Roland VAD706 Review – Is It Worth It?
Contents
Roland VAD706 V-Drums Acoustic Design
Pros
- Roland TD-50X drum module (better than the TD-27 module that was on the previous VAD kits)
- Amazing sensitivity and triggering on the snare, toms, kick, and cymbals, along with low latency.
- Great Stage Presence - Acoustic drum shells with a great lacquer finish (different colors available)
- New VH-14D Hi-hats are an upgrade from previous VAD kits.
Cons
- It’s extremely pricey.
The VAD706 is one of Roland’s flagship kits, which is aimed at providing an acoustic drum-playing experience with electronic drums. The VAD706 is a significant upgrade from the previous models, and it takes all the success and experience from previous models and improves them in several ways.
Providing an incredibly realistic playing experience with the TD-50X drum module available, along with the full-sized acoustic drum shells and amazing triggering. The VAD706 is a game-changer despite its extremely high price.
1. Roland VAD706
Key Features
Let’s have a closer look at the features of VAD706 to understand what makes this electronic drum set a top star, among others.
Also, if you want to understand how this compares with other VAD models, check out our article which shows a comparison between the Roland VAD706, VAD506, VAD503, and VAD306 electronic drum sets.
Drum Module
The most innovative feature the VAD 706 possesses is its TD-50x drum module. It is the highest quality drum module so far and features 70 preset drum kits along with 900 different sounds in its internal memory to use.
Packed with the new kick, tom, snare, and cymbal samples, the module comes with parameters to edit tuning, muffling, shell depths, and head type. Plus, the Prismatic Sound Modelling Engine elevates the realistic sounds to an even more realistic degree, while the Pure Acoustic Ambience technology gives you the hyper-realistic sound spaces.
The previous model of the series, VD506, used an older drum module, TD-27, which although was modeled off the TD-50 series, it wasn’t quite in the same league! The TD-50x outruns the TD-27 in all aspects with more and higher quality instrument sounds, more effect choices, more diverse analog input, and output options, and with double the amount in terms of Module Trigger Inputs.
There is much more to say about this drum module, but shortly it is up there as one of the best drum modules you can find on the market today.
Design
Another aspect that VAD706 shines is its design. In addition to its acoustic-drum-like sound, it has the appearance of one. It features wood shells with a gloss lacquer finish and a maple ply making it look like an acoustic drum.
The hardware is finished with shiny chrome adding to the elegant appearance, and the stands are double-braced, providing a robust platform. The stands are also acoustic drum stands which makes the kit look more like a traditional drum.
Overall, VAD706 looks great and comes in different colors: cherry, ebony, natural, or white. From a distance, it is pretty hard to tell if it is an electronic or acoustic drum which is a massive plus for VAD706.
Kit Configuration
Roland VAD706 comes in a five-piece configuration. The elements are all top-quality Roland products; PD-140DS digital snare, 10” PDA100, 12″ PDA120, and 14″ PDA140F toms, KD-222 22″ kick drum, CY-18DR digital ride cymbal, and two CY-16R-T crash cymbals, as well as the new Roland technology VH-14D digital hi-hat.
The VH-14D offers an ultra-high realistic playing experience with a high resolution of open-closed and strike position sounds. It has its own processor and is in the dimensions of an acoustic hi-hat to provide a more realistic experience.
Compared to the previous model VDA506, the VAD706 features an upgraded hi-hat, kick drum, and crash. Furthermore, there are tunable mesh heads on top of every part, which are highly responsive to all kinds of dynamic playing.
Price
Of course, all of these high-quality features come at a price. The VAD706 has one of the highest price tags on the market.
However, it was not created to be a budget drum kit. It is the best acoustic-electronic hybrid drum so far and is aimed at drummers doing paid gigs for bigger shows or drummers with big budgets. If you are looking for an acoustic drum experience with an electronic kit, this is the one.
Alternatives To Roland VAD706
Equipped with a 5-piece set up along with 3 cymbals and a hi-hat, ATV aDrums Artist Series is an elegant-looking high-quality electronic drum set. If you want, you can include the AD-5 drum module or simply find another one that it is compatible with.
It looks like an authentic acoustic drum thanks to its 6-ply birch shells with a piano black finish.
The drum set features tunable dual-layer mesh-head pads, which you can adjust the tension as you like. The kit has full-sized cymbals with 360-degree sensors and rubber pads. All the pads have 360-degree sensors that provide great sound all around the pads’ surface.
The optional drum module AD-5 is a relatively limited module. However, the good news is ATV aDrums Artist is compatible with most of the drum modules around.
Born from the collaboration of Pearl and Korg, e/Merge e/Hybrid is a premium quality electronic drum set. It features a 14” snare drum, 18” bass drum, and 10”, 12” and 14” toms, along with a 15” crash, 18” ride, and a hi-hat.
The kit looks like a traditional acoustic drum with its authentic design and full-sized bass drum.
The high-quality pads provide a high response thanks to their innovative technologies like Korg’s Wavedrum and Pearls PureTouch technology. These offer a realistic sound in which every hit makes an impact.
The kit comes with the Great MDL-1 module, which features high-quality yet limited amounts of sounds. Finally, it is a high-end product, but it is reasonably priced when the quality of the parts, design, and craftsmanship are taken into account.
Roland TD-50KV2 is one of the highest quality drums in the market today thanks to its game-changer drum module TD-50. It is a next-level drum module with a custom sampling feature and ultra-realistic sound with a wide range of adjustments such as size, thickness, muffling, pitch, ping level, and microphone position of the cymbals.
Another great feature is that it supports sample imports. You can record your own acoustic drum samples and load them into your module. The set gives plenty of options for producers and drummers that are traditionally done with DAWs, such as changing the rate of attack by processing the sound.
It is a high-end product without much to say on the opposing side.
The previous model of the VAD series, Roland VAD506, comes with full-size wood shells with 3 toms, 1 snare, 3 cymbals + hi-hat, kick drum, and the TD-27 drum module.
The drum module is the downgraded version of the TD-50 drum module. Although it does not sound as rich as its bigger brother, it has very good sound modeling with many sound options.
Just like the VAD706, The drum uses acoustic drum kit hardware with electronic pads on top, making it look very close to an acoustic drum kit. The kit features real-wood drum shells with a sparkling finish that looks great to the eyes. However, the hi-hat stand, snare stand, and pedals do not come in the package and are sold separately.
Some related articles that might might find useful are our round-ups on the Best Roland Electronic Drum Sets and Best Electronic Drum Sets.
Verdict
In short, the VAD706 is one of the best electronic drums on the market today. With its next-level drum module, great acoustic drum looks, and wide range of kit configuration members, it is a top-quality high-end product.
The big size of the kit and its premium quality sensors offer a great playing experience. The sound quality is premium level thanks to the latest techs such as the Prismatic Sound Modelling Engine and Pure Acoustic Ambience used in production.
If you do not have the budget, you can go for the alternatives which would not let any drummer down. However, VAD706 is an excellent choice for pro drummers of big shows or drummers with big budgets.
