Alesis Nitro MAX vs Nitro Mesh, what’s the difference? Worth the upgrade? Watch before you buy!

[@BangerSoundtracks]

You are a life saver! I need a kit for practice and almost went for the Turbo Mesh. I cancelled my order just in time after you pointed out that the bass wasn't a pad in your other video. Now with this video you've sold me on forking out a bit of extra cash for the Max. Thank you for your help!

[@chrisscott5561]

As an experienced drummer I disagree these kits are mainly for beginners. I choose to play electronic kits purely for space. I’ve had it about a week and can’t say enough with how impressed i am with the customization and how good the adjustability of the kit is. For the price its well worth it, and I definitely recommend the upgrade which takes alittle maneuvering but is fairly easy to do.

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

Hi, thanks for the comment, I agree that they are very impressive kits for their price point, however they are lacking a few features that an advanced drummer might need like better sounds and more zones on the pads. Despite being designed, priced and marketed towards beginners there's plenty there for experienced drummers too, I'm fortunate that I could have any electric kit for myself but I have chosen to have a Nitro MAX in my practice room. They're excellent. Happy drumming!

[@alonsobojorquez3423]

which drum kit do you recommend me?

[@VDJ4500]

Sounds are useless for anything serious but practice imo. Good it has midi!

[@Justincase73]

Phenomenal comparison. Very well spoken, easy to understand. Thanks for the vid!

[@cuda426hemi]

Are you saying you can buy just an E drum kick pedal and pad separately as alternative for a clunky dbl kick pedal rig? 🤔

[@aghamom]

love the videos, and thank you for the timestamps, subscribed!!

[@clashpanda120]

You don’t cover in this video the physical sound of the mesh heads and the noise the kits make when hit with the drumstick? My question is are they both similar or is the max much louder? Thanks for the video!

[@sourcecodeman]

Thanks man, great review and I just know you’re a good teacher, I’m looking to buy used so this review totally helped me to decide, can’t wait to seal the deal and get started. You got a like and a subscribe 🎉

[@adrenalize25]

I have been looking at learning drums, and reviews like this are really helping me to make up my mind. It looks like the price of the kit is dropping, I have found it, with no accesories for £339 on Thomann or £425 with throne, sticks and headphones. My only question is as someone on the taller side(6 ft 4) do you think it might be difficult to get a comfortable playing position here?

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

Hi, thanks for the comment, glad to hear the video has helped you and good find on Thomann. As I mentioned in the video I'm 6 ft 2 and have to set things up on the top end of the frame, however everyone's proportions are different so you may be okay and there are still a couple more things you could do to raise the kit up. I still have about an inch of headroom on the frame, plus you can set the pads themselves up further on the mounts. My advice would be to go to a shop that has one as a display model and try it out. I hope this helps!

[@adrenalize25]

@@RhythmRoomMusicSchool Thanks for Advice, Got a couple of shops local that might have it it set up so going to go and have a look at the weekend.

[@TolisKarapPlanB]

Wow, everything I needed to know especially if they can fit in my car easily. Thanks! Immaaaa buy the Nitro Max it seems! Subbed!

[@Fezzent]

The music is sometimes louder than your voice making it harder to hear you

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

Thanks for the feedback, I'll keep that in mind for future videos.

[@ProgSnob14]

I'm a big fan of Alesis recently. Definitely best value for the price!

[@LeandroLemos]

Hi, I just started with drums but as something expensive, in the long term is better to invest some amount just at the begging instead of later a new drumset. Between the Alesis Nitro Max, Surge Special ED & the Command, which one would you recommend? One thing worth to mention is that in the future I would love to learn how to use a double bass drum pedal, so it would be rather nice if the drum kit support such a thing instead of getting a new edrum in the future. Thanks a lot in advance!

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

Hi, thanks for comment, in my opinion the nitro MAX has made the surge a little redundant, it will support double bass drum pedals however the MAX is a better choice out of the two due to improved sounds and Bluetooth functionality, out of the box if budget allows the Command is a great kit that will support double bass pedals. That being said, for less money you could probably buy the MAX and get a second bass drum tower for about £65/£85 and plug it into one of the expansion ports.

[@acerbt]

you'd think the entire sound library would be completely changed, but it's not. the first 5 kits are completely new, but kits 6 through 8 use a combination of new sounds and sounds that have been there since before this came out. Kit 9 and up are pretty much copied right from the previous generations of the module, which have been available on Alesis kits in some form for about 10 years now. If you compair the sound of the first kit from the Nitro Mesh with the 9th kit on the max, and you play the same thing, there's no difference because the presets mostly line up when you off set the numbers by 9 between the 2 units. Sure the new one is missing some of the presets the old one had, but it has most of them still, just farther down the sound list.

