Home » Drum Set and Percussion Reviews » Helpful Guides » The Best Drum Set Under $500 (3 Sets You’ll Love)

The Best Drum Set Under $500 (3 Sets You’ll Love)

Who’s making the best drum set under 500 bucks?, and what are you getting? Find out what your best choices for value are in our review of the top most popular kits.

Best Drum Set Under $500

Which Drum Sets Under $500 Offer The Best Value?

Great affordable kits at a glance:

Product Feature Image Editor’s Rating Relative Price
#1 Best Drum Set Under $500

Pearl Midtown 4 Piece Drum Shell Pack

Pearl Midtown, 4 Piece Shell Pack Drum Set 4.4 out of 5 stars

(4.4)

$$$
#2 Best Budget Kit

Alesis Nitro Mesh Electronic Drum Kit

Alesis Drums Nitro Mesh Kit 4.5 out of 5 stars

(4.5)

$$
#3 Best Electronic Set

Roland V Electronic Drum Set (TD-1K)

Roland TD-1K Entry-level Electronic V-Drum Set 4.5 out of 5 stars

(4.5)

$$$

blank

We certainly hope you benefit from the information we provide in this article! Just so you know, we may receive compensation if you use the links on this page. If you do, thank you so much!

Considering the various choices and configurations available, the best drum set under $500 is ultimately a matter of personal preference and of course, fits within your budget.

With manufacturers’ prices constantly increasing, the need to grab a good deal when it’s available is ever more important. Let’s have a look at the most timely choices you can make for a budget under $500.

NP bar stars

Top 3 Drum Sets Under 500 Dollars Reviewed

blank

med divider 1 500 grey

blank

1. Best Drum Set Under $500: Pearl Midtown Four-Piece Drum Shell Pack

blank

Pearl Midtown, 4 Piece Shell Pack Drum Set

blank

4.4 out of 5 stars

blank

Pearl is a 71-year-old company based in Japan that takes pride in manufacturing percussions. They are one of the most known brands of percussions worldwide and has a wide range of selection from beginner to professional instruments.

blank

blank

The Pearl Midtown 4-piece kit is made with great craftsmanship with a sparkling black finish. It comes with a 16×14 bass drum, a 10×6 tom, a 13×5.5 snare, and a 13×13 floor tom.

Pearl included the mounting hardware for the tom and the three legs for the floor tom.

blank

Pearl Midtown, 4 Piece Shell Pack Drum Set

20px spacer

Pearl Midtown 4 Piece Drum Shell Pack Key Points

blank

What We Like

      • This kit comes from a globally-known manufacturer of percussions.
      • It packs a huge sound for a relatively small kit.
      • It comes with a lifetime warranty.

blank

What We Don’t Like

      • It doesn’t come with cymbals and hi-hats.
      • You don’t get a cymbal stand, and hi-hat stands too.
      • It does not include a kick pedal.

blank

blank

Pearl Midtown, 4 Piece Shell Pack Drum Set

blank

Check Today’s Price >>

blank

Manufacturer Info:

Website: http://pearldrum.com/

blank

med divider 1 500 grey

blank

2. Best Budget Set: Alesis Nitro Eight Piece All-Mesh Electronic Drum Kit

blank

Alesis Drums Nitro Mesh Kit

blank

4.4 out of 5 stars

Over 9,000 Reviews

blank

Alesis is an electronic musical instrument manufacturer established in 1984. They’re known for their superior digital audio interfaces, mixers, recording devices, drum machines, and other professional audio equipment.

A few years ago, they introduced their electronic drumkits and have found success in making them. Their electronic drumkits are now reaching a global success.

blank

blank

Alesis’ Nitro Mesh Kit comes with an 8-inch dual zoned snare that gives you excellent dynamic control over what sound to play. It has three single-zoned toms and three 10-inch cymbals.

