Alesis Nitro Mesh Kit Review

Well, hello there. If you are here you are probably aware that the Alesis Nitro is one of the most affordable electronic drum sets that is available now.

The company has made incredible strides in this area and have left an outstanding impact on the world of electronic drumming.

They have created so many lines of different kits for people of all skill sets, and budget limitations. So, we have to ask, as we sure you have, is this kit worth it

A quick overview

Alesis is not a stranger to affordable electronic musical technology. The Nitro Mesh is one of the best introductory products that you can get as a beginner or even as an intermediate player.

It is an ideal kit for new drummers, it's fun to play and affordable at the same time.

Pros

• Well known and brilliant brand name backing it up.
• Affordable, so you can play despite a tight budget.
• Mesh heads!

Cons

• Doesn’t produce the absolute best sounds.
• There are no loading custom sounds or samples included.

Drummers seeking electronic kits today have so many choices, and now they are getting more and more affordable. In the past you would not have so many options, and the ones you did have would probably have been rather expensive, but things have changed. With more production and more demand things are getting cheaper.

Now if you seek an affordable electronic drum kit as a beginner the market is sky-high with low-end options, mostly from Alesis. There are many options for you; Nitro, Surge, Burst, Forge, DM10, Crimson, Command, and so on. We cannot deny, they do all look rather similar too.

Today we will help you figure that out. We will be breaking down this specific Nitro Mesh kit and give you all the pros, the cons, and the features of it, as well as what to expect from the kit should you buy it.

When you first look at this kit, you will find it to be an impressive set up. You get the module, four tunable drum pads, a smaller kick pad, 3 cymbal pads, a hi-hat controller pedal, and finally a kick pedal. Do remember though that this is one of the cheaper options you have for an electronic kit. It won’t have all the advanced features that you will find at a top-notch kit would have.

On the flip side however, there is the benefit that you will not have to pay thousands and thousands of dollars to get your kit. There are not that many differences between this kit and the Surge Mesh. The surge includes a big kick pad, a bigger snare drum, as well as dual-zone tom pads. Although this is probably not a big deal for a beginner who is just using this kit for practicing purposes.

A thought about design

Let’s consider the design of this kit. The all black design looks sleek and beautiful, however, the build quality is not exactly terrible either. Though you would expect the kit to be made up with poor materials, however Alesis has done a great job by making this kit and its good quality affordable. Who could turn this down?

It is worth noting that the Nitro Mesh is an upgrade from the original Nitro kit and their older kit features rubber pads exclusively. They do seem to be slowly and progressively phasing the older model out, it does not seem to be on sale anymore. So this is the main one on sale now it seems.

Pros

• It has mesh heads.
• It is affordable.
• It is the perfect choice for a beginner.
• It has a decent drum module.

Cons

• The pads are fairly small in size. 
• The kick pad is also small in size.
• The sounds are not the best they could be.

The features that matter 

The Nitro Mesh shares a very common design and style to the other drum kits that you will find in Alesis’ catalog of kits.

So let’s take a look at the best features that this model specifically has. 

A dual-zone snare

The snare drum that is included in this set up is a dual-zone pad. It allows you to get a different and unique sound from both the mesh pad and its outer rim.

Sadly the tom drums that you get are only single zoned. What a shame. 

Three cymbals 

Included with the kit are also three cymbal pads, a ride cymbal, a hi-hat, and a crash that is also chokable. All three of these cymbals are 10” in diameter. 

8 playable surfaces 

The Nitro kit has a standard five-piece set up that is completed with four drums, a kick pad as well as three cymbals.

It has tuneable mesh drum heads!

One of the best upgrades for this kit in comparison to the original version is that it has mesh drum heads. The original Nitro had regular rubber pads, which is less ideal and less sought after in the current market. It is probably better that the regular rubber pad sees a quick death, as it simply does not compare. 

The Nitro Mesh ships with, as the name would imply, mesh drum pads! You may have seen, or felt this style before. This is a style that is typically kept for the more high-end kits from brands such as Roland, and so on. 

What exactly are mesh heads?

To simply put it the mesh drum heads are a type of playing surface that are both electronic and acoustic.

They are made from strands of nylon that are woven together at a 90-degree angle. This means that they are designed to not only be extremely quiet but also way more durable than you would expect. 

The bouncier, the better 

The mesh drum heads on this and other kits is superior to the old rubber pads in the way that they feel much better to play on, we think so anyway. However, they do tend to place a false sense of realism on your playing. They act much like a trampoline does. 

However, all this does mean that if you switch back to acoustic playing you may have a hard time playing on it. 

Pad noise 

First of all, despite what we have said about electronic pads being typically quiet, the truth of it all is that they may still be loud. Electronic drums can be significantly quieter than real drums, however, they can pose a problem still. People may still be able to hear you playing. 

That being said, rubber heads will still be much louder than mesh pads are. That does not mean that mesh heads are the overall winner of the quiet playing surface competition.

In fact there is a kit that is made with a textured cellular silicone that is even quieter than a mesh drum head. So, if you need to be exceptionally quiet then maybe that is a better option for you. 

Thinking about sound 

The Alesis Nitro Mesh is considered to be an entry-level kit, so the sound that you will get from it won't be the best.

They are not the best but as an entry-level kit that is meant to serve as a need for many beginner drummers, or those needing a reliable and fairly quiet kid to practice with, it does the job. For many that is enough. 

How big is it?

If you are tall then the height of the kit might be a bit problematic. Specifically we are talking about those of you who may be over 5ft10inches. Although, how high you sit on your throne can also have an impact here. 

If you are having an issue with drum heights then you should be able to find a DIY solution to raise the entire rack from the floor. This can be a good way to fix issues with sitting too high or too low. 

The pads are also rather close together due to the kit being so small, you may have to get used to playing with a more compact set up if you use this. When you return to an acoustic kit, the set-up will probably drastically vary from this.

How do I set it up?

You will get an instruction manual provided with the kit, and it is not the most intuitive bit of paperwork you’ll ever read, so expect to spend some time setting up the kit.

You may be able to get it up and running within half an hour to an hour if you are used to setting up this type of equipment, if not it may be a bit longer. 

The Alesis Nitro Vs the Turbo 

There is another option, the Turbo Mesh. It is similar, but it doesn’t have as many features. It doesn’t have a kick tower and a more limited module for example.

We suggest shopping through Amazon for these, just because of the stellar customer service, and you will often get better deals and bundles. 

To Sum Up

The Alesis Nitro Mesh Drum Kit Review Stats.