[@davidkean5680]

Good work Kev

[@djchino774]

I bought the nitro max and love being able to do so much with it. My only complain is about the hardware itself. The snare set up sucks. It falls down and you end up hitting your knee. I'm going to buy a snare stand. The other thing is the pedals. Even with a rug, they keep moving

[@pigsfromagun4050]

I used to have a Roland td8 years ago was great fun lo yiu think the nitro max would be the same thing ? Thinking of getting the expansion pack for more variety on the max thanks 👍

[@BOBNAR96]

I was wondering why they even sent a beater with a felt side, knowing that you’re not supposed to use it on the mesh heads…

[@brubbb]

Does the nitro max have a relatively low latency for recording midi straight to a daw?

[@thebeginningofsorrows7500]

Not even a contest I had a mesh and I have a max and it's chalk and cheese.

[@scottyg5403]

You answered the question I have at the end of the video and that is I own the alesis nitro mesh And I'm actually using a Simmons 10" snare pad. I've added an extra tom and crash cymbal. So the question I do have is what VST would you recommend for the Nitro Mesh? Excellent video! Thanks

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

Thanks for the comment, doesn't get much better than Superior Drummer.

[@pigsfromagun4050]

Also cant afford the strata kit thats a pipe dream so which one of the alesis would you recommend im a drummer of 35yrs would you recommend the command? Cheer's.

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

Hi, thanks for the comment, please check out my other videos, there are reviews and comparisons of the whole Alesis line apart from the new Strata kit.

[@matt79hz]

No Bluetooth to JBL partybox for example ?

[@ajitiist]

Does this kit offers option for double base pedal?

[@russcherry840]

Would you know how to change the sounds on the pads ex I want to change cymbal sound to a bass drum thanks!

I AGREE WHOLEHEARTEY .IM CHOOSING NITROMAX UNTIL I CAN GET A SIM.ONS KIT [POSTAGE SHIPPING COSTS MAKES PURCHASING ONE FROM AUSTRALIA IN AUD 5-600+450 SHIP.- ALLTOLL 1400 FOR A TITAN 50 !?] OR A NU X" SOMETHING" 8 ! VERY IMPRESSIVE SUPER RACKED STABILITY SIZE AND NU FLOWING TECH FROM NIPPON .GREAT PROMO OVERVIEW DEMOS AS WELL NUX(NEW EX)

[@snoopicchino]

is it possible to connect a nitro max expansion to a nitro mesh?

[@hectorvalderrama9150]

Can i attach a double kick pedal to this?

[@lawts78]

I bought my son the nitro mesh kit last year and he’s now wanting the expansion pack, which has now been discontinued!!! So my only option is to upgrade to the max to have the extra cymbal and tom he wants. Bit annoyed they discontinued the expansion pack for the mesh. In this scenario do you think it’s worth upgrading? Thanks for the vid!

[@almadajr9100]

As far as I know you should be able to use the nitro max expansion with the nitro mesh with no issues if I’m wrong I encourage someone to let me know lol

[@thatdonkey7215]

Are the racks literally the exact same? They look the same but I can’t tell if there’s like small differences in dimensions or something

[@djchino774]

The one for the snare is a little bit smaller. I made the mistake of thinking I didn't need the instructions and for a minute thought they sent an extra small rack 😂

[@jean-philippedionne6686]

Is there a way to avoid the wobbly rack off the Max kit?

[@GloomRng]

I see many buying an inexpensive dedicated snare stand, which takes a good deal of wobble away .

[@jchope777]

Hi, new subscriber here! What would you recommend? Nitro Max or Surge?

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

Thanks for the comment and thanks for the sub! That's going to be my next video, all shall be revealed... Short answer though, MAX.

[@ronabernblum9216]

Hi, thanks for the great review. I'm considering buying this kit for my daughter that has just started learning the drums. Which would you recommend between the nitro max and the roland td07dmk? Thanks

[@zuviszuvenis]

I know it's late, but trust me the td07 kit is leagues better than the max kit. Better build, sound quality and less prone to breaking.

[@O_Luisinho]

Hello, good video, good explanation. You said if I want a bass pedal I'd better buy another tower. Does the nitro mesh pedal fit the nitro max (or maybe any other model will fit the max)? Do you know where I can buy any of them?

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

Hi, thanks for the comment, the bass drum tower and pedal on the Nitro Mesh is the same as the Nitro MAX, you may be able to buy one on eBay, failing that, a shop that stocks Alesis drums may be able to order a new one in for you. Good luck!

[@jimg6743]

Do you think that samsung ear buds would work with the bluetooth for this kit?

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

The bluetooth is for connecting a device to play music through the module, it does not support bluetooth speakers, headphones or earbuds for sound output.

