Do not be mistaken. It does not mean that a small sized drum set, such as the RT, would be silent. Of course, the RT would not be as loud as a full-sized drumset, but it is surely not soft either. As you have said earlier, the RT is almost $800, at which price you can get entry level kits. I am guessing that one buys small sized drums mainly because of space constrains.
Certain drums like RT comes with a mesh head...but some drummers here do not encourage using these mesh heads. So, its really up to you.
If you want something that is truly silent, you had better look at E-drums, and good E-drums would cost you a deep hole in your pocket.