1. Quick list
2. Best for beginners
3. Best for practice
4. Best for recording
5. Best for value
6. Best overall
7. Buying advice
8. How we test products
American music tech giants Alesis have become a big name in the world of electronic drums. Whether you’re a beginner just starting your drumming journey and looking out for a great e-kit to learn your first songs on, or a seasoned professional craving a gigging and recording workhorse, this expert guide should help you pinpoint the best Alesis electronic drum set for you.
After introducing the Midiverb, one of the world’s first affordable studio-quality effects processors, Alesis ventured into drum machines in 1990 with the SR-16 – the all-time best selling drum machine, which is still available to this day. With affordability and quality at the heart of their operation, 1995 saw the introduction of the DM5 drum sound module, which was another best-seller. Over 25 years later, Alesis is still producing some of the best affordable, studio-quality products money can buy, and there are plenty of best-in-class e-kits in the line-up, too.
The Alesis website currently advertises 11 e-kits in its line-up, catering to all the above needs and then some. What's more, every kit Alesis makes now comes with mesh heads - in our opinion a much better alternative to rubber pads and considered a deal breaker amongst those in the know. With so much choice, we’re here to help you cut through the noise and get straight to the best.
Quick list
This is the perfect electronic drum set for new players who want to train their ears, nail their timing and sound good while doing it. With all-mesh pads, and a module loaded with quality BFD sounds, plus built-in Bluetooth for wireless streaming of music and lessons from your smart device.
With dual-zone 8” pads all round to help develop your playing accuracy and creativity, the larger 10” snare pad provides a greater playing surface for practicing new techniques. The module is laid out to make changing kits and tweaking new sounds easy - great for making custom kits on the fly.
The Command Mesh is slap-bang in the middle of Alesis’ e-kit offering, and includes a so-called ‘Advanced Drum Module’. This upgraded powerhouse delivers even more in-built kits and sounds than the Nitro and Surge, with the capability to add more of your own drum samples via a USB thumb drive.
Alesis’ signature mesh head setup allows for nearly silent practicing while retaining a natural and realistic playing feel. A second 12” dual-zone floor tom and second crash cymbal come as standard with this e-kit, so you can hone your setup to fit you and your playing style.
The Strike Pro SE consists of 8”, 10”, 12” and 14” dual-zone mesh tom pads, as well as a beastly 20” mesh bass drum and 14” dual-zone mesh snare. The hybrid wood shells, coupled with the ultra-realistic feeling heads and the super-solid steel hardware, make for a joyful, articulate, and responsive playing experience.
Best for beginners
This electronic drum kit consists of three mesh toms, a mesh dual-zone snare pad and three cymbals, with the crash cymbal including a choke function - allowing for greater creativity as well as more control over your playing. The 32 kits (plus 16 user kits) on-board the supplied module offer a variety of high-quality sounds, from fat classic rock sounds to 808 style samples. Best of all, the sounds come straight from the awesome BFD sound library, so they're a cut above most kits at this level, and certainly a vast improvement on the Max's predecessor, the Nitro Mesh.
The mesh heads feels great to play and demonstrate that playability and feel are high on Alesis’ list of priorities; an excellent feature at this price. The module is packed with useful features like a metronome, built-in play-along songs and a performance recorder. This is a perfect electronic drum set for beginner drummers who want to train their ears, nail their timing and sound good while doing it. You can also connect your phone or tablet wirelessly via Bluetooth and jam along to your favourite tracks. Another headline feature. Cool, right?
Our only negative is that the rack system is slightly flimsy and our test kit had a bit of a wobble to it. Not a problem once you have it set up how you like, and it doesn't undermine performance, however we would like to see a second horizontal support in the centre of the rack on the next iteration of this kit.
Elsewhere, the drum pads are nice and beefy and you also get a chunky hi-hat controller pedal, plus bass drum tower complete with real bass drum pedal, making the Nitro Max a brilliant option for children or adults looking for a well-priced practice kit.
Read the full Alesis Nitro Mesh review
Best for practice
The Alesis Surge Mesh setup is very similar to that of the Nitro Max. With dual-zone 8” pads all round to help develop your playing accuracy and creativity, the larger 10” snare pad provides a greater playing surface for practicing new techniques.
The Surge module also contains many of the same features as the old Nitro Mesh. The drum and cymbal buttons, which are laid out in a traditional drum set configuration make changing kits and tweaking new sounds easy - great for making custom kits on the fly.
