Electronic drum sets are a good option for drummers to buy if they don’t have the opportunity to play a loud acoustic drum set in their living space. While electronic kits offer better sound control, they also offer features that are incredibly valuable for practicing and performing.
This guide is here to show you some of the best e-kits on the market. We’ve selected options that cover all budget ranges. We’ve also compared the kits according to their module features, sound quality, build quality, and overall value.
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Top 3 Electronic Drum Sets
The Roland TD-27KV is our Top Pick winner. It’s Roland’s mid-range kit, but it offers professional features, such as the digital snare drum and ride cymbal. The TD-27 drum module is also highly impressive and intuitive.
The Alesis Nitro Mesh is our Best Budget pick. It’s an amazing drum kit for beginners, and it’s one of the most affordable electronic kits on the market with tunable mesh heads. The pads are also slightly larger than other kits at its price point.
The Roland VAD706 is our Editor’s Choice, and it’s the unrivaled best electronic drum kit available. If you have a large budget, this is the best kit you can possibly get. It has large acoustic shells that are mixed with top-quality pads and Roland’s best drum module.
Best Electronic Drum Set Reviews
Roland TD-27KV
Top-quality visuals, sounds, and features. A truly inspiring electronic drum set.
An excellent choice for anyone needing a professional electronic drum kit. It includes digital snare and ride pads that offer amazing playability. The Prismatic Sound Modeling engine on the drum module also gives an amazing amount of sound customization.
The Roland TD-27KV offers many of Roland’s premium features, but it doesn’t have the lucrative price tags of their flagship kits.
This is the first kit in Roland’s product line that gives you the famous digital snare drum pad. We love it as it has the same dimensions as acoustic snare drums, and it feels incredibly similar to play due to all its sensors.
We also love the digital 18-inch ride cymbal pad, which similarly feels more like playing an acoustic ride cymbal than any other electronic pad on the market does.
Those pads paired with the powerful TD-27 drum module make this kit worthy of any professional drummer. The sounds are incredible, but we found the Prismatic Sound Modeling Engine to be one of the strongest points of the kit. It lets you tweak sounds with intense detail.
The PDX-100 tom pads are also some of Roland’s highest-quality mesh head pads.
The biggest drawback of this kit is that it’s quite difficult to set it up in a way that is different from how it’s marketed. The rack seems to be a bit small, making it challenging for drummers to get a personalized setup like they’re used to.
Verdict: The Roland TD-27KV is a strong choice if you’re looking for a high-quality electronic drum kit that feels amazing to play. It offers epic playability, solid durability, and the Roland TD-27 drum module is very powerful. This is our top pick if you want a pro electronic drum set that isn’t quite as expensive as the insanely priced premium models from Roland and other brands.
Alesis Nitro Mesh
A starter electronic drum set that is easy on your wallet.
This kit offers almost everything a beginner drummer needs to start playing, such as drumsticks and a kick drum pedal. It’s also one of the most affordable electronic kits that has mesh heads that feel authentic to play on.
The Alesis Nitro Mesh features a full set of mesh drum pads that can have their tension adjusted to fit the response levels that match your acoustic kit.
We found the kit to be quite small, so it’s best suited for younger drummers who are starting to learn the instrument. However, it’s large enough for adults to play easily as well. You just can’t raise the height of the rack enough for very tall people.
The module has 40 preset drum kits that sound relatively decent. The sound quality won’t be good enough for experienced drummers, but it’s okay for new drummers who aren’t accustomed to pristine sound quality yet.
We know that many drummers buy this inexpensive kit to use as a MIDI controller to run through a DAW and play with a drum VST for better sounds. So, that’s a useful reason for an experienced drummer to get it.
Verdict: The Alesis Nitro Mesh is an excellent beginner electronic drum kit. The responsive mesh heads give it great value for money, and the included kick pedal and drumsticks add to that. A new drummer would just need to buy a drum throne to go with it. More experienced drummers won’t be happy with the onboard sound quality, but they can use it as an affordable MIDI controller.
Roland VAD706
The best available electronic kit with hybrid acoustic drum shells and all the latest innovative technology.
This kit offers the ultimate electronic drum kit playing experience. All the drum and cymbal pads are the same sizes as their acoustic counterparts, and the hybrid acoustic shells give the impression that you’re playing an acoustic kit. Compared to every other kit, nothing stands up to the Roland VAD706.
The full-sized drum shells of the Roland VAD706 make it an amazing electronic kit to use for live gigs, as you still get the visual aspect of having a large kit, but you also get the benefit of using Roland’s highest-quality drum module.
With 70 preset drum kits and 900 onboard sounds to make your own kits with, any drummer would have a field day with this kit. All the sounds have exquisite quality, and they can be further tweaked with the module’s extensive editing tools.
