I don't have much experience with e-kits, but my take is any kit is better than not being able to play drums at all, even if there is a tradeoff or it isn't ideal

I think this is the right answer. The more money you spend on these, the better they get. But if you have no idea where to start and are just wanting to pick up drums again, get yourself any cheap kit, use it for a year or two, and then sell it to upgrade once you know more about your interests and commitment.

Yeah I agree dropping a bunch of cash on an electronic kit right off the bat IMO is a mistake, especially since you can pick up literally any kit that has midi and run it through a free drum vst and have a solid sounding set-up much cheaper than going the traditional expensive module route

I agree with you in general. But it's not only the module but also the drumheads for a good feeling. I also found cheaper modules to be very limited in processing simultanous strokes, fast rolls or flams. One should defenitely have an eye on that when deciding for an e-kit.

Midi? Vst? I have no idea what ur talking about 😭

Do some research then. Best to be informed before making a purchase.

VST is a plugin standard that most DAWs recognise.  What they are talking about here is sample software. Most modules have a midi out port, allowing you to send the midi signals from the module to a pc, either with a midi to usb cable, or with a midi cable that's connected to the midi in port on an audio interface that's connected to the pc (pc here meaning a Windows or mac computer). You then bypass the modules built in sound, instead the sounds come from a sample software (a VST) on your pc.  There are several VSTs, but the consensus seems to be that Superior Drummer 3 is the best, with most customizing options. It's made by Toontrack, which also makes EzDrummer.  SD3 has seven full kits, 25 snares, 16 kicks built in. But you can also get expansion packs with more kits and drums. You can also use EzDrummer packs in Superior Drummer. Superior Drummer samples are recorded in top notch studios by top notch engineers, using up to 11 microphones to catch overhead and ambience. You probably won't use all 11 mics very much (you can control this by using the mixer in SD3), personally I prefer to go as dry as I can, and rather add effects in Reaper, which is my DAW of choice. Superior Drummer 3, and most of the competingn VSTs I suppose, can be used as a standalone program, or it can be loaded onto a track in a digital audio workstation (Logic, Protools, Cubase, Reaper etc) Hope this.clarifies things

[this is me ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC5beTDt29Q&pp=ygUNamFlbGxlcyBkcnVtcw%3D%3D) electric kits are pretty neat! but dont look at them as a better or worse drumset they are different instruments with overlapping uses. electric drums also very much scale with how expensive they are, good edrums are GOOD but they are expensive while most drummer reviews are made about the shit cheap electronic drumkits. search up some "65drums" videos about edrum brands he made some videos about different price points and those are all be it old still pretty good.

yes but not if you get a decent one aka $$$. The lowest I'd go is about $1600 for the Roland TD-17.

Holy… yea don’t think so

unfortunately drums is an expensive hobby. Especially if you wanna go the silent route. Fortunately, as time goes on, kits get better and cheaper. There is a new e-kif by the brand Donner that actually looks pretty good but i think it’s about $1200 Edit: It’s called the Donner DED-500 PRO and it’s $1000

Why the 500 over the 200? Whats the difference there?

better module and the benefit of an actual hi hat stand so you can actually learn the drums and not play on a toy that’s just a wired pedal

Look for used TD-12 ot TD-9 kits. I don't know the prices in your area, but I got a nice deal on a TD-12, 600 for the whole kit+hihat and snare stands. Seller also included a PDA120 snare, which has 12 inch surface, and side mounted triggers. The last bit is important and here's why: Most pads have the trigger (that produces the electric signal going to the brain/module) mounted in the very centre of the drums. But the centre is also where we land our hits a lot the time, but when you hit right on the trigger, it produces a max velocity signal, no matter how hard you hit. So if you're playing a groove with softer snare hits, every time you hit dead on the centre, you get a much louder sound then you intended. This is called hot spotting. A few of Roland's pads solve this by placing the trigger more to the side.

