be nice
  • Uses the KD-10 kick tower, which is smaller and not as nice to play on as the kick on the TD-50

The TD-27KV is Roland’s mid-range offering, sitting above the TD-17 range and below the flagship TD-50 range. Its best features are its deep snare pad and a large responsive ride cymbal pad, both of which are the best of their kind in the market at the moment.

This drum set offers high-end quality sound module and build quality while coming at a much lower price than the flagship models. This kit greatly excels when it comes to triggering and modeling technology, however, its relatively traditional e-drum set design doesn’t have the stage presence of the Roland TD-50 or Alesis strike pro se.

This article will dive into the features and most important things that you should know about the Roland TD-27KV.

Roland TD-27KV – Price Comparison

Before we get into it, check out the Roland TD-27KV in action:

Pads and Cymbals

Verdict: These pads and cymbals have great build quality and triggering, particularly the snare and ride cymbal. There is a “quality over quantity” approach with this electronic drum set. While this kit does not have the stage presence of bigger e-drum kits, the parts are reliable and very well put together. Though, a larger floor tom pad would be nice!

Let’s start with the amazing 14” x 4.3” PD-140DS digital snare. It’s one of the best in the e-drum business. Fitted with a 3-ply mesh head, its playing experience is as close to an acoustic snare as it gets. The rebound is really good and the pad is sensitive enough to feel a rim shot and a cross stick. 

The snare has to be fitted on an acoustic stand, which you need buy separately.

There are 3 toms, assembled as an acoustic kit. All of them have a 2-ply mesh head with great sensitivity.

The kit has 12” hi-hats, but we’ll talk about that a bit more later. The rest of the cymbals include 12” and 13” crash and a magnificent 18” inch ride. 

The crash cymbals are two-zoned. What this means is that you can play the edge, which is a standard crash sound, or you can play the bow, which is the body surface. The cymbal pads also choke pretty realistically.

Its ride cymbal pad is amazing. It is a three-zoned pad with a very sophisticated build. So, you can play the edge, the bow, the bell, and even a dampened sound by placing one hand on top of the surface. The feel is quite life-like, so it makes for a great experience while playing. Although no electronic cymbal can really compete with an acoustic one, this is the closet you’re going to get in the market at the moment!

Drum Module

Verdict: The drum module of the TD 27 is very solid and well designed. It’s easy to use, it has plenty of sounds, along with the ability to load custom samples. It also acts as its own audio interface over USB for audio recording (a big advantage). It has very low latency and very good sound modeling. As for the quality of the internal sounds, they are very decent, though in my opinion, not necessarily the best in the industry. Out of the box, you’re going to get better sounds from drum VSTs or possibly from other modules like the Alesis Strike Pro module.

The Roland TD-27KV module has a capacity of 100 kits. 55 kits are pre-installed while forty-five are user kits. The user kits can be customized as you please. You can also customize the pre-installed kits.

Custom samples can be added to the module using an SD card, which is an easy process.

It has a plethora of module settings that allow you to equalize sounds, add layers, change the instrument on the pad.

Connectivity is a major factor in e-kits. The TD-27KV has traditional MIDI input and outputs. The ins and outs aren’t as many as the TD-50, but considering that the TD-27KV is cheaper, it is well worth it. 

The TD-27KV also has USB connectivity which is capable of USB audio and USB MIDI. This is a very handy feature as you don’t need an additional interface. You can control, equalize, and create a booming ambiance from your computer. 

The module comes with four additional trigger inputs. With this, Roland is giving you the option of adding your own pads and making a drum kit as big as you need.

There is also a footswitch connection on the module. Connect a footswitch and change the module kit or start and stop a song with your foot.

Lastly, this module has good features like Bluetooth connectivity, an advanced metronome, and built-in coaching tools. The whole thing makes it easy to record or play along with music.

Sounds

Coming back to the sounds, there are over 750 different sounds on the module. These range from snares to toms to cymbals, to cowbells, what have you. The module also allows you to add your own sounds. 

One nice feature that it does have is that you can add two founds to the same pad. For example, an acoustic snare and a clap sound. Both of them will play simultaneously, although you do have the option of changing their volume individually.

Each pad has different playing zones which can be assigned different sounds. The sounds have a great range of customizations. You change the drum head, dampen them, change the resonance, and the tuning as well. 

The volume knob is a pretty standard one. One nice feature that it does have is that you can equalize the sound of the kit and mix it as you need.

Despite its many sounds, one thing where the TD-27KV might lack is the general sound of the kit. You might find the sounds on Alesis Strike Pro Se to be better. 

Kick and Hi-hat

TD 27-KV’s hi-hats are two separate pads fitted to a regular hi-hat stand. The pads are playable at the edge and the bow and offer a nice response. As you lift your foot off the hi-hat pedal, the sound becomes more open in a fairly realistic manner.

The kick pad is a one-zone pad. That doesn’t mean any compromise on the sound, though. It has velocity sensitivity, which basically means that it can detect different speeds and power with which you hit the pad and sound accordingly. Despite the kick pad on this e-kit being a bit smaller than the 25 KVX, it’s still big enough to be used with a double-bass pedal. 

Pros

There are many great things about the Roland TD-27KV. The greatest would be its snare drum and the ride cymbal. Neither of them is second to none in the e-kit space. The sound and the responsiveness alone are what can compel drummers to buy this kit.

The module is very well put together. The different customizations make it a great module to experiment with. It also gives you the power to decide what sound you want out of your drums.

Recording the Roland TD-27KV is very easy as you can connect it directly to a computer via USB for both audio and MIDI recording to your DAW. It works as a nice MIDI controller for drum VSTs as well.

As far as the build and hardware are concerned, Roland is already well-known for making excellent-quality music instruments that include its v-drums. I’d expect this kit to last a very long time and retain its value very well if you were to sell it off in future.

Cons

The Roland TD-27KV best works in a home studio, for drum lessons, or studio practice. When it comes to having a stage presence, the kit disappointingly falls short. The kick pad is small in comparison to the TD-50, V-drums acoustic design series, and Alesis Strike Pro SE. The tom pads are also a bit shallow.

For how expensive the TD-27KV is, Roland does not include a kick pedal, a snare stand, and a throne. You will have to spend some extra money to get quality gear to go with the kit.

Of course, products from Roland tend to come at a premium price. The Roland TD-27 range of electronic drum sets is quite expensive. However, you do get a very solid product for the price.

Differences Between the Roland TD-17KV vs TD-27KV

The Roland TD-27KV has a much better module, snare, and ride in comparison to the Roland TD-17KV . The tom pads also feel better to play on the TD-27KV. The TD-17KV is a great electronic drum set in its own right, but if you have the budget, it’s worth going for the TD-27KV.

Summary

The Roland TD-27KV is a very well-designed electronic drum set, and it has many of the features that we can find in the flagship Roland TD 50 series. If you have the budget for this, it certainly is quite an upgrade from the TD-17.

It really is an amazing kit to play for practicing and recording. However, keep in mind that it does not have the stage presence of some of the other higher-end e-drum sets that’s out there, but Roland opted for a “quality over quantity” approach with this set using a more traditional design.

Mike O'Connor
Mike O'Connor

I've been playing drums for over 18 years. I work as both a session drummer and a drum teacher, and I love to share my knowledge and tips on this site. You can also find me on the Electronic Drum Advisor YouTube channel.

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