Today we’re putting the Tama TrueTouch Training Kit up against the DW Go Anywhere Practice Set in a full head-to-head showdown.
I’ve been using both for a while now, so I’m going to compare their playing feel, noise level, design, and value. By the end of this video, I’ll tell you which one I’d personally pick. Let’s dive in!
Firstly, what do you get with each kit? The DW Go Anywhere comes with a heavy-duty double-braced stand, two 8-inch pads for the toms, two 10-inch pads for the snare and floor tom, and a bass drum pad that can fit a double pedal.
The Tama True Touch 5-piece kit includes a 6-inch kick pad, a central mounting stand, a 10-inch snare pad, 8-inch, 8.5-inch and 9-inch tom pads, plus all the fast clamps and L-rods to mount everything. One thing to note is you’ll need your own stand for the snare pad.
In terms of setup and adjustability, both are easy to put together, but the Tama True Touch gives you a lot more adjustment freedom.
Each of the toms are mounted on their own fast clamp, and then you have ball-and-socket joints as well as rotation and height adjustment with the L-rods. You can position everything exactly how you want.
On the DW kit, everything mounts to one central tower. The pads move up and down, in and out, and rotate in one direction, but the flexibility just isn’t the same. But to be fair, I did manage to get this kit into a comfortable position.
This one’s an easy win for Tama – there’s loads more freedom for adjustability and positioning.
Now, the playing feel is where the biggest differences show up. The DW has rubber pads, and I think it’s the quieter kit overall, but the response is firmer and a little less forgiving on the sticks.
The rebound is fast but not too realistic, and the kick pad doesn’t compress underfoot the way a real drum does.
The Tama uses mesh heads on the snare and kick, and foam on the toms- all of which feel softer and more comfortable. They have more give- which is like what you get when playing real drumheads.
The kick is also better on the Tama. You can bury the beater, and it gives you that squashy, realistic response you’d expect from a real bass drum. The DW kick still does the job, but it’s not the same experience. I tested double pedal stuff on both, and while the DW worked fine, it was definitely more comfortable and more expressive on the Tama.
The more realistic feel pushes the Tama ahead here as well.
Volume-wise, you can hear the differences for yourself in my video you can see at the top of this article, but for me the DW is the quieter kit overall.
I’ve tested a whole bunch of different practice pads, and the snare on the Tama True Touch is actually the loudest I’ve used. The snare buzz effect is cool and realistic, but it’s definitely not ideal if you’re trying to keep the noise down. I do like that it’s tunable, though, so you can tighten or loosen the feel to your preference.
One thing I really like about the Tama though, is that the toms actually have pitch to them – they descend in tone as you move around the kit, which makes practice feel way more musical and interesting.
To my ears, the DW is the quieter kit, so it wins this round.
In terms of space, they’re pretty similar footprints once set up. But the DW feels more compact because everything comes off that one central tower. It’s tidier, and simpler when you’re setting it up or breaking it down.
The Tama isn’t exactly huge, but with the separate snare stand, isolated kick tower, and all the individual clamps and rods, it’s a bit more stuff to manage and carry around. Also worth noting that the snare pad is surprisingly heavy at 3.3 kilograms!
So overall – they’re similar sizes, but the Tama has more parts and it’s heavier. So if you want something really portable and streamlined, the DW edges the win for this category.
Before we move into my verdict, I want to quickly run through three things I love and three things I dislike about each kit, now that I’ve spent a good amount of time practicing on both of them.
Here’s three things I love about the Tama. It feels great and realistic to play, the pads give you this musical pitch and tone like a real kit, and lastly I love that everything is super adjustable with the independent mounting system.
What I don’t like- it’s louder than the DW kit, especially the snare; and for the price, some parts of the build feel a bit cheap, like the toms being basically little plastic buckets. Lastly, you need your own snare stand because it doesn’t come with one.
Here are three things I love about the DW. Everything mounts off one stand which keeps it compact and tidy; secondly it’s super quiet, so you can play without disturbing others. And lastly the price is excellent considering what you get and how functional it is.
What I don’t like: the adjustability is more limited and everything uses drum-key adjustments rather than hand-tightened dials; secondly the playing feel is more unforgiving on your hands, and lastly, I’ve had the pads twist loose whilst i’m playing although this has only happened a couple of times.
Now, the last big point we need to talk about is value. And honestly, this one has to go to the DW – it costs less than half the price of the Tama.
But even though the DW technically takes the win on points, my personal pick is the Tama TrueTouch. I’m just enjoying playing it more. It feels more realistic, more musical, and it gives me a better practice experience overall.
But with that said, both of these are excellent practice kits that have their own perks. If budget and volume are your top priorities, I’d suggest going for the DW Go Anywhere kit.
If realistic feel and musical practice matter more, and you have the budget, then I’d say go for the Tama- it’s a more realistic kit to practice on.