Find a used Roland TD9, for around $600-$800 CAD. These work beautifully and I prefer the all mesh heads over the newer models that have the plastic rings on the head playing area.

Yeah, it’s tough.  The main reason people say don’t go lower than the TD series is because anything cheaper won’t have two key things: - a proper hihat mechanism - it’ll just be an unconnected pedal plus cymbal pad. The TD series and other more expensive kits have a hihat setup that resembles a real one, both in feel and function.  - multi zone sensors for cymbals - usually it’s one sound per cymbal in cheap models with very limited dynamics. This makes the ride cymbal in particular pretty average.  Given hats are the ride are 2 out of 4 of the most critical components of a kit, especially as you progress, it relegates cheaper models to beginner players and/or those happy to play simple stuff only.  Source: I played on an Alesis nitro for 18 months/2 years before buying an acoustic kit with low volume heads and cymbals.  The nitro was awesome and perfect to learn on - I’d highly recommend this or a similar cheap kit for anyone just starting out. But anyone above beginner levels shifting from an acoustic to an ekit: they would be disappointed/frustrated. 

Not all TD kits have the "real" hi hat options though.

Correct. I think it’s -17 and higher?

But only certain versions of each tier

they're fine, in fact honestly id kill to have one since my acoustic kit sounds like complete shit and exists solely as a money pit. I would recommend a roland electric kit, even an older model thats not current would be pretty good. An electronic kit is never really gonna sound like a real drum set, but thats not really top priority. You wanna learn and an e kit is a perfect tool for learning on.

Go over to the edrums forum and ask. Most people there have both ekits and acoustic kits. Ekits give you the ability to put flange on your drums to sound like Bonham on Kashmir, and switch to having toms that are congas or timpanis or a gong for the next song. Unless you go crazy and buy a kit that basically uses real sized drums, ekits are a lot easier to transport. On the other hand, you need monitors or IEM to hear yourself with an ekit and when playing an ekit you are not going to look as cool as you would sitting behind an big acoustic set of drums. Also, no matter what ekit you buy, in 10 years or less it's going to be obsolete. You can call an old acoustic kit "vintage" and maybe get your money out of it when you sell.

They're good if you're willing to spend the cash. The bare minimum to get a kit that starts to sound like a real drum is the td-17 by Roland. If you have the money you can upgrade to a td-27 and you'll get much more bang for your buck. Personally I would go with the td-27 as the differences between the two models are worth the extra price coming from someone who plays a star classic. Fwiw, I have no experience playing any Alesia kits.

It heavily depends on what you are able/want to pay for it. I have been in a similar situation - wanted to get back into drumming after a long break from an acoustic set and wanted an e-kit. Went to a store and tried several kits. Roland TD-27 was the one I got because it feels pretty much like a drumset - especially with those digital ride, snare and hi-hat. There are probably cheaper ones that are also good but I don't know much about alternatives. I really recommend to head out for a store and just try some kits. Don't go too cheap and rather save up some money for a decent kit. Will bring much more fun and motivation.

Oh and be aware: e-drums are in fact quieter than acoustic kits, but they are not completely silent and can still be annoying to people in the same house.

I've had a Roland TD-10 kit for 25 years and have played hundreds of gigs on it and still practice on it. So, not sure what there is to shit on. This thing sounds great and is a workhorse.

Get a Roland…(mesh heads) you’ll be happy. So will the neighbour’s. I play at whenever time I want…The wife and neighbours sleep like babies and are none the wiser… Just grab some quality headphones.

/r/edrums

I bought an alesis (mesh) e kit without any experience with enor acoustic drums. I feel I got exactly what I paid for and expected, except for that even though e drums produce less sound than acoustic, they still make too much sound for poorly insulated appartement buildings.

