Alesis Nitro Max Kit

Pros:
- You can use it as a midi controller
- Pads feel pretty sturdy
- Pedal is solid
- Rack is good

Cons:
- The sounds are pretty bad but they are usable
- The bass drum pad makes a rattling noise every time you hit it (no matter how much you tighten the screws/jack inputs)

Overall, a pretty good e-kit for beginner and intermediate players.

My first musical instrument. As I just turned 40, I thought it was about time to finally scratch an itch lasting decades. I have always gravitated towards music which is drum forward and never really had the time or resources to get a kit and learn. So here I am with a great looking and sounding kit. Right now, i'm not so much learning, rather acclimatising. Playing round with the setup and learning the module and positioning of everything. I have a lot to learn to get the most out of the module as there are a lot of settings! so far, I have been a bit confused about some of the kits as there seems to be no kick drum sound but i'm sure I will figure it out.
Main issues at the moment are with the Kick drum rebound. There is always a small rebound after the main kick. Whether this is equipment or skill issue, I have no idea but tying to find a way around it either with the hammer position or module setting. Second one is with a small tick sound hitting the snare. Again, not sure if this is a mesh tension issue or something else, I need to find out. otherwise, it sounds great! I have plenty more to explore and I will start the free trials once the small issues are sorted and i'm comfortable to start the actual learning. At the moment, very happy.

Edit: Found the issue with the lack of sounds on the kick drum (and all other sounds in general after hearing what it should actually sound like) Connection of the headphones to the module is not 100% perfect. if the headphones are pushed in all the way, not all sound is available. if it's pulled out half a millimetre, sound is fine.

Having played this kit for almost a month now, and I am more-less satisfied, but it has some issues that are frustrating.

I have been playing drums for 4-5 years and I play heavy and death metal.
First and foremost - the kit is pretty small. While this is good for people that live in tighter apartments with limited space for an entire drumkit (like me), it affects my playstyle quite a bit. The most notable problem is the snare being way too low compared to the rest, and because of that I sometimes have issues with faster transitions between toms and snare. For this I reccomend you get yourself a snare stand. If you are taller than 175cm, a drum throne is a MUST - do NOT buy this kit before you get an adequate throne, ordinary chairs will not be enough.

The BIGGEST problem I have with this kit is the bass drum pad. I use a mapex double bass pedal, and the Alesis pad is way too small and it almost barely fits. If you're playing over 170bpm alternating singles, be prepared for half of it to not even get registered - even with sensitivity on max and threshold on 0, unless I hit them like a mad man, which isn't ideal. Anything over that and one of the kicks wont be registered at all. I suspect this is because the bass pad has its sensitivity mostly on the middle - so for single pedal players this wont be a problem. The rubber part makes this kit so much louder - especially if you are playing more extreme music like I do. The only solution to this problem is to get a larger bass pad and preferably mesh to avoid loudness - the Millenium MPS850 8 inch drum pad is a much better alternative to the 5 inch Alesis you get with this kit. Again, this is if you play more extreme music and are a more experienced drummer.

The construction of the kit is quite flimsy, but it hasn't had any noticable impact on my playing whatsoever. A very good aspect of this kit is that it can be folded once you are done, and it doesn't take up much space.

The stock sounds of the kit are honestly really bad, I didn't use them once and it's something Alesis should really work on. However, the free BFD player you get with the drums that you can connect to your computer has really good sounds and the dynamic range is close to the real thing, I connected them to EZDrummer and am really satisfied with the whole thing.

The kit is mostly quiet except the bass drum being the loudest one, so I reccomend placing the kit on some sort of muffling platform and a carpet to hold everything down.


TLDR: Great for beginners and single kick players - not so ideal for intermediate - experienced drummers with double pedals.
DEFINITELY get a drum throne if you don't have one already.
Wouldn't hurt to also get a snare stand if you have the money.
For double bass players playing extreme metal - definitely get a bigger kick pad - preferably mesh if you have more experience with acoustic drums.

More less satisfied with the drums, but need alot of modifying before ideal result.