Simmons Titan 50 vs SD600: The Older Mesh Kit or the Newer Titan?

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For a few years the Simmons SD600 was the kit I saw recommended most often to adults who wanted mesh heads without spending Roland money. Then Simmons launched the Titan 50 at the end of 2022, at a similar price, and the question changed. Which one is better, and does the SD600 still make sense now?

The answer depends a lot on where you are buying. As of November 2026 the SD600 is no longer in the kit lineup on the Simmons site, and Musician’s Friend lists it as discontinued. You will mostly find it used. The plain five-piece Titan 50 is going the same way: Guitar Center shows it sold out and Musician’s Friend marks it discontinued. If you buy new, you get the Titan 50 B-EX, which is the same module and pads plus a fourth tom and a second crash. Everything I say about the Titan 50 below applies to the B-EX too.

I compared both kits using the Simmons product pages, the SD600 manual, Guitar Center and Musician’s Friend spec sheets, and owner and hands-on reviewer feedback. I have not played either one myself, so this is a comparison on paper plus what owners report.

The quick spec picture

Here are the core numbers side by side. Everything comes from Simmons, the SD600 manual and the Guitar Center and Musician’s Friend listings.

The pattern is clear even before we get into detail. The SD600 has more sounds and better toms. The Titan 50 has better connectivity and, as the B-EX, is the one you can still buy new.

Module and sounds

SD600 module

The SD600 module has 336 drum voices, 35 preset kits and 10 user kits, with 3 preset songs and 10 user songs, according to the manual. Polyphony is 64 voices. Simmons markets it with Variable Attack Response, which uses multi-velocity samples, plus stereo cymbal sounds and randomized samples on the snare and ride so repeated hits do not sound identical.

The effects section is also deeper than you might expect: the manual lists hall, room, stage and plate reverbs, delay and echo, plus a set of chorus and flanger types. The sequencer runs from 20 to 280 BPM with an adjustable click.

Titan 50 module

The Titan 50 module has 187 drum sounds, 25 preset kits and 10 user kits, with 3 preset and 7 user songs. That is fewer sounds than the SD600 on paper. What Simmons changed is the source: the Titan sounds were recorded at London Bridge Studio in Seattle with engineer Don Gunn, and the factory kits include styles like a “Black Album” style rock kit, 70s, country and modern pop.

Each kit has EQ, reverb and compression. You can edit level, pan, reverb send, pitch and decay per sound. Simmons also offers downloadable Titan 50 sound packs with alternate sound sets.

Which module is better?

On numbers, the SD600 wins. On character, owners and reviewers generally prefer the newer Titan recordings, though nobody calls either module a match for Roland or Yamaha. DrumSilent’s long hands-on review rated the Titan 50 module 3 out of 5 and noted a limited sound library and limited sound design.

My take: if you plan to stay on the built-in sounds for years, the SD600’s larger library gives you more variety. If you expect to move to a drum plugin on a computer within a year, the module difference matters less than the other points below. My guide on connecting e-drums to a computer shows how simple that move is.

Pads and playing feel

Snare

Both kits use a 10-inch dual-zone mesh snare with adjustable tension. On paper they are very close. Reviewers call the Titan 50 snare the best part of that kit, and Engadget’s instructors liked the SD600 snare too, so I would call this one a tie.

Toms

This is the SD600’s biggest pad advantage. Its three 8-inch toms are dual-zone, so the rims can trigger their own sounds. The Titan 50’s three 8-inch mesh toms are single-zone with no rim sensing, according to DrumSilent’s hands-on review; Simmons itself does not state the zones. If you want rim clicks, cowbells or extra percussion on your tom rims, the SD600 can do that and the Titan 50 cannot.

Cymbals

Both kits use rubber cymbal pads with limited zones:

• SD600: 10-inch hi-hat, 10-inch crash with choke, 12-inch ride, all single-zone per the manual.
• Titan 50: 10-inch hi-hat, 10-inch crash with choke, 10-inch ride, single-zone per hands-on reviews.

Neither kit has a ride bell zone. The SD600’s bigger ride is the only real difference here, and a 12-inch target is a bit easier to hit consistently than a 10-inch one. If a bell zone and a three-zone ride matter to you, both kits are the wrong pick and you should look at the Titan 70 instead (more on that below).

Hi-hat

Both use a fixed hi-hat pad on the rack with a separate controller pedal. On paper both give closed, half-open and open sounds. In practice, DrumSpy describes the Titan 50 pedal as closer to on/off than nuanced, and DrumSilent found it handles foot taps but not foot splashes. I found no reviewer detail on the SD600 pedal beyond the manual. Neither one feels like a moving acoustic hi-hat, which is normal at this price.

Kick drum

The kick is where these two kits feel the most different.

The SD600 uses a mesh kick tower with a beater pedal included, and you can swap in your own pedal. A tower with a mesh head behaves more like a small bass drum: you hit a real surface with a real beater, and the rebound feels natural.

The Titan 50 uses a 6-inch mesh kick pad with a pedal included. Simmons says it is optimized for single and double pedals. DrumSilent described the pad as firm with good rebound, but also said some double pedals struggle to center on it and that the included single-chain pedal feels basic. The next kit up, the Titan 70, has a bigger 7-inch pad.

If you plan to play double bass, both can work, but check your pedal’s width against the Titan 50 pad before you buy. If the kick feel is your top priority, the SD600’s tower is the nicer design on paper.

