I've had just about every type of e-drum controller over the past 20+ years
DrumKat, TrapKat, SPD30, Yamaha DTX, and Roland V-drums, etc.
 
In super tight space, the old DrumKat with kick and hi-hat pedals was pretty decent.
I used mine for over 10 years...
Funny thing, if your sticking is pretty good, because the really close proximity of the pads... you can end up over-playing fills/etc.
Pad sensitivity on the DrumKat could be manually adjusted... and adjacent pads were pretty resistant to false-triggering.  The DrumKat is my favorite of the small "self-contained" controllers; Better feel than the SPD30 and two more pads (if you split the "Ears").
The TrapKat would have been absolutely perfect for me... but there were just too many dead spots. Sensitivity was inconsistent across the many different pads (even after manual adjustment).
 
The Yamaha DTX rubber pads were solid and sensitivity was pretty good... but the trigger interface "Drum Brain" itself was limiting.  This caused the pads to appear lacking in sensitivity... and adjacent pads would easily false-trigger.  If you plug those same pads into a Roland V-drum Brain, they work much better.
 
Roland V-drum "mesh" pads have sensitivity (and feel) that's FAR better than any of the rubber pads.
Pair those with one of the more advanced V-drum Brains (TD-10, TD-12, TD-20, TD-30)... and you have the best e-drum controller money can buy.  Great sensitivity (you can do the lightest/tightest buzz-roll and not miss a single stroke), adjacent pads are resistant to false-triggering, the snare and ride pads sense actual stick position on the head and can transmit that via MIDI CC (this is way beyond separate zones), and unlike rubber pads... the mesh pads "give" when you hit them hard (just like a real drum-head).
As has been mentioned, the only downside to V-drums is the cost.  
 
The decision to purchase a $3000+ set of V-drums is tough:
If you have the space and gear, you can buy a really nice acoustic drum-kit for the same cost.
A good player on a pro-level drum-kit (recorded well) will always sound best.
For as great as technology is (and just how far it's come), with the great flexibility we're afforded with current generation DAWs, sometimes it's actually quicker/easier to just play/record the real thing.

Right on!  Thanks for the excellent rundown on e-drums, Jim.  Much appreciated.
 
Kind regards,
 
Living Room Rocker

Yeah, I'm not going to get real drums. I don't have the space, mics, a good room, or to be honest, enough talent to do them justice (engineering wise). Roland would be my first choice if I had the budget. I appreciate the detailed post Jim. The actual performance of the triggers themselves is what most "real" drummers complain about. So that kind of info is nice to hear about. I believe I will have a dedicated room again in the near future, so I have time to do my research...for now I'll keep using this Octapad that my old drummer left here. I tried to get him to buy the separate mesh snare, hihat and cymbal for it, but I guess he knew he wasn't going to need it.

Good info on this feed. My challenge is that some accents are hard to program and take me hours to still not get it quite right so im shopping for solutions. Im wondering if i purchased an Alesis Sample pad, and played it, providing i played it accurately, would  Sonar put the notes where i played it, or just put the notes in the same spot in step sequencer, that isnt working thus wasting my time and money. Im not a drummer so im wondering if any MIDI keyboard controller work or ive even wondered if my crusty old Alesis SR16 drum machine do the trick? Thanks

yeah, depends if you want to be a drummer or hit drum notes into midi... I grew up drumming, now have an older Alesis kit and a DTX kit, and also an Alesis sample pad.  For me, I play keys for our band unless the drummer can't make it, then I switch.  My DAW and recording studio is in a different room, so I use the sample pad to enter midi for fills and 'real drum rolls, etc'.  For straight stuff, I just use AD2 midi dragged into the track.  
I'd just say if you want to work on real drumming skills and save your hearing then go with e-drums.  If you are just dropping beats into midi for your song projects, you can get by with a pad, unless you're dong some wild metal or dubstep stuff.

FYI, Amazon has a better price on the DM10:
 
https://www.amazon.com/Al...p;keywords=alesis+dm10