Although slightly let down by the lack of dual-zone cymbals on this model, the Surge Mesh is still a high-quality e-kit for under $599/£569, and a perfect choice for any beginner or intermediate drummer.
Read the full Alesis Surge Mesh review
Best for recording
The Command Mesh is slap-bang in the middle of Alesis’ e-kit offering, and includes a so-called ‘Advanced Drum Module’. This upgraded powerhouse delivers even more in-built kits and sounds than the Nitro and Surge, with the capability to add more of your own drum samples via a USB thumb drive.
Although the kit is a little fiddly to assemble, once pieced together the chrome mounting rack features non-slip clamps which give the kit a reassuringly solid feel. This means you can play away the hours without having to worry about the hardware failing you.
This is not only a great beginner/intermediate choice, but would make a lot of professional drummers think twice about spending more than $799/£699.
Read the full Alesis Command Mesh review
Best for value
Alesis’ signature mesh head setup allows for nearly silent practicing while retaining a natural and realistic playing feel. A second 12” dual-zone floor tom and second crash cymbal come as standard with this e-kit, so you can hone your setup to fit you and your playing style. And in terms of pure hardware to cost ratio, this is the best value e-kit in the Alesis line-up.
The Premium Drum Module allows you to explore more than 700 in-built sounds, as well as add your own. With kits suitable for rock, pop, jazz, soul and plenty of old-school drum machine-style samples, this e-kit is about as versatile as they come.
The DM10 MKII Pro is a truly professional-quality unit at under $1,399/£1,099; perfect for the bedroom, studio or stage. It begs the question: is there any need to spend any more?
Best Alesis kit overall
The Strike Pro SE consists of 8”, 10”, 12” and 14” dual-zone mesh tom pads, as well as a beastly 20” mesh bass drum and 14” dual-zone mesh snare. The hybrid wood shells, coupled with the ultra-realistic feeling heads and the super-solid steel hardware, make for a joyful, articulate, and responsive playing experience.
The included Strike software editor makes creating new kits a breeze, allowing you to spend your time playing and not diving through confusing menus. The sheer quantity of options means that this kit is prepared for any musical genre or scenario, whether you’re triggering live samples or laying down huge backbeat grooves.
The Strike Pro shows us that, without a doubt, there’s a third horse in the race for the e-kit crown.
Read the full Alesis Strike Pro review
Buying advice
How to choose the best Alesis electronic drum set for you
MusicRadar's got your back Our team of expert musicians and producers spends hours testing products to help you choose the best music-making gear for you. Find out more about how we test.
Playing an e-kit has many upsides compared with its acoustic counterpart. Whether it’s nearly silent practice, taking up less space in your bedroom, or seemingly endless studio-quality samples at your fingertips, the buzz around electronic drum sets is worth taking seriously.
There’s no doubt that Alesis is up there with Yamaha and Roland when it comes to quality. All three companies offer a wide range of great e-kits, with something for every type of player.
Where Alesis really pulls ahead of its rivals, though, is with value for money. Sure, Roland and Yamaha may have more of a reputation when it comes to their electronic drums, and Roland in particular has the upper hand in terms of hardware and technology, but when you consider that the Roland TD50KV costs nearly three times as much as Alesis’ flagship kit, you have to ask whether the extra outlay is really worth it when Alesis offers great performance and features for less.
Realism is key for Alesis electronic drums, so their tightly-woven mesh heads are there to reassure you that you’ll be able to swap between your practice kit and your acoustic kit without any difficulty. You can even tweak the tension of the heads to your liking, using a standard drum key via the lugs on each drum.
Regardless of whether you are looking for your first ever e-kit for jamming with friends, something quiet to practice with at home, a studio kit to help with writing and demoing, or something to take pride of place on a drum riser in a stadium, Alesis has something to offer.
How we test products
Here at MusicRadar, we are experts in our field, with many years of playing, creating and product testing between us. We live and breathe everything music gear related, and we draw on this knowledge and experience of using products in live, recording and rehearsal scenarios when selecting the products for our guides.
When choosing what we believe to be the best Alesis electronic drum sets available right now, we combine our hands-on experience, user reviews and testimonies and engage in lengthy discussions with our editorial colleagues to reach a consensus about the top products in any given category.
First and foremost, we are musicians, and we want other players to find the right product for them. So we take into careful consideration everything from budget to feature set, ease of use and durability to come up with a list of what we can safely say are the best Alesis electronic drum sets on the market right now.
Find out more about how we test music gear and services at MusicRadar.
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