Best Beginner Drum Sets: Top Kits for New Drummers

Alesis Nitro Max: Overview

For drummers living in apartments, look no further than the new Alesis Nitro MAX electronic drum set.

The Nitro MAX has premium mesh heads (playing surfaces that are quiet), a 10″ snare drum pad, Bluetooth capability, USB MIDI connection, and practical practice tools. The red wood grain shell design looks fantastic, as well.

As far as the internal sounds go, they’re not the greatest, but for practicing and learning, the kit is more than capable and quite a fun instrument for beginners. The Bluetooth connection makes jamming to your favorite songs easy, and the kit is used by plenty of content creators making videos for YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. The box easily fits in most sedans, so if you’re picking it up from the music store, worry not.

The 10″ snare drum is dual-zone, allowing you to get a different sound from both the rim and the head itself. The cymbal pads are small, but functional. Beginners will miss out learning the nuances of playing acoustic cymbals, so when learning, I strongly suggest in-person lessons with access to an acoustic drum set.

Donner DDS-520: Overview

For drummers needing an acoustic drum set for quieter practicing, hands down, pick the Donner DDS-520. It’s a full-size drum set with a super unique feature no other kit on this list has: an internal mute system.

Donner’s DDS-520 hybrid acoustic drum set is a perfect choice for new drummers. Not only do the shells sound great, the kit doubles as a practice pad kit, allowing you to play quietly. The cymbals included are low-volume, so you will need to purchase a set of cymbals if you’re looking to play gigs in the future.

The shells sound incredible and the kit can last you many years. It’s a perfect set to practice with and learn the ropes. But, if you have a deeper desire to look further, I highly suggest reading about each starter kit before deciding.

In addition to being a regular drum set, with just a key, you can turn this kit into a practice pad drum set in seconds. And it’s not just the shells that are quiet. This drum set ships with low-volume cymbals that blew me away. See my reaction on YouTube here.

If you’re living in a shared space or with family members who hate the sound of drums, the DDS-520 might be a perfect choice. And for all the situations where you want to crank it up, disengage the practice mutes, and you’re good to go.

I have noticed that after owning the kit for more than a year, the wrap on the bass drum hoop is starting to bubble a little bit and the bearing edges on the some of the drums have a few inconsistencies. It’s something to expect at this price point.

Ludwig Breakbeats: Overview

On the other hand, if you’re looking for a drum set that sounds incredible without breaking the bank, check out the Ludwig Breakbeats by Questlove.

Developed by Ludwig in coordination with legendary Roots drummer Questlove, the Breakbeats kit is a compact, yet full-sounding set of drum shells. At the time of publishing, Sweetwater is selling this drum kit for $599 and, since the kit doesn’t include hardware or cymbals, you will need also purchase those. For cymbals, I recommend picking up the Wuhan Traditional Cymbal Set with Ludwig’s 400 series hardware pack.

If you’re willing to spend a little more money on your kit, you can’t go wrong with the Breakbeats. It’s by far the best sounding drum set at this price point.

If I had to pick one drum kit on this list to take to a desert island and play for the rest of my life, it would be the Ludwig Breakbeats. I’ve been testing and playing this kit and putting it through the wringer for the last month. Watch my review of YouTube.

It truly packs a punch in tone and quality for such a small kit. Developed with legendary drummer Questlove, the Breakbeats are a four-piece hardwood shell pack with a 10″ rack tom, 13″ floor tom, 16″ kick drum, 14″ snare, and carrying bags.

The shells are 7-ply and have hand-sanded 45-degree bearing edges allowing the head to sit nicely on each shell for better tone. The kit is super lightweight and easy to travel with—it’s small enough that you can bring it in your next Taxi or Uber in the city.

“I wanted to build a device that was apartment-friendly and compact for the street musician; but also something that was quality-sounding. A gritty, raw, ‘break-able’ kit for gigging in clubs that you can fit in a cab. Breakbeats by Questlove does it all.”

The hardware is fantastic, as well—excellent quality. The single tom holder features a ball mount, allowing you to adjust your tom placement easier. Compared to the Donner DDS-520, I’d pick the Ludwig nine times out of ten in terms of tone and sonic quality. It’s a fantastic value for the money.

Ludwig Accent: Overview

The Ludwig Accent is an awesome entry-level drum kit for beginners. They makes excellent shells for this price range and you really can’t go wrong if this is your first drum kit. Featuring a configuration of an 8x10 rack tom, 8x12 rack tom, 14x14 floor tom, 16x20 bass drum, and a 5x14 snare drum, this kit is constructed from 5-ply select hardwood.

Hardware and cymbals are also included, as expected. The package includes 13" hi-hats, a 16" crash cymbal, and stands for the hi-hats, snare, and bass drum pedal, as well as a throne and tom mounts.

From my experience, the Accent set performs well in practice settings. The sound is solid, particularly when paired with upgraded cymbals and a better drum pedal. These shells sound amazing for the cost. I honestly believe that I could tune one of these up and take it to the recording studio to do a session with.

