Budget electronic drum sets have massively improved in recent years. Higher end sets can be quite pricey, and a more modest set might just be what you need.
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The Best Budget Electronic Drum Kits
Now on to the full list.
Today’s electronic drum kits have evolved significantly since the 1980s, offering impressive features you’ll love. Here are the best budget electronic drum kits available now:
The Alesis Surge Mesh Kit is an eight-piece drum kit featuring mesh heads. Unlike the Alesis Nitro Mesh, it includes a larger 10″ dual-zone snare. It also offers three 8″ dual-zone toms and a kick tower pad with a pedal.
With its dual-zone feature, you can get two sounds on a drum and mesh. Its ride and crash are also chokeable. The Surge Mesh looks sleek and professional with its four-post chrome rack, which is solid and easy to set up.
The Surge module offers a variety of learning features like a metronome and 60 backing tracks to help improve your timing and accuracy. It includes a USB MIDI connection for computers, as well as out-jacks and traditional MIDI for connecting your drum machine.
The Alesis Drums Nitro Mesh Kit costs more than the Turbo Mesh Kit. However, it features mesh heads on all drums except the kick. This eight-piece set includes a bass drum tower, three toms, a snare, and three cymbals: a hi-hat, a chokeable crash, and a ride. The mesh heads provide a more authentic drum sound compared to rubber pads.
All drums link to the Nitro drum module, which provides around 40 drum kit sounds and 385 individual sounds. It also offers 60 play-along tracks.
Other extra features of the Alexis Nitro Mesh include a sequencer, aux input, metronome, and performance recorder. The kit also comes with a 4-post aluminum rack, drum sticks, cables, drum key, and power supply.
The Alesis Nitro offers a chokeable crash and provides great value for your money. However, its onboard drum kit is a bit weak.
The Yamaha DTX402K is a budget-friendly electronic drum kit known for its immersive stereo sound and high-quality rubber pads. With a 4-post stand, it allows for effective practice and performance improvement. Released in 2018, it’s an excellent choice for anyone on a budget.
Though not as popular as Alesis’s new releases, this drum kit has received positive reviews from users. Compared to Yamaha’s earlier models, it offers enhanced response and chokeable cymbals.
The Yamaha DTX402K includes an 8″ snare pad, two 8″ rack tom pads, an 8″ floor tom pad, two 10″ cymbal pads, a 10″ hi-hat pad, a hi-hat pedal, and a kick pedal.
It has a plain appearance, but its performance explains why it’s popular. This drum set is also a great choice for young players eager to learn electronic drumming basics.
Though it lacks a mesh snare and kick pad, its rubber pads and kick pedal combo make it a great choice for the price. With ten built-in training functions, easily accessible via the DTX402 Touch app and module, it offers excellent value.
This Touch app lets you customize the drum kit and its sounds. It’s easy to set up and sounds great. One downside is the rubber pads and the lack of a screen on the drum module.
The Donner DED-200 is an excellent electric drum kit with great sound. It features chokeable cymbals and all-mesh heads, which are usually found in pricier kits.
You’ll find everything you need to start playing an electronic drum set: an 8″ snare, an 8″ kick drum, three 8″ toms, a 10″ hi-hat, a 12″ ride, and a 12″ crash. It includes a hi-hat pedal, a kick pedal, a pair of drum sticks, stands, and a drum throne. It also comes with headphones for silent practice without a PA system or speaker.
The Donner DED-200 includes a drum module with 225 sounds and 30 demo songs, perfect for starting your drumming journey. It also features headphone and aux outputs.
Connect your MP3 player or phone to this drum kit to play along with your tracks. It’s easy to assemble with a three-piece collapsible frame.
The Alesis Drums Turbo Mesh Kit stands out as a top choice for beginners. Experts frequently praise this drum kit, and it’s easy to see why.
The Turbo Mesh Kit is a significant upgrade over the popular Nitro Kit from Alesis. Its improved mesh heads provide a more realistic and quieter sound. They’re also more responsive, offering a genuinely immersive drumming experience.
This seven-piece drum set includes an 8″ mesh snare drum, three 9″ toms, three 10″ cymbals, a hi-hat pedal, and a kick pedal. It features ten classic and modern drum kits, thirty play-along tracks, and over 100 curated sounds.
The Turbo Mesh Kit offers great value, costing just under three hundred dollars. You’ll find it quite satisfying to play. However, it doesn’t support cymbal choking, and its pads have only one zone.
Factors to Consider When Buying a Budget Electronic Drum Kit
Shopping for a budget electronic drum kit doesn’t mean sacrificing essential features. Consider these key factors when buying:
Quality
If you’re buying an entry-level electronic drum kit, pay attention to its build quality. Even an entry-level kit should be well-built. Look for a sturdy frame for durability and essential features for great sound.
Pads
Check the trigger pads or drum pads. These pads have rubber padding and a transducer underneath. They feature a woven mesh integrating the transducers internally. These triggers are irreplaceable. Look for pads with high performance and effectiveness. Also, consider how the pads sound when hit and their responsiveness.
Sounds
Drummers strike the paddings to mimic an acoustic drum kit. Electronic drum kits have advanced sound modules that produce precise tones, replicating the drummer’s technique. Even using brushes, the reproduced sounds are impressive. When buying an electronic drum set, consider its sound quality and think about investing in multi-pad kits.
Value For Money
Choosing a budget electronic drum kit should offer good value. Despite being budget-friendly, these kits can still be costly. Make sure you get your money’s worth.
MIDI
Recording drums requires connecting your electronic drum kit directly to your computer. Your drum kit must function as a MIDI controller and be capable of sending out MIDI data.
Zones
Pick a drum kit with pads that have multiple zones. You can strike different areas to create varied sounds. Zones are concentric circles on the pads. For instance, snare pads often have multiple zones, producing different snare sounds depending on where you hit. More zones mean a wider range of drum sounds.
Choking Cymbals
Look for electronic drum kits with choking cymbals. You can hit and grab them to stop their sound, mimicking an acoustic kit. Cheaper options often lack this feature.
Conclusion
The great thing about an electronic drum kit is its near-silent practice capability. Additionally, it’s versatile for situations where an acoustic set isn’t practical. For example, you can use it in church facilities without producing overpowering sounds.
With an electronic drum kit, you gain more control over your drum outputs than with an acoustic set. You don’t need drum microphones for each component to sound. Plus, an electronic drum kit is much more portable.
Although electronic drum kits can be pricey, affordable entry-level options are available. These basic kits include everything you need to start learning to play.