Thinking about picking up my first Roland kick pad and building a super-quiet practice setup for a small apartment. I’ve been searching around but still can’t find straight answers on a few beginner-level things. Would love some real-world tips:
Apartment noise: How different is the floor vibration between a KD-10 with a regular pedal, a KD-9, the beaterless KT-10, and the bigger mesh kicks (KD-120/140/180)? In practice, does the KT-10 actually keep the downstairs neighbors happier? Any simple isolation platform ideas that really work?
Double pedal tracking: For faster stuff (say 180-220 bpm), which Roland kick pad tracks the cleanest with a double pedal? What module settings should a newbie start with to avoid double triggers or missed hits (threshold, sensitivity, scan/mask time, retrigger cancel, velocity curve)?
Cross-brand modules: If I plug a Roland kick pad into a Yamaha or Alesis brain, is it basically plug-and-play or do I need to flip polarity/trigger types? Any gotchas with kick inputs specifically?
Beaters and pad wear: Felt vs plastic vs wood beaters-does it noticeably affect sensitivity, rebound, or the life of the pad surface? Any beater styles to avoid on the KD-10/KD-9?
MIDI tricks: Can I use the kick input to both trigger a drum sample and also send a MIDI note to sidechain a compressor or play a simple bass tone in Ableton at the same time? Any latency concerns or routing tips for keeping it tight?
Durability/maintenance: On the KD-10/KD-9, what tends to wear out first in normal use? Are replacement faces or internal foams easy to swap? If buying used, what should I check to avoid a dud (dead spots, flaky sensitivity, rattles)?
Stability without noise: Best way to keep the pad from creeping on hardwood or carpet without adding more thump-anchor screws, velcro, risers, specific mats?
If anyone has A/B recordings of pad noise/vibration (KT-10 vs KD-10, etc.) or tried-and-true module presets for fast double kicks, that’d be amazing.