Alesis Strata Prime Review & Unboxing - The BEST Electronic Drum Set of 2024

i already own a strike pro but dam im getting this baby

I had a chance to play one they just brought in at GC. I didn't get to spend much time, but I have to say I am sersiously impressed and that says alot considering my prior experience with Alesis was shall we sall, less than exceptional. If I didn't have money tied up in some home renovations, I would go buy one today. That's not to say there aren't problems. The feel of the hi-hat is not great especially compared to Roland or even Yamaha. There's some cross talk issues, and the rack is just OK. I wish they had made the drum pads a little deeper but the overall look is incredible. Since they are using a wrap it would be nice to give a couple color options, but those are small nit picks. The biggest negative is the sluggish performance and this is where someone using this for live performance where they have to switch quickly between sounds, I'm not sure how it's going to handle that. But the module is top notch. This is the kind of quality you'd expect in 2024. While it may not have the rugged build quality of a TD-50 at this price range there's nothing that competes. I believe this product is going to be a market disrupter and that's good for drummers. I think Roland, while they've come out with some good quality stuff, needs to take a long look at what they're putting out looks wise. I liked the look of the VAD-307, but they packaged it with an inferior module. The big advantage of the TD27KV2 is the digital snare. It's the best E snare on the market, but for the overall value of what you're getting with the Strata, the TD27Kv doesn't come close. If someone with a 3k-4K budget is looking for an e-kit, this will be my no brainer reccomendation. My only caveat would be if you are wanting this for live performance, go play one first and load up some kits and play around with it. If you can live with the load times then this is the kit for you.

Do you need to setup the triggering settings? Is it plug n play? I own the Alesis Strike Pro and the triggers are terrible.

Great kit indeed, I am very impressed, But just to point out. Top, bottom, overhead and room mic channel adjustment has been implemented before. The Mimic pro (and Gewa G9) does this and that came out in 2017.

You touched on it briefly but for me it’s the biggest thing you said. As an accoustic drummer myself like you, hearing that you played for 4 hrs on it and didn’t tire of it is huge. Cause aside from all the amazing tech in that box, we all know that the fun of e kits quickly evaporates. I need an e kit that will inspire me to practice at home. That feels as close a proximation to my live acoustic kit.
I am very tempted with this kit.

For a good percent of the reasons I got out of acoustic drums, now I observe e-drums, crossing away from their compact advantage, and moving toward the large footprints of acoustic drums, and introducing the limitations of acoustic setup into e-drum kits.
Personally, I don’t view these massive, “look like Acoustic” as a good idea.
If you want acoustic mass with electronic capability, why not just purchase mesh heads, external drum triggers, and the module of your choice and keep your existing acoustic kit?

Great review. Your video was part of the few I saw that encouraged me to buy the nitro max, so thank you for that.

This thing is gorgeous and I definitely want to play it, but as a casual drummer, there’s something to the nitro max that’s nice because if it’s simplicity. I can just turn it on in between work calls (🤫)and bang out a couple songs when I hit the Bluetooth.

This one seems like it’s meant for a serious drummer, one that would use it to play shows. The customization is insane and it just feels like a large kit that wouldn’t be able to be stowed quickly & easily if I needed the space. The build quality and features make the price point seem reasonable, but an investment like this also makes me fearful of damaging it. At least with the nitro max, if I had to buy a new part (like how I had to buy a regular snare stand), it’s not gonna break the bank since the whole thing is a 1/9th of the price of this guy.

Kit doesnt have bluetooth audio and crosstick is unnatural to trigger

Will Alesis 3 zone cymbals work on roland td27 ir td50 module??

Finally! A review of an Alesis without the inherent bias for Roland! LOL 🤣! The Strata Prime is a step above anything on the market today. Amazing new features at half the price of a Roland, Yamaha or Efnote flagship kit!

Only a few outputs, no bluetooth for incoming music, proprietary cymbal and hi-hat connections, pancake drums on a full size kick. Hmmm… The sounds might be good, but thisis only flagship when you compare it to other Alesis kits. The best Alesis drum kit of the year, provided the year 2024 ends in March. 🤣🤣🤣

I really like this drum set and module. my question is does the snare detect the difference between just hitting the rim and a rim shot or side sticking the rim ? also can you download some of Superior drummers drumsets into the module and save them into this Strata module. or superior drummer always has to be used all the time through the internet separate from the module ?

Would you say that the hihat is better than the Roland digital hihat?

Not sure I’ve heard better sounding toms on any other e-kit… TD-50’s sound like a machine gun, so this is a surprise…

can you fit 3 toms on the center rack?

Next level when can I buy module separately?

It's like having Superior drummer 3 because it's a software BETTER than SD3 or equivalent... the OLD AND POWERFUL BFD Drums!!! ported to a module. GREAT! This definitely will mark a new are for edrums

Impressive!! Let’s be friends?

