The Best Cheap Electronic Drum Set For Beginners - 2023 | Gearank

Mục Lục

Cons

Mesh heads can be springy if not tuned properly
Cables are a bit thin
Needs headphone amp for high impedance headphones

Pros

Good value for money
Tunable mesh heads
Versatile sound options and easy to use
With USB and MIDI connectivity

The Alesis Nitro Mesh Kit gives you quite a lot for the money. As the name implies it features all-mesh pads along with a hi-hat, crash cymbal and ride.

The 8″ dual-zone snare features mesh material that gives it a feel closer to an acoustic snare than regular rubber pads. The same material is also used on the kit’s three 8″ mesh toms. Completing the set are three 10″ cymbals, a hi-hat pedal and kick pedal with a tower. All of these are mounted on its four-post rack, which is a definite plus if you like to strike your drums hard. While the posts are tough, the cables are a bit thin, so proper handling and cable setup is needed.

The mesh heads have a springy trampoline feel to them that might not be for everyone, but they’re tunable so you can mitigate this somewhat by dialing in the tension to taste.

All of these connect to the Alesis Nitro drum module which offers 40 drum kit sounds, 385 individual sounds, and 60 play along tracks right out of the box. More importantly, all these features are easy to access, making this kit viable even for those zero e-drum experience.

Other features include built-in metronome, headphones out, Aux input, USB and MIDI connectivity. Its included MIDI input/output separate from the USB-MIDI output and 2 inputs for pad expansion provides unrivaled connectivity in its price range. Note that the headphones out is meant for low impedance earphones. Volume will be noticeably lower when using high impedance headphones, or when you use headphones with built-in mics and a non-TRS plug. You’ll need a dedicated headphone amplifier to achieve proper volume levels. I personally use an Audio-Technica ATH-M50x for quiet practice.

All things considered, the Nitro Mesh is what I personally recommend. It is the best electronic drum set for under $500 you can get barring the second hand market. Good job Alesis! I’ve gigged with this and it’s very usable for an entry level kit. The sounds are limited and I wouldn’t go as far as to say that they are “real” sounding but I would use it in a pinch for live performance like I did in this video:

Demo

Me playing the Alesis Nitro Mesh in a live recorded performance:

Features

1 x 8″ Dual-zone Mesh Snare Pad
3 x 8″ Mesh Tom Pads
Kick Pad Tower
10″ Hi-Hat Pad
10″ Crash Pad
10″ Ride Pad
Hi-Hat Pedal and Kick Pedal
Alesis Nitro Drum Module with 385 sounds
40 Preset kits
60 built-in play-along tracks
USB/MIDI connection for using it as a MIDI controller with your computer
2 x 1/4″ Output, 1 x 1/8″ Headphone output, 1 x 1/8″ Aux Input, 1 x MIDI Input, 1 x MIDI Output, 2 x 1/4″ Pad Expansion Input