The Alesis Nitro Mesh is an Eight-Piece Electronic drum kit centered around next-generation Alesis Mesh head technology.
Electronic drums offers the best way for drummers to practice and perform the craft without the huge amounts of volume it normally generates. Anyone wanting to play, now has the option to plug in a set of headphones and get the full stereo experience and sound of the drums without disturbing the world around you. Everything is as it is when playing an acoustic kit, and with the advancement of the Mesh Head and sensor technology playing mesh feels like playing a drum head and reacts the same way.
The Nitro Mesh kit features an 8″ dual-zone mesh snare drum with three 8″mesh toms. Its comes with three 10″cymbals and a custom-designed Alesis hi-hat and kick pedal so you can play Closed, Open and Momentory hi hat sounds. The pieces are all assembled on 4-post notched aluminum rack. The set also comes with a set of drum sticks, power supply, drum key and Velcro ties so you can neatly build the kit from the flat box its shipped in. The only thing you would need to add is a drum throne, drumming mat and decent set of headphones or monitors to plug into.
The Nitro Drum module is a solid drum controller unit with all the connections you really need. The first thing you notice are the extra inputs. The Nitro Module can accommodate an additional Tom or Cymbal input so you can add those pieces to the kit. A 3.5mm mini-headphone jack out is recessed on the left side of module so you can get audio out and the same size 3.5mm connection is on the back panel for the Aux in enabling you to plug audio into the module to monitor and play along with. The stereo audio out is via a pair of 1/4″ Jacks for Left and Right out with the option for Mono out via the left out as well. Next to these are the 5-pin MIDI in and out USB-MIDI ports to connect the kit to digital systems. The power cable plugs into a space on the right side of the module and has a recessed power switch in the same nook. There is almost no way you can accidently hit this switch.
The Nitro Module itself has 40 different kits and 60 built-in play-along tracks. The white backlit screen is simple and easy to read even in the dark, and the button interface is laid out in a pretty easy to follow way. All -in-all the module has 385 superior drum, cymbal and percussion sounds built-in. The best thing for me has to be changing the drum set! Another advantage with the electronic kits is that you don’t have to play the same sounding acoustic set for years until you upgrade to a new kit. You can just switch between 40 kits on the module or build your own one using the 385 sounds built in. If you have a home studio then even better, the Nitro Mesh can plug straight into your DAW like Logic and Ableton and use the built-in drumkits or you can jump straight to specialist drum programs like ToonTrack’s excellent Superior Drummer 2 and XLN Audio’s terrific Addictive Drums and get those sampled custom maple kits or retro Gretsch kits at a whim.
The MIDI capabilities of a digital kit are also incredible. It’s just plug and play with the USB connection to get into your DAW and you can now record your drumming in MIDI. It’s a fantastic creative tool to have in a studio and translates the nuances of a drummers performances including velocities on any recording with the option to edit, change and shift later. You can literally play any kit in the world at the change of a button or make yourself the human metronome!
The kit plays extremely well and is a lot of fun. The set up was fully adjustable so it can dropped down for younger drummers or raised up to cater for taller players. The instructions were quite clear and it’ll take about an hour to have the kit ready to play when you build it up from the flat box. The Snare, Tom and Cymbals can all be adjusted for all playing styles. The Nitro Mesh frame is lightweight and Alesis have cleverly notched the aluminium poles they used so the force and torsion of playing the kit doesn’t move pads around or distort the shape of the frame. The frame is also light and compact enough you could fold it up and load it into the back of hatchback if you wanted to move it around. The module is fantastic and with the variety of kits, the option to add a further deep floor tom or another Crash cymbal pad to setup, and the fact you have 1/4″ Jack balanced outputs are really solid plus points.
The Nitro Mesh isn’t a pro kit offering like the Crimson Mesh SE also from Alesis but the sound that comes out is incredibe, and most people would not even be able to tell its an electronic kit by hearing it alone. When you plug it into a computer and use the software drums its even harder to tell them apart. I also cannot stress how much easier a digital kit is to use in a live environment. Often drummers have to be put behind screens and have their kick drums loaded up with pillows so the sound is not overpowering for the venue. The joy of a digital kit to the ability to turn it down and adjust it to the band rather than having to crank up the instruments and vocals to match the volume of a live acoustic kit. For home users even playing really hard on the Mesh Heads won’t make a racquet and the Cymbals are all rubberised so you can play for as long and loud as you want.
The Mesh Heads feel impressive for a kit of this level. They are light, springy, and responsive to being played with the correct techniques. If anything you have a little more spring back on the sticks. The Cymbals are solid and well built. The Kick Pedal is a proper metal chain style pedal with a felt beater that attaches to the rubberised 6″Kick pad. The hi hat pedal is metal and plastic with a mini-jack connection out to the Cable Loom which connects the kit together. All the other pads connect to the Cable loom via 1/4″ Jacks. The cable loom is one complete group of cables attaching to the module via the serial port. All the plugs are clearly labeled so you know which pad to plug them into first time round. The kit also comes with a set of Velcro ties so you can keep the cabling neat.
The Nitro Mesh Drum Kit is one of the best selling electronic drum kits in the world right now. It is the result of years of refinement and development from the Alesis team that has resulted in a stunning product that is in huge demand worldwide and, after spending some time with Nitro Mesh kit it’s easy to understand why. It’s a splendid drum kit and perfect for someone of any age to learn on or if space is limited. You could also take a step up to the Surge Mesh if you are looking for a 10″ Mesh Snare and 8″Mesh Kick Pad but you could also just add or change pieces on the Nitro mesh if you wanted to. I’ve had the opportunity to play on the previous rubber pad Nitro and I can truly say the Nitro Mesh Heads are a massive step up. It’s frankly incredulous that Alesis can provide a mesh head of this quality on a entry-level drum kit.
My only real gripe with the Nitro Mesh is that the Snare drum is little deep into the rim so if you aren’t sitting correctly over the snare drum you can strike the rimshot instead of the snare. If anything its going to teach you to be more accurate with your sticks and that’s not a bad thing either.
Overall this is an amazing electronic drumkit that is excellent value for money and is the perfect way to kick off your drumming journey, or to continue the trip and sharpen those skills without your neighbour/partner/parents disturbing your sessions. Enjoy the headphone experience or plug into an amp and speaker and play it out to the world.