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Opinions on Simmons SD600 vs Alesis Nitro Mesh (beginner)?


Mighty Motif Max

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Hi all,

 

It doesn't seem like there's a lot happening in this forum these days, but I thought I'd ask anyways. My younger brother is 12, and he has an interest in percussion and drums. Both my siblings and I are musically inclined, but all in different areas. I've decided that for Christmas I would like to buy him an entry-level electronic drum set (acoustics are out of the question in this case). I'm clearly not looking for anything really fancy. Just something to get him started and that won't break immediately (he takes good care of things as it is). It's looking like the two options are really the Alesis Nitro Mesh ($379) and the Simmons SD600 (currently marked down to $399 from $549 since Guitar Center is apparently going down). I know full well that neither of these are great. I'm leaning toward the Nitro Mesh as at least the original Nitro was around for a while and so there should be some support around for that model which is just the same set with mesh pads, and Alesis is probably not going anywhere soon. At the same time, it sounds pretty bad. Nothing at this price point is going to sound great, but to my ears the Simmons set is better, probably due to some of its samples being stereo. It also seems to machine gun less, and of course it also has larger pads etc. Most importantly, it apparently has several positions in-between just open and closed for the hi hat, unlike the Alesis kit. I've seen a lot of different things through the years about that brand as they started in the '80s but kind of went downhill for a while. I see a mix of reviews for both sets, running from "this is a good practice kit, and its sounds are adequate but it is best used for triggering drum software" to "half the pads broke within two weeks, the cymbals never triggered right, buy anything else" for both of these!

 

Does anyone have an opinion on either of those as a beginner set that would ideally not break immediately (3-5 years lifespan would be nice at least)?

 

Thanks,

 

Max

Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000

Kurzweil: PC3-76, PC4 (88) | Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R

Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT

Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments

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I know it's not what you've got listed but maybe look around for a used Roland Handsonic?

 

It's small, light and very sturdy. Has a headphone jack, can be used as a MIDI controller, there is a buttload of sounds onboard and he won't need sticks.

 

Plus it will last a LONG time. I've got an HR-15 that has had the crap beat out of it on tour and still works great. It's a ton of fun, can be used professionally, records well, etc.

Guitar Center has a used HR-10 for $299 - https://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/?Ntt=roland%20handsonic&Ns=r

 

Even if he goes with drum sets later, this could be a great part of any drum set. In the meantime, there are enough different sounds that he can play with anybody.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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Hey, thanks for responding. I actually played a Handsonic HPD20 for a good amount of time at a shop. Fun piece of equipment. In this case though it is definitely not the type of thing we would like. He has decent hand/arm coordination and (before the pandemic) any time we would go to a music store, he would ask to sit down at a drum set and try to play. He can play a little as it is. So something in the drum set format is the way we want to go. I myself love hand percussion, but I don't think it's the right route to take in this case.

 

Turns out that Guitar Center has decided to screw people over with shipping...their Simmons SD600 set, on sale for $399, needs $140 of shipping. Not happening lol. Plus taxes it would be $590 for a $399 drum set. I think not.

 

I ordered the Alesis Nitro Mesh from SW and they threw in a $50 PDP drum throne for free as part of their Black Friday promotion to boot. Added two sets of nylon-tipped drum sticks, and all that totaled plus tax and free shipping was still cheaper than what Guitar Center wanted to charge me for the Simmons drum set plus shipping (and this wasn't including a throne or sticks either) at $429. Silliness.

 

I've played a few Alesis sets previously (Command and Forge), as well as the other usual suspects under $1000 as of a few years ago (Roland TD-11, TD4, Yamaha DTX 522K, DTX 450K, KAT Percussion KT1) as well as some nicer sets (Roland TD-25KV, KAT Percussion KT4) and some older ones (Yamaha DTXpress III, DTXplorer). I'm not expecting it to be perfect, in fact the cymbals and hi hat will probably feel like crap, but SW has an extra 2 year warranty so I'm thinking that will balance out well enough. Plus those pads can be used with other sets later on, *and* the Nitro module actually supports dual triggers for all the toms even though they aren't included, and 5-pin midi + USB midi (so good for hooking up to other modules and/or a computer someday). So hopefully it will do the job and he won't outgrow it too quickly, plus it is expandable in the future and components are re-usable.

Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000

Kurzweil: PC3-76, PC4 (88) | Hammond: SK Pro 73 | Korg: Triton LE 76, N1R, X5DR | Emu: Proteus/1 | Casio: CT-370 | Novation: Launchkey 37 MK3 | Technics: WSA1R

Former: Emu Proformance Plus & Mo'Phatt, Korg Krome 61, Roland Fantom XR & JV-1010, Yamaha MX61, Behringer CAT

Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments

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