[@bravehartley]

Great review thank you. I am in the market for a kit me and my daughter can use. Both never played before. Is this a better buy than the Surge Mesh?

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

Hi, thanks for the comment, I would say so yes, the bluetooth feature on the Nitro MAX alone makes it far more convenient to use than the Surge, the sounds are better too. The Surge has bigger pads however I don't feel like that is as important when compared to the advantages the MAX has. I've got a video on this coming soon.

[@IansDrumsandBass]

The Max has a dual zone module, just not dual zone pads. I suspected this when I saw the cables had stereo jacks on them. I tried a Roland pad, and its dual zone - 2 diff sounds. Sneaky Alesis probably going to re release this kit in 2024 as the Max 2 with dua zone pads. 😊

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

The snare drum pad is dual zone, the toms are single zone. I would suspect they plan to do the same as the previous line-up where they used the same module on both the Nitro and Surge kits where the Surge had dual zone pads all round. I expect to see a Surge MAX sometime in the near future.

[@IansDrumsandBass]

@@RhythmRoomMusicSchool Yes, I'm sure they're going to do something like that. In the meantime I can use this module on my Roland TD11KV as well, as the sounds in the Max are better,but the Roland is very big and heavy to cart around - the Max I can pick up with one hand.

[@Nawal.AS88]

Is the nitro max better than the alesis command SE?

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

Hi, thanks for the comment, I’ll have a video coming on this soon. It will depend on what you intend on using it for and your level, beginner intermediate or advanced.

[@paolopereyra6213]

Amazing review, can I use a double pedal on the max?

[@QxTh-ok7nk]

it's mentioned in the video at 10:01

[@Rommeller]

Hello! Please tell me - I'm thinking about buying the Alesis DM10 MKII Pro Kit. Is this a good setup? I've seen so few reviews on it.

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

Hi, thanks for the comment, they look good but I haven't personally played one yet, I'm currently shopping for one so I can do a video on it. Watch this space!

[@AntonioSalomon]

Is the Command module better than the Nitro Máx module? Thanks

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

Hi, thanks for the comment, the sounds are better on the Command, however there's not that much in it and the device holder and bluetooth functionality on the Nitro MAX gives it a real edge.

[@MissInvincible9]

I haven't been able to find an answer to this yet: Can I use Nitro Max expansion kit for my existing Nitro kit? :)

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

Hi, thanks for the comment, while I haven't done this myself in theory it should be fine, the connection points to mount the supporting poles are the same on both kits and both modules on the Nitro MAX and Nitro Mesh have the same extension slots. Good luck!

[@MissInvincible9]

@@RhythmRoomMusicSchool thank you! I will try that :)

[@robbienroll]

Great comparison video. I m studying different kits for my kid and this video definitely helped me. Good job.

[@CStayNZ]

I have done so much research over the last two weeks, because I’m an over thinker. From all research I’ve done the nitro max seems to stand out. I am buying one on Tuesday.

[@jonireson9946]

i'm doing exactly the same!

[@Ayoung2028]

With the Bluetooth option on the max, can you play the drum set through a Bluetooth speaker like a Sonos or Bose?

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

Hi, thanks for the comment, unfortunately you cannot use the Bluetooth on the module to connect to an external speaker. It is for connecting a device to play music through the module.

[@acerbt]

if you could play the drums througha bluetooth sound system, the audio latency would probably be so high that you wouldn't be able to play properly since the sounds would be delayed.

[@BradWhitford-o9n]

Can you split the toms on the Max? I know you can on the Mesh but those look like dual toms and the max has single toms

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

Hi, thanks for the comment, when you say ‘split the toms’, are you talking about having a different sound on the rim? Because you can’t do this on the Nitro Mesh as the pads are single zone, not dual zone pads, both kits are the same in this functionality and so with the MAX Alesis decided to remove the rims on the toms, probably to help remove any confusion.

[@BradWhitford-o9n]

@@RhythmRoomMusicSchool yes. Technically the nitro mesh are single toms but the module is the same as the surge which has dual zone toms. So with a y splitter cable you can actually get a rim sound from the toms and assign different sounds. They stopped that with the new Max module. Awesome vids too man!

[@BradWhitford-o9n]

@@1brentedward thanks! I tried with the Max and it doesnt work. Only the Mesh bc the Mesh used the Surge module which accommodates dual toms. Alesis support confirmed it. They pretty much blocked super expansion in the Max with the new module

[@junfrick79]

Can i use my double bass pedal on the nitro max?