You can go into as much detail as making it sound like you’re playing beats at a big stadium and then choosing exactly where the mics are placed on each drum and cymbal.
You get the same digital snare drum and ride cymbal from the TD-27, but this kit also has a digital hi-hat pad. We loved the responsiveness of the hi-hat pad, as it allows you to play complex hi-hat patterns with all the dynamics coming out very clearly.
Verdict: Not much can compete with the Roland VAD706. It’s one of the most ludicrously expensive drum kits available, but it also offers the most premium drum sounds and module features. It feels epic to play, and it combines the experience of playing a large kit with all the perks of using electronic sounds. The digital snare, ride, and hi-hat pads are the most responsive and intuitive drum pads on the market.
Alesis Strike Pro Special Edition
One of the largest professional electronic drum kits with a surprisingly reasonable price tag.
The flagship e-kit from Alesis. It’s a 6-piece drum set with five cymbals, giving you an excitingly large rig to play on. It’s a good pick for drummers who want a large kit but aren’t in the price range of Roland or Yamaha’s flagship models.
When we sat at the Alesis Strike Pro SE, it felt just like sitting at a full-sized electronic drum kit. The size differences between drums and cymbals made us feel right at home, and the larger kick drum felt epic to play.
We had a lot of fun messing around with the 136 preset kits and 1800 onboard sounds. Some of them seemed to have much better sound quality than others, so you’ll find that there are certain kits on the module that are decent while you won’t use others much.
The real value of this drum kit is its sheer size. The value for money is incredible, with the mesh pads feeling amazing to play on. It’s one of the most popular electronic drum kits available, purely for the fact that it’s so much more affordable than the top-line electronic kits from other brands.
Alesis kits have a few quality control issues, especially with their hi-hats. So, that’s something that may come up with this set, and it’s something that puts the lower price tag into perspective.
Verdict: The Alesis Strike Pro SE is another great electronic drum kit to consider that has hybrid acoustic shells. It looks appealing on a live stage, and it easily gives you the same feeling as sitting at an acoustic kit. If you want a top-tier electronic drum kit that isn’t as expensive as the flagships from other brands, this is the one. The sound and build quality are just slightly inferior.
Roland TD-17KVX
Roland’s powerful mid-range kit with features inspired by their upper-tier ones.
An excellent kit from Roland that many professional drummers use as a practice tool. It has the popular Roland sound quality along with essential features such as a proper hi-hat stand and multiple trigger zones on all the pads.
The Roland TD-17KVX is a relatively simple electronic drum kit, but it nails all the essentials of what you need in a good set. This is why it’s such a good electronic drum kit to get as a practicing option if you regularly play acoustic drums.
Our favorite part is the hi-hat stand. While it doesn’t actually come with one when you buy it, you can put a stand you already own with it to get authentic response from your hi-hat pedal.
The 50 user kits and 310 onboard sounds cover a wide range of musical styles and nuances, and we felt that the onboard Bluetooth function easily let us put those sounds to use when streaming tracks wirelessly.
Roland kits are known to be expensive, so this set is still a bit pricier than a few competing ones in the same feature category, but we love this one due to its immense reliability.
Verdict: The Roland TD-17KVX is an incredible electronic drum set with responsive pads that have multiple trigger zones. It’s an ideal kit for experienced drummers who want a practice kit that gives them the same responsiveness as acoustic drums. It’s also a good pick for newer drummers who want a pristine kit that won’t make it hard to switch to an acoustic set.
Alesis DM10 MKII Pro
A large electronic kit with an affordable price tag.
Another surprisingly affordable kit from Alesis, considering what it offers. It’s called the DM10 as it has a combined number of ten drum and cymbal pads. Its sturdy chrome rack is an iconic feature that makes it stand out visually amongst its competitors.
The Alesis DM10 MKII Pro is a bit of a weird option that we’re suggesting. It doesn’t have the greatest sound quality, especially with its preset drum kit sounds. However, the selling point for us is the number of pads as well as their sizes. Think of it as a smaller, budget version of the Alesis Strike Pro.
This is one of the most affordable kits you’ll find on the market that has a snare pad resting on a proper snare drum stand. Compared to kits that have snares mounted to their drum racks, we much prefer how stable it feels to play a snare drum like this.
The sounds aren’t all low-quality. The electronic sounds are fantastic, so you’ll get plenty of playability out of this kit if you’re looking for those.
Mainly, we suggest getting this kit as a large and affordable MIDI controller if you want to plug an e-kit into your computer.
