Posted by Luke Petterson | Last updated Feb 14, 2024
The Titan 50 and Titan 70 drum kits from Simmons both offer a nice playing experience but are also quite a bit different in terms of features, especially in the capabilities of the pads. Let’s take a look at the difference between these two kits.
Simmons Titan 50
(On the left)
Simmons Titan 70
(On the right)
The Snare Pad
10 inch, dual zone, mesh head
10 inch, dual zone, mesh head
The snare pads on both kits look different but function pretty much the same. They are both dual zone, 10-inch pads with 2-ply mesh heads. They both have about the same rim height. They both have rim-shot capabilities and can be played quite dynamically. The Titan 70 snare pad has a deeper, enclosed shell, while the Titan 50 snare is a thinner pad overall with an open bottom. They both have single sensors placed on the edge closest to the drummer, and sensitivity around the head of the pads is pretty consistent but rolls off a bit when you get further away towards the back edge of the pad. In terms of playability on the snare pads, they are about the same.
The Tom Pads
3 toms, 8 inch diameter, single zone, mesh heads
4 toms, 8 inch diameter, dual zone, mesh heads
The toms are where we start seeing differences in the pads between the two kits. The toms on both the Titan 50 and Titan 70 are 8-inch pads with a single sensor. The Titan 50 toms are only single zone pads while the Titan 70 toms are dual zone pads. This means that on the Titan 70 you get more options for assigning sounds, and can assign things like cymbal sounds to the rims of the tom pads to effectively expand the size of the drums kits in the module. The Titan 70 also has four toms pads while the Titan 50 only has three.
The Hi-Hat Pad
10 inch diameter, single zone, rubber surface
10 inch diameter, single zone, rubber surface
Both kits have 10-inch single zone hi-hat pads with no choke. In my opinion they feel about the same between both kits. There really isn’t much difference between how the hi-hat pad or the controller pedal feels or plays on either kit.
The Crash Cymbal Pad
10 inch, single zone with choke, rubber surface
10 inch, single zone with choke, rubber surface
The crash pads are pretty much the same in terms of functionality on both kits. They are both 10 inch pads with the trigger zone facing the drummer. They both have choke zones. I find them both to feel about the same during play. The biggest difference is that with the Titan 70 you get two crash pads out of the box, whereas the Titan 50 only comes with one.
The Ride Cymbal Pad
10 inch diameter, single zone, rubber surface
12 inch diameter, triple zone, rubber surface
The ride pad is a big difference between these two kits. The Titan 50 only has a single zone ride pad with no bell zone. The Titan 70 has a triple zone ride pad with edge, bow and bell zones, which is a big advantage. If you really value having a capable, multi-zone ride cymbal pad on your electronic drum kit, the Titan 70 is the way to go.
The Kick Tower
6 inches wide, rubber pad
7 inches wide, rubber pad
The kick pads have some differences between these two kits. The kick pad on the Titan 50 is five inches wide but has less vertical surface area to work with. The kick pad on the Titan 70 is seven inches wide and has a larger playing surface overall. Both kick pads are hard rubber with a padded surface, and they feel about the same in terms of rebound. They both make about the same amount of noise acoustically. I prefer the kick pad on the Titan 70 though since it allows for more variation in beater height with your kick pedal.
The Kick Pedal
Single chain with hard beater
Both of these kits include the same kick pedal. It’s a decent budget pedal, but nothing special. The pedal comes with a hard beater. The beater height and angle can be adjusted, and the spring tension can be adjusted as well.
The Rack
4 post with round vertical poles and rectangular cross bars. Comes fully assembled.
4 post with round vertical poles and rectangular cross bars. Comes fully assembled.
These kits both come with the same rack. The rack is fully assembled out of the box which is pretty awesome. The rack has round vertical posts and rectangular cross bars. Overall the rack is pretty sturdy and I don’t have any issues with excessive wobbliness or sagging, which is nice. The cross bar on the right uses a pass-through bracket which allows you to change the length of the bar on that side, which can help if you’re trying to fit either kit into a smaller space. The Titan 70 will require you to keep the right cross bar fully extended though to make enough room for the multiple tom and cymbal pads on that side.
The Drum Module
25 preset drum kits, 10 user kit slots, 187 drum sounds.
50 preset drum kits, 25 user kit slots, 314 drum sounds.
The drum modules are pretty much the same in terms of features. They both offer the ability to edit kits and the ability to apply reverb, compression and EQ to the drum kits. They both can be controlled with the Simmons Drum 2 iOS app for easier drum kit and effects editing. They both have Bluetooth for wireless aux in.
The biggest difference between the two modules is that the Titan 70 has more preset drum kits and drum sounds than the Titan 50. The Titan 70 module basically has all the kits and sounds that the Titan 50 module has, plus more. I noticed that many of the kits that are new to the Titan 70 module take advantage of the multi-zone tom pads by having cymbals and other sounds already assigned to the rim zones.
Expandability
Can add one more tom and crash cymbal
Can add two more dual zone pads
These kits can both be expanded. The Titan 50 has an additional tom and cymbal input, and there is an expansion pack available from Simmons that includes both pads. The Titan 70 has two additional dual zone trigger inputs, so it can be expanded beyond it’s already fairly large pad lineup.
The Wrap Up
It’s not really fair to compare these kits 1:1 since they both have different price levels and either kit is fun to play depending on your budget. The Titan 70 kit offers several advantages over the Titan 50 kit though, so it’s likely the better pick if it fits your budget. The Titan 70 has more preset drum kits and drum sounds, dual zone tom pads and a triple zone ride, and the kick pad is larger – those are the main differences that really set it apart from the Titan 50.
About The Author
Luke Petterson
I'm a long time apartment drummer, having lived in apartments with close neighbors for more than a couple decades.
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