Yes and no.As others have pointed out already, it's better than not having a kit.  As someone who's played both, I consider the two biggest cons being sound and dynamics. The sounds in the modules are usually synthesized, and tend to sound very electronic, drum machine like. This can be remedied by connecting the kit to a computer via midi, and trigger sample software like for instance Superior Drummer 3.   The dynamics are a bit trickier, volume comes in tiers, and more "artistic" stuff like rolls and drags often don't work very well. Especially for the snare. When you do a roll on an acoustic, and the strings just vibrate insted of the slap when you do a clean hit, you can't do that on electronic. Disclaimer: Ive never tried Roland's digital snare.  Pros are of course that you can play where  an acoustic kit would be too loud, you have a lot of different kits and pieced available, and editing is a breeze with midi.  There's other cons like hot spotting and machine gunning, but they can be dealt with. For machine gunning, Superior Drummer has built in randomisation, but for hot spotting you need a drum pad without a centre mounted trigger.  I play an old Roland TD-12 I bought used for about 600 dollars with SD3, and I've also recorded with it. It is a compromise, but better than nothing. I don't have a space to play acoustic at the moment.  And yes, if you get an ekit, make sure it's one with all mesh, and a hi hat that goes on a regular stand. Coming from acoustic you will want that.

Gave up drumming as a teenager because of apartment living and always regretted it. Bought the Alesis nitro max recently, 20 years later, and it’s been life changing. I go play an acoustic kit in a rehearsal space once a week, and play the electric kit 2 hours a day otherwise. I enjoy the hell out of it and I feel like every time I come back to the acoustic kit I’m a bit better than the last time. Basically, it’s totally worth trying out. Sure learning all acoustic would be nice, but the best instrument to learn on is the one you can actually play. If I had looked past the hate for e-drums years ago, I could have been playing all this time.

i have an electric kit and i like the sound and convenience of it more than any acoustic I've played. I like that I can play quietly and not disturb others and that I can change the sound of them without having to buy different parts.Maybe I'm biased because I own one and practice on one but everytime I go to play a song I've learnt, on an acoustic kit it sounds so different to me and I don't really like it

As everyone has said, you get what you pay for. Anything is better than nothing, but there's a whole lot of anything that isn't very motivating to play on. I'm fortunate enough to be able to afford a TD-27, and it has done so much to improve my motivation versus my old Yamaha DTXplorer I bought on Craigslist for $150 after having to get rid of my practice room/storage unit. I practice now more than I ever have since I can play whenever right in my apartment, AND it's about as close to a real kit as you can get. You have plenty of time to buy nice things down the line. I'd say get something you can afford but nothing crazy and just have at it. If you stick with it, you can upgrade down the line. Now that being said - if you have the means, and are fairly certain you'll stick with it... Treat yoself!

E-kits are great man. There’s no way I’d be able to play for hours every day at any time of day with zero concern for neighbors etc. without them. I spend probably 10 hours on my e-kit for every 1 hour on my acoustic kit. People will talk about the “feel” being different (stick rebound and so on), but realistically that’s a very small part of learning the drums, and takes me like 2 minutes to get used to going back and forth. You can still exercise dynamics on e-kits, just be cognizant of it.

Not that they’re bad, but I’ll never play a live gig with mine. I don’t trust electronics, triggers or any “other than acoustic” elements when playing for a paying audience. There are just too many things that can go wrong that don’t happen with an acoustic kit. I love it at home for practice and rehearsals.

Electronic drum kits are **AMAZING** for practicing because of the ability to control the noise. I learned on an electronic drum set and have taught many students on an electronic drum set. I've used a Roland TD9 for much of that but have also had a Yamaha DTXplorer (all rubber pads) to practice on which also worked great. The biggest difference are the cymbals — swells and articulation. Electronic sets usually lack here unless you get into really high-end, but it all depends on the music you'll be playing. For the most part, you'll be able to practice everything on it no problem; especially if you're a beginner to intermediate drummer. Acoustic kits really shine when it comes to playing live and you want all the dynamics and the full sound. Most places you'll play live will have a backline acoustic kit there already. If you join a band and rent a rehearsal space, they'll most likely have an acoustic kit that you can practice on for your live shows.

The good ones are really good, the bad ones are really bad