I ask a lot of drums these days and I'm very selective when purchasing acoustic drums, so I find myself a very harsh critic of this (and other) electric drum sets... at the end of the day however, I LOVE this drum set and I can barely pull myself away from it. After playing the simmons, alesis, yamaha and roland kits in the store I'm glad I went with the best. Get the Roland - you won't regret it.

Sound
The only (slight) disappointment for me was in the sounds. There are some GREAT sounding maple-like kits in the TD-9 and many of the kits sound very realistic. However, excluding all of the 'throw-away' gimmick kits that make up more than half of the bank, most of the kits are too similar. Simply one dimensional variations of the same kit (ie: different tuning and muffling applications). They all sound like a DW maple kit with your typical rock tuning to me; which might be exactly what you are looking for. I found it wasn't possible to create the sounds that I like or prefer... for example I have a birch snare that is deep and characterful but still has a lot of bite; it can be tuned up tight without loosing any of it's depth or nuance. With the SP-9 you can't really get a deep snare without the loose and saggy drum head sound and if you 'tune' it tightly you only get a really dry, flat snare sound. My experience with the toms and kick were more of the same... The ride cymbals were probably my least favorite however... there is… read more not a single 'thin' sounding ride in the bunch and no manner of adjustments (size, ambiance etc) can really make a thinner sounding cymbal from the stock list. Perhaps I am asking too much of this device as it is worth noting that the sounds it comes with are very realistic; and again if you like that DW rock kit sound you will LOVE the sounds in the TD-9.

Features
The TD-9 has some great features... the click/tempo is nice even though it doesn't subdivide. The quick record/playback, play-a-long tracks, and mix-in features are all fantastic. It is a great tool for learning or even pushing your skill to new levels.

Ease of Use
A '10' hands down.

Quality
This is a very durable and well designed kit... You can recreate any physical setup you might have with an acoustic kit and the adjustments are fast and easy. It can take hard drumming.

Value
I think that the TD-4 is personally a better value, but you still get a great product for the price with the TD-9. The features of the TD-9 make up the difference, but if your priority is only good drum sounds without all of the gimmick 'percussion/alt' kits than the TD-4 is just as good for less cost. The pads themselves are a great buy and every bit worth the money.

Manufacturer Support
So far so good.

Musical Background:
Active Musician

Musical Style:
Jazz, Latin, and rock... read less