Alesis Nitro Max Mesh 8-Piece E-Drum Kit

The verdict

The Nitro Max is the kit to buy when you have decided drumming is actually happening. Mesh heads on the snare and toms, a 10 in dual-zone snare, three 10 in cymbals with a choke on the crash, and a module with 440 BFD-sourced sounds and Bluetooth audio for playing along. It is the right kit for a student past the first six months, a returning drummer wanting a quiet practice rig, and anyone recording MIDI at home.

It is the wrong kit if you want dual-zone toms, ride choke or double-kick support. It is also wrong if you still need a throne and headphones in the box.

How it compares

The three Alesis kits worth weighing against each other. Prices are ours, as at 4 August 2026.

Buy the Turbo Max instead if this is a first kit, or if the budget is genuinely the deciding factor. It costs less and it is the only kit here that arrives with a drum throne and over-ear headphones in the box — with the Nitro Max you will spend part of that saving on both. Its rack is full-height adjustable and both pedals are full-size, so it is a proper first instrument for an adult, not a scaled-down one, and it folds up for storage. What you give up is real: Alesis specifies the Turbo Max as (4) 8 in mesh drumheads and (3) 8 in cymbals, against the Nitro Max's 10 in dual-zone mesh snare, three 8 in mesh toms and three 10 in cymbals — so the snare and all three cymbals are smaller, while the toms are the same 8 in on both kits. You also get 110 sounds instead of 440, half the polyphony, Alesis's own sound set rather than the BFD library, and no spare trigger inputs anywhere on its published connector list. That last one is the deciding question — the Turbo Max is a kit to start properly on, not a kit to add to, so if you already know you will want more pads and more zones within a year, spend the difference now.

Where the Nitro Pro sits. The step up matters if you already play rimshots and cross-sticks, or if double kick is on the horizon. It adds dual-zone toms (the Nitro Max's return one sound wherever you hit them), a choke on the ride as well as the crash, a steel rack with extended height and full-size spacing, and 529 sounds. The steel rack and the deeper snare make it a bigger, heavier rig that wants a permanent spot rather than a corner it gets folded into. If you are still building basic coordination, that extra outlay buys features you will not use yet.

The detail

Mesh heads and what they change

The snare and the three toms on the Nitro Max are mesh heads — woven fabric under tension rather than a rubber pad. Alesis does not state what the kick tower's playing surface is, so neither will we. Alesis positions mesh as quieter and more natural under the stick, and that is the reason this kit exists at this price. Alesis publishes no decibel figure for it and neither will we: quieter is not silent, and the kick beater and the rack still put energy into the floor. If you are upstairs from someone, the pedal is the part to manage, not the pads.

The snare is the pad that matters

The 10 in snare is dual-zone: head and rim trigger separately, so a rimshot or a cross-stick can be a different sound from a centre hit. It is also the largest drum pad on the kit — 10 in against the toms' 8 in.

The three 8 in toms are single-zone. Strike anywhere on a tom and you get the same sound at the same articulation. For most playing that is fine — but if your repertoire has tom rimshots in it, single-zone toms are the limitation to weigh.

Cymbals and choke

Three 10 in cymbals: a crash with choke, a ride, and a hi-hat with a foot controller. Choke means grabbing the edge of the crash stops the sound the way it does on a real cymbal — the ride on this kit does not do that.

The module

The module runs 440 drum, cymbal and percussion sounds from the BFD library across 32 factory kits, with 16 user slots for your own edits. Reverb and a three-band equaliser are on board, and polyphony is 64 voices — not a ceiling you will hit on four drums and three cymbals.

The practice side is the part worth actually using: a metronome, a sequencer, a performance recorder so you can play back what you just did, and 60 play-along tracks. A device holder is built into the module, so your phone or tablet sits where you can see it.

Getting audio in and out

Bluetooth audio is built in — A2DP, version 5.0/4.2, up to 10 m — so a backing track can go straight from your phone into your headphones with no cable. There is a 3.5 mm aux input as well if you would rather run a lead.

The headphone output is 3.5 mm, so ordinary headphones and earbuds plug straight in with no adapter, which is a genuine convenience over kits with 1/4 in jacks. The main output is a pair of 1/4 in jacks, L/MONO and R, so to feed an amp or an interface in stereo you run two ordinary mono (TS) leads, one from each — or a single lead out of L/MONO alone if you only need mono.

Computer, MIDI and expansion

The USB-B port carries MIDI to a computer or tablet, which is how you record the kit into a DAW or drive a software drum instrument — Alesis bundles BFD Player with an expansion pack for exactly that, plus a 90-day Drumeo subscription. What the Nitro Max does not have is 5-pin MIDI DIN, so driving a hardware synth or drum machine means putting a USB MIDI interface in the chain. If that connection matters to you, the Strata Prime has 5-pin In and Out.

The module also has two spare 1/4 in TRS trigger inputs, labelled Tom 4 and Crash 2. Alesis sells a Nitro Max Expansion Kit that adds one tom and one cymbal to fill them; it is not included. Being able to add a fourth tom and a second crash later is a real advantage over the Turbo Max, which has no spare inputs at all.

What you'll also need

The kit arrives with the kick pedal, the hi-hat control pedal, sticks, a drum key, the rack, all the cabling and the power supply. It does not include:

• A drum throne. No seat comes with the Nitro Max, and height at the kit is the difference between comfortable pedal technique and sore hips. → Drum thrones
• Headphones. The 3.5 mm output means most pairs work as-is; closed-back is what you want so you are not fighting the acoustic noise of the pads. → Headphones
• A drum rug or mat. Stops the rack and kick tower creeping forward as you play, and puts a layer between the pedal and the floor.
• An amp, if anyone else has to hear it. Headphones cover practice; a drum amp is what you need for a band room. Our pick is the Alesis Strike Amp 12 MK2, priced on its page — two combo XLR + 1/4 in inputs with independent volume controls, so the module and a second source can share it. That is our recommendation, not Alesis's.
• Two mono jack leads (or one for mono) if you are going into an amp or interface.
• Spare sticks. A pair is included; a second pair is not a luxury. → Drum sticks

Australian availability and delivery

Price: shown live in the buy box above.

Stock: Available to order online. It is not set up on our Footscray showroom floor yet — a display unit is planned in the coming weeks — so please call 03 4151 5751 before making the trip.

Click & Collect: Free from 284–288 Ballarat Rd, Footscray VIC, once your order has arrived.

Delivery: Standard shipping is $7 and free on orders over $150, except where a regional freight charge applies to this item. Only ABS Outer Regional, Remote or Very Remote postcodes can attract that charge. Freight costs of $100 or less per item have no bulky surcharge; above $100, the full freight cost applies, rounded up to the next $10. Check the delivery calculator above. The checkout delivery charge is the amount you pay. Express shipping is not available for this item. See the stock panel above for dispatch timing. Estimated standard delivery is 4–9 business days after dispatch, depending on location. Orders over $30 are tracked and insured.

Scarlett Music is an independent Australian retailer at 284–288 Ballarat Rd, Footscray VIC, trading since 1997, with a physical showroom in Footscray.

Related reading

• Electronic drums
• Alesis Turbo Max
• Alesis Strike Amp 12 MK2