Verdict: The Alesis DM10 MKII Pro is one of the most affordable large electronic drum sets that feels amazing to play on. The onboard sounds aren’t the greatest compared to e-kits that are slightly more expensive, but the kit works brilliantly as a large MIDI controller to do drum recordings with.
Yamaha DTX6K3-X
A fantastic electronic kit with features that topple most other sets in the same price range.
One of Yamaha’s more popular electronic drum sets. It has Yamaha’s signature silicone drum pads, and all the cymbals are chokeable with three trigger zones. The drum module has interesting sound editing features that allow you to take this very far once you master them.
The silicone drum pads are vastly different from the mesh pads found on most other kits on this list. All Yamaha e-kits have them, and they give a very responsive feel to the drums. Some of us preferred them to mesh pads, while others would rather stick with mesh. It comes down to your personal preference, but it must be stated that the silicone pads feel great.
The unconventional 7-inch toms take a bit of getting used to, but all the drum and cymbal pads feel great to play on.
What we highly appreciate about this set is the drum module. Yamaha uses the same DTX-PRO drum module in many of their kits, and it’s one of the best modules in this price range.
It has extensive editing settings that allow you to dial in your preferred drum sounds, and you can get some incredible sounds if you put in the time.
Verdict: The Yamaha DTX6K3-X is one of the best electronic drum kits in the mid-range category. Although all the pads are small, they all have multiple trigger zones and are incredibly responsive to subtle and loud dynamics. The kit has many onboard drum sets that have been sampled from Yamaha’s popular acoustic drums, which is something that we really love.
Pearl e/Merge
A pro-quality electronic kit from Pearl with sounds from Korg.
One of the most solid electronic kits to play on. Pearl’s mounting rack and Uni-Lock holders make it feel incredibly secure. Pearl collaborated with Korg to get the sounds on the drum module.
The Pearl e/Merge is another hybrid electronic set to consider. The tom and snare shells are shallow, but the kick drum is a full-sized 18-inch shell that feels exactly like you’re playing an acoustic kick drum.
We love the robustness of this kit, and it’s all due to Pearl’s popular hardware that holds it all together.
All the pads are incredibly intuitive, having multiple trigger sensors all around them to create a wonderful playing experience.
The kit is quite expensive for what you get, but it’s worth its cost in quality and response. The module has 35 preset kits and 700 onboard sounds from Korg, but it more importantly has some of the most extensive sound editing tools available.
Verdict: The Pearl e/Merge is a high-end electronic drum kit from Pearl that has amazingly responsive pads and epic sound editing capabilities. The hybrid shells and large cymbals make it feel great to play, and this kit easily competes with the flagship models from dedicated electronic drum kit brands.
Alesis Command Mesh
A great beginner kit with dual-zone drum pads.
A slight step-up from the popular Alesis Nitro Mesh. This kit offers a bit more with its module and drum pads, making it a good option for beginner drummers who are willing to spend a bit more. The included kick pedal is highly appreciated for a kit at this price.
We found the Alesis Command Mesh to have entry-level quality, just like the Nitro. However, this kit is a bit bigger, making it feel more comfortable for adults to play on.
Out of the 50 preset drum kits and 629 onboard sounds, only a few of them really struck us as usable in a professional setting. A beginner drummer would have a much better time exploring these sounds.
We were quite impressed with the dual trigger zones on all the drums, though. It extends the playability of the kit a bit.
We also loved the 70 tracks included on the module. They cover a wide range of musical styles to test your drumming skills with.
Verdict: The Alesis Command Mesh is an excellent beginner electronic drum set. The large chrome rack allows you to position all the drums comfortably for an adult, and the module offers epic playalongs that will keep you busy for hours. The sound quality isn’t ideal for experienced drummers, but beginner players will love the variety offered.
Roland VAD103
The most affordable kit in Roland’s VAD line.
A compact drum set in electronic drum kit form. You get the hybrid acoustic shells from the VAD drum line, but a simple module to make this package relatively affordable compared to the rest of Roland’s VAD drum sets. It’s a good option for drummers who love the appearance of hybrid shells.
This kit is still relatively expensive compared to most mid-range sets, but we found the most value in the quality of the drum and cymbal pads. The pads are amazingly responsive to different types of playing and techniques, giving the kit incredible playability.
The TD-07 drum module is very simplistic, but the 25 preset drum kits all sound very good, with every single one of them being usable in professional settings.
It’s a bare-bones kit compared to the other options in the VAD line, but it’s perfect for drummers who want a compact practice option that feels great to play and has pristine sound quality.
Verdict: The Roland VAD103 is a small hybrid electronic drum set with premium sound quality. It’s an excellent option for drummers who want something from Roland’s VAD line but don’t want to pay the very high prices that come with the kits. The pads are incredible, and the module is simple but very efficient.