For more on the two kick designs, see my explainer on kick towers vs kick pads.

Hardware, size and weight

Rack

The Titan 50 ships with a full-size four-post steel rack with rectangular beams and adjustable clamps, and reviewers say it arrives pre-assembled. They describe it as sturdy for the price, though the joints and wing nuts are plastic.

The SD600 uses a steel rack with custom T-fittings and rubber feet, with adjustable pad positions. It also arrives pre-assembled: Engadget’s testers said you just attach the drums and cymbals. So setup time is not a real difference between these two.

Footprint

Simmons recommends about 52 x 32 inches of floor space for the Titan 50, plus room for your throne. The Titan 50 shipping box is listed at about 31.5 x 29.9 x 12.8 inches and roughly 42 lb. I could not find a published size or weight for the SD600.

Both are three-tom kits with one crash, so in a room they take up similar space, though the SD600’s kick tower and 12-inch ride need a few more inches. If your SD600 or Titan 50 has the expansion pack fitted, plan for a wider setup. My guide on how much space electronic drums need gives a practical way to measure your room.

Noise

Mesh drums and rubber cymbals sound about the same on both kits. The kick is what neighbors hear: the SD600’s tower and the Titan 50’s pad both pass a thump through the floor, and DrumSpy scored the Titan 50 B-EX only 3.5 out of 5 for noise because of it. A dense rug and a simple riser make far more difference than the choice between these two kits. My guide on making electronic drums quieter covers the options in order of cost.

Connectivity

The Titan 50 wins this section. Bluetooth audio means you can stream a song from your phone straight into the module and play along in your headphones, no cable needed. Hands-on reviewers note it handles audio or MIDI but not both at the same time, and it does not support wireless headphones.

The Titan 50’s USB audio also lets you record the kit’s sound into a computer with one cable. The SD600’s USB is for MIDI only, so to record the module’s own sounds you need to run its outputs into an audio interface. For MIDI and drum plugins, both kits work fine.

Both use the Simmons app for editing over Bluetooth MIDI. The Titan series works with the newer Simmons Drums 2 app.

Expansion

Both modules have two extra inputs for a fourth tom and a second crash.

• SD600 expansion pack: an 8-inch dual-zone tom and a 10-inch crash with choke, with mounts and cables. It shows as sold out at Guitar Center.
• Titan 50 expansion pack: one extra crash and one 8-inch tom. It was also sold out on the Guitar Center listing in November 2026.

There is also the Titan 50 B-EX, which Simmons announced in August 2024. It comes with four 8-inch toms and two 10-inch crashes from the start, plus a side rail on the rack for the extra pads. It costs a bit more than the base Titan 50 did, and it is now the only way to get a Titan 50 new.

Price and value

I do not quote exact prices because they change every week. The Titan 50 B-EX sits in the $300 to $500 bracket, depending on sales. The SD600 cost a little more when it was current, around the $500 line, which puts it in the $500 to $1,000 bracket when new.

Today the value question is mostly new vs used:

• A new Titan 50 B-EX gets you a 2-year Simmons warranty, the newer sound library, Bluetooth audio and a store return window.
• A used SD600 has no factory warranty in most cases, and parts like the expansion pack are getting hard to find. In exchange, it can be cheaper, and you get a bigger module, dual-zone toms, a 12-inch ride and a mesh kick tower.

What does “clearly cheaper” mean? My rule of thumb: a used SD600 in good shape is worth it at roughly 60 percent or less of what a new Titan 50 B-EX costs on sale that week. Closer than that, and the warranty, return window, USB audio and fourth tom on the B-EX are worth the difference. An SD600 that already has its expansion pack can justify a little more.

Before you pay, play every pad and both zones, check that the 25-pin cable snake and the 9V DC, 600 mA power adapter are included, and look for cracked T-fittings. The full checklist is in my SD600 review, and my guide to buying used electronic drums covers red flags for any brand.

Who should buy the Titan 50 B-EX

• First-time buyers who want a new kit. The warranty and return window matter more than a few extra sounds.
• Anyone who plays along to music on a phone. Bluetooth audio is genuinely convenient.
• People who want to record with one cable. USB audio and MIDI make the computer side simple.
• Buyers who want four toms out of the box. The B-EX already has four toms and two crashes, so you skip the hunt for an expansion pack.

The full breakdown is in my Titan 50 review.

Who should buy the SD600

• Bargain hunters buying used. A clean SD600 at a low price is still a good practice kit.
• Players who want tom rim sounds. Dual-zone toms are a real advantage at this level.
• Drummers who want a more natural kick. The mesh kick tower is the nicer design on paper.
• People who will stay on the built-in sounds. 336 sounds and 35 presets give more variety out of the box.

What about other options?

If neither kit fully fits, the Titan 50 vs Alesis Nitro Max page compares the Titan with its biggest budget rival, and if a three-zone ride and dual-zone toms matter, the Titan 70 review covers the next Simmons kit up.

Bottom line

On paper the SD600 is the more capable kit: a bigger module, dual-zone toms, a 12-inch ride and a mesh kick tower. But it is discontinued, so you are buying used without a warranty, and expansion parts are drying up.

The Titan 50 gives up some of that, but adds Bluetooth audio, USB audio and a newer sound library, and the B-EX version adds a fourth tom and second crash. For a new kit in 2026, the Titan 50 B-EX is the one I would point most people to. A used SD600 is a smart buy only when the price gap is real and the kit checks out.