I’ve decided to treat myself to a E-Drum set this christmas but now I’m stuck trying to find a good fit. So I’ll try to write quickly about myself and the ones I’ve found so far that could be good.
I’m a music producer and play some guitar and piano. I also own Superior Drummer so the kit will 100% of the time be routed into that so if the drum module sounds ass idc I’m good for sounds. But drum programming is just not fun.
I’ve also never touched a drum in my life. I’m not looking to become a expert drummer. I could easily just buy a high end kit and that’s that, but knowing myself it will eventually gather dust in some corner. Not tryna become the next Mike Mangini. So I’m mostly looking for something that’s juuust good enough and won’t immediately disintegrate when looking at it funny.
Here are the kits I’ve found so far and some drawbacks about each:
Alesis Nitro Max: I’ve heard that this one’s actually a relatively meh kit and the fact that the ride (and maybe the hihat?) aren’t chokeable would be the biggest deal breaker.
Roland TD-02K(V): This one seems to hit the sweetspot between price and not being extremely flimsy, but in all my research I always hear this: “Always get a kick tower”. But obvs I don’t know how bad a simple kick pedal is compared to the real deal. I assume with a real kick tower it’s easier to upgrade to a double pedal setup which I might want to do down the line and idk if you can just connect more kick pedals to this thing. But aside from that this kit would prolly be my go-to.
Millenium MPS-750X: This one might be a bit too large for my space and on thomann I’m reading some mixed reviews regarding build quality so idk what’s up with that. Otherwise this also seems like a fine if maybe a bit pricey option.
Yamaha DTX402K/DTX432K: I haven’t done research on those yet but they’re available and also in my price range.
Alesis Nitro Pro XL: This one seems to me like the best option but at a cost ofc. The question with this one isn’t “is it good” but rather “does it make sense to buy a set this good if I could save money and live with the compromises”.
So bottom line I think the biggest question I have is whether I should get a set without a kick tower and save lots of money, or treat myself and have no regrets. And secondarily does the chokeability of the ride matter?
Again I’m mostly just going to do it for fun and to spruce up my own songs, not to join a band or audition for Dream Theater haha.
Also idk if I can get to a music store to try one out in person.
Personally I’d go for the Nitro Max over the TD-02K, just to get mesh heads instead of rubber-pads.
Haven’t tried the TD-02K pedal, but saw that it’s upgradable if you want a “real” pedal later, does look a bit flimsy thou.
I wouldn’t worry about the chokeability of the ride, and if you are recording, you can always do it in the mix ;-)
True, I can always improve my playing later on in the midi :D
But I’m not sure if rubber pads would be such a big deal breaker for me. This is probably something I can only decide in person.
The rubber pads tend to be a bit noisy. I had an old Millenium e-kit that made almost as mush noise as a real kit :-)
Dayum, who woulda thunk. Ok that’s definitely a deal breaker for me.