The toms are very warm and have nice sustain when in tune. The bass drum is a little boomy, but this can be fixed by both switching out the batter head (to an Aquarian Super Kick II) and adding a pillow to the inside of the bass drum.

If you’re very excited about learning the drums and are on a limited budget, this is definitely the kit to pick. You won’t be spending much more than a cheap Amazon brand, Mendini or Gammon for example, and will get a far more tremendous value from this drum set. This drum kit has the potential to last much, much longer than those junk kits.

Pearl Roadshow Drum Set 5-Piece Complete Kit: Overview

Pearl makes awesome drum shells, hands down. The Roadshow is a perfect balance between a beginner and pro-level — it’s a great starter drum set. Despite my first ever drum set being from the big name brand Pearl, I have not always been the biggest fan of their drums.

While they do make wonderful sounding drum shells, their hardware has always turned me off. The hardware feels very clunky to me, even with recent innovations. With that said, the Roadshow is still a popular choice for beginners and isn’t necessarily a bad choice.

Being one step up from the Ludwig Accent, the Roadshow is going to give you a better sounding kit overall. The shells do sound a bit more professional and bigger sounding, in my opinion. The snare drum gives a nicer crack and the toms are open and massive sounding.

Pearl offers you more than just one shell configuration with the Roadshow. If you want a traditional rock drum setup, they’ve got you covered with bigger toms. The fusion setup has shell sizes similar to that of the Accent drum kit.

For the rock configuration, you get a 22″ kick drum, 14″ snare drum, 12″ rack tom, 14″ and 16″ floor toms, a 16″ crash-ride, 14″ hi-hats, a drum throne, necessary hardware, a kick pedal, drumsticks, and a drum key. Be aware that this drum kit will ship in two separate boxes.

Despite my negativity with Pearl over the years, I still manage to believe that this is one of the best drum sets for a beginning player. You get great sounding drum shells right out of the box and can really use this kit for whatever your needs may be.

Whether you’re learning drums for the first time or are ready to gig out at local clubs with your band, you can’t go wrong with these shells. One thing that is going to be common with all drum sets that come with cymbals is that they are going to be bad sounding, albeit, these are the best sounding cymbals on the list thus far.

If you like Pearl’s brand, one step up from the Roadshow, which actually was my first set of shells, is the Pearl Export Series.

Tama Imperialstar: Overview

The Tama Imperialstar is perfect for beginning drummers moving from a cheaper set of drums — a beginner who has turned serious. Tama Drums is one of the largest manufacturers of drums in the industry. This is the company’s entry-level drum set and, believe me, its quality far from entry-level.

While we are moving into a bit more pricey territory, there’s a good reason for it. The Imperialstar isn’t the starter drum set of most, but it could be if you have a bigger budget. We are just crossing the line into serious, quality, drum sets.

The last two kits on our list have significantly better hardware design, color options, and better sonic performance overall.

Right of the bat, aesthetically, you can’t go wrong. Tama’s Imperialstar is offered in many different finishes and colors; this is something you don’t see on a lot of beginner drum sets. These drums just look professional.

Tama’s Imperialstar kit comes with a 22″ bass drum, 10″ and 12″ toms, a 16″ floor tom, and a 14″ snare drum. In addition to drums, the cymbals that are included are actually from a real, reputable cymbal maker, Meinl.

Included are cymbals from their HCS line: 14″ hi-hats, 16″ crash cymbal, 20″ ride cymbal, and a free 10″ splash cymbal. Now, these cymbals are still very much entry-level, but they do sound much better than any of the prior cymbal options.

I am currently debating myself buying a newer Tama Imperialstar for a touring kit. It sounds so great for such a low cost. This kit is perfect for the beginning drummer or for an experienced pro-level player. I have always been a big fan of Tama drums and love this kit. If you have a little more money to shell out and are very serious about playing drums, this is the kit to pick.

Read our full review of the Tama Imperialstar drum kit.

Gretsch Catalina Club: Overview

While just a shell pack, the Catalina Birch is an incredible first drum set if the budget allows. Gretsch is a world-renowned instrument maker. They make incredible-sounding drums. You may have heard of Gretsch before from your guitar player buddies.

One thing to keep in mind is that this kit is just a shell pack. You will have to purchase cymbals and hardware separately. Shell packs are common at the upper-end of the market when buying drums. If you’re a new drummer, I’d suggest one of these cymbal packs.

The Catalina Birch is an excellent sounding drum kit, and while I do think the Tama Imperialstar does look nicer overall, the Catalina Birch takes the cake for its sound. The kit from Gretsch is available in a variety of different finishes and colors.

The Catalina Birch comes in a bunch of different shell size configurations, but I’ve linked to the one with a 22″ bass drum, 16″ floor tom, 10″ and 12″ toms (five-piece).

Gretsch makes excellent, quality instruments. They have made fantastic guitars and drums for many years. The Catalina Birch kit is no different. This is by far the best quality drum set for a beginner we have listed. It may be a little overkill if you’re just starting out, but you won’t regret playing this drum set.