Beginner Drum Sets Comparison

It’s not that easy to choose the first drum set. Often times young drummers are not even sure if they want to keep on playing after the first years of drum lessons. So it is important to get a good value with the drum set you buy. Also, the better the quality, the more money you will get back if you decide to quit drumming and sell your kit later on. For unexperienced drummers it‘s great if the kit includes an instruction manual, a drum key or even a pair of sticks. That makes it easier for them to assemble the set and tune their drums.

To get an idea about what you should or shouldn‘t buy, we tested 7 beginner drum sets in the price range of 329 € to 779 €. In order to give you an objective and neutral sound representation, we used a Beyerdynamic M99 in front of the bass drum and two Beyerdynamic MC840s as overhead microphones, without any sound processing.

We were happy to find out that even in the lower price range there are well-equipped drum sets with good value. Take into account that especially cheaper kits are likely to consist of cheaper materials which limits the sound possibilities of both the drums and the cymbals. In addition, some companies try to make their kits look amazing for their price, but at the expense of quality. However, good drum heads make a big difference, especially when the drums themselves don’t have the highest quality. Keep that in mind when checking out the sound comparisons. Tricks like putting a pillow inside the bass drum for muffling improve the sound and playability a lot.

Check out our video for all the details. After all it’s always the best to go to a local music store and test the drum set you are interested in before buying it.

We hope this comparison will help you make your choice.