Roland TD-07KV
Roland’s true beginner drum set, offering everything you need in terms of playability.
A high-quality entry-level kit from Roland. It doesn’t have an entry-level price tag, but it’s possibly the best kit that a beginner can get to stop them from needing to upgrade after a few years.
If you were to ask us which electronic drum kit is the best for new drummers with a higher budget, this would be our answer. We love the TD-07KV because it offers features like cymbal chokes, cross-sticks, and cymbal bell sounds.
These are areas of playability that cheaper electronic drum kits mostly don’t have, so it’s worth spending a bit more to have them so that you can get a full drum kit playing experience.
It’s also a decent kit for experienced players. The TD-07 module is the same one from the VAD103, and we love it. The kit just shines more in the beginner drummer territory.
We found that its small size makes it an excellent option for apartment drumming or playing in any other small practice spaces.
We’d just love if this kit had an extra cymbal to round out the setup. There’s an upgraded version of it available with an extra cymbal and full hi-hat stand, but it’s a lot more expensive.
Verdict: The Roland TD-07KV is an incredibly high-quality kit for beginner drummers. It’s unrivaled in terms of playability in the entry-level category, but its high price tag puts it out of reach for many new drummers. We highly suggest getting this kit if you can afford it, though. It’s also a decent option for experienced drummers who aren’t looking for anything too fancy in their electronic kit.
How to Choose the Best Electronic Drum Set
There are multiple factors that determine the quality and price tag of an electronic drum kit. Knowing what these things are will help you choose the best kit for whatever your playing needs and budget are (and if you’re not sure, read our guide here on buying your first kit). Here’s what you should look out for.
Drum Pads
The drum pads make up the majority of most electronic kits. Most e-kits these days have mesh head pads, but Yamaha’s kits have silicone pads that are fairly similar.
Cheap electronic kits have rubber pads, but we suggest staying away from those as they don’t provide the same authentic feeling of mesh and silicone. They also don’t let you adjust their tension.
The more trigger zones a pad has, the better it is. Inexpensive kits have pads with only one or two trigger zones, while the best kits have multiple trigger zones across all the drum pads.
Look out for kick drum pads when buying electronic kits. Some cheaper kits have trigger pedals, but those feel nothing like using a proper bass drum beater to hit a drumhead.
We haven’t included any kits with trigger pedals above, as the best playing experience will come from using an electronic kit with a kick drum tower and proper pedal.
Cymbal Pads
It’s standard for electronic kits to come with a hi-hat and two cymbal pads. Some have more pads to use, but the quality of the pads is more important than how many you get.
The lowest quality cymbal pads have a single trigger zone and only have a bit of rubber to strike on the front, with the rest being made of plastic.
The best cymbal pads have rubber all around them with multiple trigger zones. In the case of ride cymbals, the best pads have three trigger zones to play the surface, edge, and bell. Crash cymbals only need two trigger zones to give you great playability.
Some hi-hat pads have a remote trigger pedal, while others need to be mounted onto a full hi-hat stand. It’s better to use a full hi-hat stand, but only expensive electronic kits have that feature.
Drum Module
The drum module mostly determines the sound quality of an electronic drum set. Different drum modules offer varying features such as editing tools, practice functions, and wireless connectivity.
As the cost increases, drum modules start becoming a lot more extensive. The biggest thing you’ll get from a higher-priced drum module is sound customization. The sound will already be a lot better than on cheaper modules, but you can tweak the module to great lengths to get the sounds that you want.
Inexpensive drum modules are very simplistic in their designs, and most don’t have any sound editing tools at all. Not all drummers are looking for that, though, and many cheaper kits have modules with fantastic onboard sounds.
Drum modules also have varying expandability options. Some modules allow you to add two or three extra drum pads, while others don’t have the option of adding any. Always check to see how many extra inputs are available when buying an e-kit.
Hardware
When buying an electronic drum kit, you’ll typically need to buy a few extra things if you don’t have them from an acoustic kit already. Only entry-level electronic drum kits come with things like sticks, bass drum beaters, and drum thrones.
Sometimes music stores do package deals where you’ll get hardware pieces for higher-quality kits, but most require you to buy them separately.
You’ll also need to make sure that you either have an amp or a set of headphones so that you can hear your electronic set when you play. No electronic drum modules have speakers, so you need to connect the module to an external sound source.
Final Thoughts on the Best Electronic Drum Sets
There are dozens of good electronic drum sets to choose from. To narrow your search down a bit, we suggest getting the Roland TD-27KV if you need something that covers all the bases of professional quality and reliability.
The Roland VAD706 is the best electronic drum set that money can buy, while the Alesis Nitro Mesh is a fantastic budget option. All three of those kits cater to most drummers.