A few really simple mods should probably end up being helpful when it comes to noise reduction and improved sensitivity. My bad experience with mods mostly comes from trying everything and messing with more than necessary. Being conservative in choosing only the mods you need and the ones that are low-risk should really leave you with no problems.
1. Wrap a towel or cloth around the face of the drum and rubber band it in place. I even do this one with my pro controller, it's extremely simple and helps reduce noise and reduce scuffing the drum surface. Worth trying different towels and cloths to see which noise/sensitivity tradeoff works best for you (the cloth I use now has extremely minimal sensitivity loss, and most don't really affect it much, but if you end up using, like, a huge towel, expect some tradeoff). Playing the drum on a yoga mat or something similar should also help reduce noise and help the drum stay in place (the pro controller comes with a grippy mat, a yoga mat should work similarly).
2. Remove the back of the drum with a screwdriver and stuff the center with tissues like
this. Should help to reduce noise. I've also seen people line the inside of the back cover with clay to add weight to the drum.
3. After going a bit further inside the drum, behind the face sensor, there's a sponge. Replacing the sponge with a corkboard of the same dimensions should make the drum more sensitive.
That's pretty much the extent of the low-risk mods I can personally recommend. Other stuff involves messing with the sensors or tearing some parts out... and that's where I ended up having problems, lol. Evidently they're pretty easy to do and lots of people had success with them, it's just tough for me to recommend them in good conscience due to needing to scrap a controller due to some pretty irreparable damage I did. If you want more info about any of these mods, let me know.
That being said, I've always found their sound to be the biggest hurdle. The sensitivity issue can generally be overcome, it just requires hitting hard and making a lot of noise. Currently I can play up to 10 star on my pro controller, and up to 9 star on my stock Tatacon. So, while it's a bit rough, it's still viable. A lot of the noise reduction stuff can be done with household objects and might be worth a shot.