Every kit has a kick-pad tower with pedal and hi-hat pedal. It has an audio processor called In-Demand Sound | Nitro Drum Module that features 40 kits and 350 different sounds.

blank

Alesis Drums Nitro Mesh Kit

20px spacer

Alesis Nitro Mesh Electronic Drum Kit Key Points

blank

What We Like

      • You won’t bother anyone while practicing at night.
      • It comes with cymbals, kick pads and pedals, mounts, snare, and toms.
      • It comes with a processor that is packed with lots of tricks.

blank

What We Don’t Like

      • It does not come with a drum throne.
      • It is not the best drum set you could use on a live performance.

blank

blank

Alesis Drums Nitro Mesh Kit

blank

Check Latest Price >>

blank

Manufacturer Info:

Website: https://www.alesis.com/

blank

med divider 1 500 grey

blank

3. Best Electric Kit: Roland Entry-level TD-1K Electronic Drum Set

blank

Roland TD-1K Entry-level Electronic V-Drum Set

blank

4.5 out of 5 stars

blank

With almost 50 years in existence, Roland has become one of the best brands of audio equipment you can find. This Japanese brand is known for manufacturing high-quality keyboards, piano, synthesizers, guitars, basses, and percussions.

Their love for electronic musical instruments drove them creating top-quality electronic equipment comparable with conventional instruments.

blank

blank

The Roland TD-1K comes with three cymbals, three toms, one snare, and two pedals; one for the kick drum and one for the hi-hat. This kit contains all the mounting hardware you need to make it work and three pairs of drumsticks.

Lastly, it comes with their prized audio processor that projects a huge selection of sound.

blank

Roland TD-1K Entry-level Electronic V-Drum Set

20px spacer

Roland Entry-level TD-1K V-Drum Set Key Points

blank

What We Like

      • The audio interface module can be connected to a computer for software updates.
      • It has a built-in metronome.
      • The position of the pads is adjustable.

blank

What We Don’t Like

      • The kick pedal does not come with a kick pad tower that gives better feel and feedback
      • It doesn’t come with a drum throne.
      • The module has limited sound bank compared with other models.

blank

blank

Roland TD-1K Entry-level Electronic V-Drum Set

blank

Check Today’s Price >>

blank

Manufacturer Info:

Website: https://www.roland.com/global/

blank

med divider 1 500 grey

blank

Electric Vs. Acoustic Drum Sets: Benefits and Drawbacks

Now that we’ve had a look at the top three selections, let’s make sure you have the right criteria. There are a lot of drum sets to choose from, and as we’ve seen, electronic drum sets are making big gains in to the market. Let’s see how one fares with the other.

blank

Conventional Acoustic Drum Set

The conventional drum set is composed of breakables, shells, hardware, and a few extensions. They consume a huge space on the stage and requires time to get it running.

It takes quite some time to set up a conventional acoustic drum kit and would require tuning and proper positioning. Additionally, it will need a few pieces of microphones to cover all the sound a drum set projects.

Although it may seem to be troublesome to set up, this type of drum has the best dynamic feedback concerning the amount of force you hit with. The harder you hit, the louder the sound.

And of course, the gentle strokes would give a softer sound.

This gives you, the player, the ability to decide how loud you would be heard. This gives a dramatic mood to the music, and you can easily play softer towards the end of the song or gradually play louder while building up for the chorus.

blank

Electric Drum Sets

Recently, electric drum sets are becoming quite popular today. They are way more compact than a conventional drum and requires half the space. Set up and pack up are easy and this facilitates convenient transport of your kit.

It is equipped with an updatable interface that only requires an Internet connection. The best part? You won’t be bothering your neighbors when you practice!

This means you can play with it anytime of the day without worrying about waking up people around you. How cool is that?

However, compared with the conventional acoustic drum kit, this type has limited dynamic capabilities.

Although it’s fitted with accelerometers to gauge the amount of force you exert with each hit, still, nothing like hitting the beat of the conventional drum.

blank

NP divider bar stars grey

blank

Summary and Recommendations

After reviewing the three choices in great detail, finding the best drum set under $500 that suits your taste should be a bit easier.

A conventional acoustic drum has the best dynamic feedback mechanism which is of great value when it comes to live performances—nothing beats the value of a traditional drum set.

With a few upgrades, our favorite pick, Pearl’s Midtown 4 Piece Drum Shell Pack is unbeatable.

However, if you want to practice quietly anytime of the day, one of the mentioned electronic drum kits will make sure that everyone enjoys peace while you’re at it.

blank

Editor’s Pick!

Pearl Midtown, 4 Piece Shell Pack Drum Set

blank

What are Pearl Midtown Players Saying? >>

blank

Editor’s Rating:

4.4

4.4 out of 5 stars

blank

Avatar photo
Follow Jay Burney:
Chief editor Jay and his writing team have helped thousands of musicians make real progress towards their musical goals with informative articles and playing tips.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *