The beauty about an electronic drum kit is that it provides players with a greater amount of flexibility, allows headphones to be worn so that they do not disturb everyone else in close vicinity, and is much more compact, taking up a lot less space. However, all of these many benefits come at a cost – with this being higher for some brands than others.
The Manufacturing Process
Probably the main reason as to why electronic drum kits are much more costly than the acoustic version is down to the fact that they are more expensive to make in the first place. This is because they contain lots of different and sophisticated electronic components that are used to produce a high quality sound.
In addition to this, there is the cost of many hours of research and development to absorb in the price also. With these being relatively new pieces of kit, the technology is still being looked into and fine tuned in order to give the best results and all of this work comes at a cost. However, this does mean that as the technology becomes more established, the price of an electronic drum kit should start to come down.
The Brain Of The Drum Kit
The likes of a set of Roland digital drums come with a module that many people refer to as the brain. It is this that is responsible for triggering each and every sound that comes out of the electronic drum kit. It works like a computer to work out which of the many pads is being hit and how hard, to immediately produce the right type and level of sound with no latency at all.
A drum module on its own has the potential to cost a considerable amount of money. In fact, the very best ones can cost as much as an entire acoustic drum kit. Because this is something that is not needed on an acoustic drum kit, you can see why an electronic drum kit would be more expensive.
Are They Worth Buying?
One of the many great things about electronic drum kits is that, unlike an acoustic drum kit, they produce very little to no noise. This means that they can be played hard and for many hours on end without disturbing anyone around you – ideal for someone who lives in an apartment block.
Because of how compact they are, they take up considerably less space than what an acoustic drum kit would. There is no need for a large kick drum, as this can be replaced with a small pad. When you are done playing on an electronic drum kit, you can simply fold it up and put it away into storage – this is not something that can be done with an acoustic drum kit. Again, for someone who lives in a small apartment, this functionality is great.
If you live in a small space and do not want to disturb your neighbours, then it is definitely worth buying a Roland electronic drum kit.