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

Um... It's covered in the video? Watch from 10.00

[@neiladdison4457]

I'm considering upgrading my 8yr old to this kit for his 9th birthday in a couple of months... Might even go straight in eith the expansion pack as he's really enjoying his drumming. He's only got a little Carlesbro kit at the moment. It's given him a great start but he'd love a couple of extra toms and cymbals. He'd really REALLY love an acoustic kit but my feel right now is that I want him to be able to jump on his kit whenever he wants. An acoustic kit will no doubt result in us telling him it's too early or too late to practise and I'd rather it was always accessible. He has an amp with headphones so can smash the pads whenever he wants🙌. Thanks for this vid. Really helpful☺️

[@acerbt]

I'm even considdering getting one of these for myself even though I'm farther along. I have a yamaha that I've upgraded over the years to be effectively 1 generation behind current while still using the same racking system at home, but I think a good budget level mesh kit from alesis would be nice.

[@neiladdison4457]

@@acerbt I plumped for the Max kit for Ted. It's not his birthday until next week so we haven't unboxed it yet. Hoping it's as good as the many reviews I've watched say it is!

[@acerbt]

@@neiladdison4457 I haven't played one yet, but the new preset sounds on this that they added are a welcome change from what they had in there before, though it's not to say the old sounds are not usefull. I played the nitro mesh model once ro twice before though and I liked it.

[@alokbajaj6796]

I bought Nitro max 10 days ago. My crash cymbal connector always gets loose after a while. And the crash just won't work :(

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

Hi, sorry to hear you've had this experience, was it bought new? Have you tried approaching the place you bought it from? Contacting Alesis might help too as the kit is most likely still under warranty. Thanks, Kev.

[@alokbajaj6796]

@@RhythmRoomMusicSchool Yes it's brand new. I contacted the place where I bought it. They're not really helpful lol. I'll try contacting Alesis. Apart from this I wish this kit was sturdy. I'm afraid to tighten those plastic clamps too much, they might break :(

[@alokbajaj6796]

@@RhythmRoomMusicSchool the dealer refused to do anything about the issue I'm facing. It's sad. I purchased a brand new drum kit and it's just been 17 days. Now the crash cymbal connector always gets loose when I play. :(

[@IansDrumsandBass]

​@@alokbajaj6796 That is TERRIBLE service, did you contact Alesis?

[@ahmetaslan9336]

hi valler xd450 or alesis nitro mash ?

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

Hi, thanks for the comment, we can’t get Valler kits in the UK so I haven’t played one but the Nitro Mesh is a great kit.

[@theokingo4808]

Hi Kev, great and holistic review there. Had a doubt though. I recently bought an Alesis Nitro Max. I was wondering if I could add a second bass pedal along with kick tower from an old Alesis Nitro Mesh via the Tom 4 trigger input ?

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

Thanks for the comment, yes you can, the tower is the same and the Tom 4 trigger input you can customise with the sound of a bass drum. I have a student that expanded his Nitro Mesh this way.

[@mikewarriorr]

would it be possible to simply take the bass drum (nitro) and put it on turbo?

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

Hi, thanks for the comment, I have tested this out myself and the module on the Turbo does not support the type of pad that the Nitro kit has so it doesn't work unfortunately. That would have been a very simple resolution!

[@mwtds7257]

​@@RhythmRoomMusicSchool thank you :)

[@mrp6k490]

Heya, might be a bit out of topic, but I dont know where else to ask at this point. I recently got a chance to get an Alesis dm6x session kit for $160 ish, (2,2 mil IDR) though it has a few problems: 1. It's a display unit 2. It doesn't have the right cymbal arm thing 3. Seller claims that the dm6 Module is very quiet on speakers? Do yall think this is worth getting? Would it be hard to find a replacement cymbal arm thing?

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

Hi, thanks for the comment, I'll try and answer your questions as best I can. 1. The fact it was listed as a display unit as interesting, as far as I'm aware the DM6 has long been discontinued so the thought of one sitting around in a shop, unpurchased for that entire time is odd to me. 2. If it's missing something I would shy away from it personally, however I've had a look on eBay and there is someone selling a DM6 cymbal arm so you may be able to find one however I'd make sure you can definitely get hold of one before purchasing the kit. 3. Can't comment on this as it could be as simple as user error or as complicated as a faulty module. A used DM6 electric drum kit with all the parts included would still be a viable purchase today, and you've given me a great idea for a KZbin video, so thanks for that. I hope that helps!

[@Bobby-wn5yr]

Given the nitro and surge have the same controller, it’s kind of weird to upgrade the junior one first and leave the surge kind of orphaned imho lol. This kit looks amazing, but as someone who was looking to buy a surge in Black Friday, I’m now happy I didn’t as I think I can wait for them to make a surge max or whatever they call it!

[@RhythmRoomMusicSchool]

Hi Bobby, thanks for the comment, I think they did the Nitro first because it's their most popular kit and the decision will be money driven. There probably will be a Surge MAX or equivalent and I expect it will be coming soon. Good luck!