Looks and sounds amazing, let’s see how it keeps up in 6 month , fingers crossed

You gonna need the front mesh head, when your double pedal damage the first one. According to the manual that says "any pedal".

Awesome kit! Phenomenal module with excellent customization potential. Hope it will be compatible with previous kits.

It's a shame they used pads over deeper shells. Also not a big fan of touchscreen over actual buttons, knobs, and faders on the module. I have the Strike Pro SE and honestly feel like it's better for my use case.

Still, glad to see Alesis trying to innovate! Hope they keep at it 👏🏾👏🏾

Best review and explanations I’ve seen of the many ‘sales’ reviews about

Why nodoby Is talking about double bass drumming on this ekit BD?

Peart/Portnoy/Palmer/Bruford, best supergroup ever

Ummmm.. nope. its just another electric kit. they are good for being low volume and practice. Theres just never any magic to these things and the stock sounds suck. you are better off with a Roland TD-1K and using a 3rd party plug in like superior drummer. otherwise its just another Chinese scam. these are not worth the money. mesh heads are just as dumb as rubber heads.. its no difference and not woth being "premium electric".

Every video I've seen on this makes me love it and been using the Roland td 30 which I just added the pearl mimic as the new module .My kit now kix ass but this kit here even seems better than the new DW kit

Yo man, I've got money to splurge atm and VAD706 kit from Roland is on a major discount down from over 7000 to 5000. I wanna get it but kinda curious, if money wasn't an issue, would you go for Alesis Strata Prime or the Roland VAD706 as your permanent edrums? I don't gig or anything like that.

It's not the best drum kit, because you cannot play cross stick in the traditional way supposed to be a pro kit, and another small thing which I could live with it's no Bluetooth cannot believe Alesis it's stupid at best and then to ask £3000 not good

Nope

does anybody knows the size of this kit fully set? including cymbals (aprox at least)

Great review...love the kit. Thanks. If you're seriously putting those together in 45min I've got a bisiness proposition...lol

I just bought one. Can you adjust the rims to sound differently than the head of a tom? Like put a cow bell on a rim of the tom while still having the tom sound?

Definitely one of the best reviews out there right now. Struggling to decide whether or not to replace an awesome pearl master series acoustic set. I run a professional recording studio though, and I feel that that may be more practical and a lot easier to mix than acoustic drums that are mic’d

Did that symbol seriously just choke itself with the drumstick, that’s crazy

Hello,please me an advise,is it good to by alesis nitro max 8piece or nux dm 210

Do a review of the Strata Prime and Superior Drummer 3!!!

I imagine that if i wanted to add 3 cymbals instead of 2 cymbals and a drum pad that would also work...? And do Alesis sell spash/smaller cymbals that go with the Strata Prime...? Also how are you finding the hi-hat response/action...? Thanks for the awesome video - this is looking like the kit the beat for the money... :)

Good review, but I think your problem with the touch screen responsiveness may be helped if you take off the screen protector...

Can you assign symbol Sounds like splash and effects to the rims instead of having only rim click sounds or cross stick sounds on the rims. Thank you.

I think your review has sealed the deal for me. I really do not like the fact that Alesis couldn't switch to full size shells (like competition from EFNote), but the module and full-size kit alone are worth the price of admission.

Yeah,,, in your face Roland... Eat it....

The module is almost like my AKAI MPC Live. Hardware and software. Same corporation. If ALESIS also provides regular updates in the future including whole new features like AKAI does for the MPC this kit will stay up to date for a very long time - a touchdisplay and assignable knobs - it might become a completely different beast with only one update... Let's see...

Excellent video showcasing this kit and your playing was admirable. Digging the sounds from the module even though im used to using VSTs like SD3 SSD etc its great right out of the box and the ammount of customizations you can layer onto each pad/trigger will keep us all busy fine tuning to our own liking. Ordered the expanded edition from Sweetwater and looking forward to combine it into the Strike Pro SE for a dream setup i have.

Still less expensive than Roland!

Excellent review. I’ve checked out many reviews on this kit and yours has proved the most useful and informative 👍. Curious when Bluetooth will actually be push out ?

No doubt in 5 years every drum shell is going to have shell screens which change displayed skins as you change drum kits 😎

I play open handed. Is it possible to have my rides to the left and toms more simetrical placed? to the left and the right like Cobham or Simon Phillis, Carter Beauford..

Nick, I like the way you present things, your attitude, and your drumming. (Pronouns; "you're" - "Yor.")

When you start drumming I get pant hosey for lack of better, how you say?...word to your..how you say?...mother?

Deeper shells are not for me. I try not to equate edrums to acoustics. They are different in so many ways. I'm tempted by this kit (even though my DM10 MKII Pro has proven totally unreliable). I would prefer to have a kick tower rather than the 20inch kick. It strikes me as unnecessary?