Best Electronic Drum Kit

Technological advances in electronic drum kits have continued at an unrelenting pace. The sheer capabilities and realistic feel of today’s electronic kits can offer percussion lovers a mind-blowing experience without sacrificing affordability.

Backyard mixologists, living room heroes, and serious pros take notice. With a seemingly endless number of different kits on the market, we have decided to select the very best for you and compare them on various key metrics.

This article outlines all the main features of three of today’s most popular and highly regarded electronic kits. We deliver the verdict on which to choose as your perfect jamming partner for those epic sessions.

Our pick

Alesis Nitro Kit | Electronic Drum Set with 8" Snare, 8" Toms, and 10" Cymbals

$399.00

“Hardware and software are great. Pads are sturdy and can take a beating. Crash and snare have multi-zone sensors which is something you dont find on many sets in this price range.”

-lebattski

$399.00 on Amazon

Our pick

Alesis Nitro Kit | Electronic Drum Set with 8" Snare, 8" Toms, and 10" Cymbals

$399.00

“Hardware and software are great. Pads are sturdy and can take a beating. Crash and snare have multi-zone sensors which is something you dont find on many sets in this price range.”

-lebattski

$399.00 on Amazon

The Alesis Nitro is a complete, standing, 8-piece electronic drum kit that offers the player all the feel of a real drum kit. The kit comprises 3 x 8-inch tom pads and an 8-inch snare drum, all made of high-quality rubber, plus a kick pad tower and pedal. There are 3 x 10-inch cymbals, all mounted on an aluminum rack for stability.

This kit appeals to both the professional player and home studio beat maker alike, with 385 percussion and cymbal sounds for customization. It also features 40 pre-set kits, to suit a host of different styles and playing genres. A backlit LCD screen allows for quick and painless navigation and plays mode setup.

The Alesis Nitro is comfortable on stage in performance mode, but also comes into its own when used as a practice kit or electronic music generator. It features a performance recorder to playback or upload your latest session, a metronome as well as 60 built-in tracks to test and improve your skills across a range of musical styles. An advanced sequencer will also make this kit appeal to the avid music maker.

One thing is for sure, this electronic kit occupies more space than your typical electronic kit or tabletop drum set, measuring around 6ft x 4ft. Aside from this, the Nitro electronic kit is undoubtedly a feature packed offering from Alesis and is sure to appeal to range of musicians.

Our pick

Pyle-Pro Portable Electronic Drum Set (Mac & PC (PTED01))

“I couldn’t recommend it more to a drummer or someone who just wants to have some fun with the drums but not buy a real floor kit for it.”

-Hannah

Check Price on Amazon

Our pick

Pyle-Pro Portable Electronic Drum Set (Mac & PC (PTED01))

“I couldn’t recommend it more to a drummer or someone who just wants to have some fun with the drums but not buy a real floor kit for it.”

-Hannah

Check Price on Amazon

The Pyle-Pro Electronic Drum Set is a versatile, 7-piece, table-top kit that produces realistic sounds while playing like a real set. This digital set is a compact and flexible beat making instrument that loses none of its edge in a live performance setting.

7 drum pads offer touch sensitivity with 2-foot pedals adding the simulation of having a real kick drum and hi hat pedal at your feet. For total customization, there are 215 percussion voices to help you create your own kit, or 25 pre-set drum kits to fall back on, each suited to a different style of music. The LED lit control center allows for simple programming and configuration.

The electronic music maker will be happy with the recording feature and the USB port which allows for connection to a laptop. The up and coming drummer or living room hero will equally enjoy playing along to the pre-recorded songs that spans jazz, pop, hard rock, and much more.

Where the Pyle-Pro Kit really excels, however, is in its portability. The unit measures a compact 19.65 inches x 14.5 x 6.2, making it easy to transport and simple to store. In addition to this, you have the option to go wireless and run the set on 6C batteries.

We found the Pyle-Pro Electronic Drum Set to be a dynamic, versatile instrument that lends itself to a number of performance environments, thanks to its compact design and customizable nature.

Our pick

Alesis Compact Kit 7 | Ultra-Portable 7-Pad Electronic Table-top Drum Kit with Velocity-Sensitive Drum Pads, 265 Drum Sounds, USB-MIDI Output, Battery- or AC-Power and Drum Sticks Included

$169.00

“This is just an awesome little drum kit. Really, if you have a child who is interested in percussion, but you don’t want to annoy the neighbors like I did growing up then this is perfect.”

-Bror Erickson

$169.00 on Amazon

Our pick

Alesis Compact Kit 7 | Ultra-Portable 7-Pad Electronic Table-top Drum Kit with Velocity-Sensitive Drum Pads, 265 Drum Sounds, USB-MIDI Output, Battery- or AC-Power and Drum Sticks Included

$169.00

“This is just an awesome little drum kit. Really, if you have a child who is interested in percussion, but you don’t want to annoy the neighbors like I did growing up then this is perfect.”

-Bror Erickson

$169.00 on Amazon

A powerhouse of creative capability that belies its small frame and economical price tag, the Alesi CompactKit 7 portable Electronic drum kit is sure to delight percussionists of all abilities. Its 7 velocity-sensitive drum pads give the drummer a realistic feel, whilst the hand percussion feature offers a totally unique experience, not found in other kits.

The CompactKit 7 also comes with 2 pedals to reproduce the sound and feel of a kick drum and hi-hat and offers an impressive 45 pre-set drum kits for the user to choose from. The customization capabilities of the CompactKit 7 are a real feature, with beat makers able to select from 265 percussion voices when creating their perfect custom drum kit.

Pure enjoyment and practice can be combined when drumming along to the 100 play-along songs with the addition of a built-in metronome and coaching feature. Serious players and keen novices will both benefit from the self-recording feature, providing analysis of practice sessions or export of recorded tracks to a laptop through the handy USB port.

Portability is what sets most tabletop sets apart, and the CompactKit 7’s is no exception. The lightweight design and the option of running the unit off 6C batteries enable spontaneous live performance, or expressive beat-creation, in the tightest of spaces. The three-digit LED display allows for simple configuration, and the LED’s light up in response to touch, a cool interactive feature. The kit also comes with a set of drumsticks so all you need to is to plug and play.

It’s no surprise that the Alesis CompactKit 7 electronic kit appeals to a wide range of percussionists across all genres of music. Versatility is the name of the game here, and the customizable capabilities and portable design underpin this.

In this article, we set out to analyze some of the best electronic drum kits available right now. Although each kit offers a slightly different set of features and configurations, we made a comparison based on common metrics and found that Alesis CompactKit 7 came out on top.

It was impossible to beat the overall value for money of the CompactKit 7, considering the combination of realistic-feel, customizable nature and ingenious features like the hand percussion. Serious performance instrument meets sheer enjoyment in this kit, and the CompactKit 7 felt like a clear winner in the end.

The other kits were undoubtedly strong products, The Alesis Nitro Kit, at the higher end of the price range, offered many percussion voices, and the portability of the Pyle-Pro Kit was undeniable.