Best Beginner Drum Sets: Top Kits for New Drummers

This kit was designed by Roots drummer Questlove to be compact, affordable, and great-sounding — perfect for small apartments, bedroom setups, or younger players.

It’s sold as a shell pack, which means it includes the drums but not cymbals or hardware (like stands or a throne). You’ll need to buy those separately, but even with that in mind, this kit is a great value.

This updated kit includes Bluetooth connectivity, mesh heads, and a redesigned module with improved sounds from BFD.

It even includes a 90-day free trial to Drumeo — the most popular online drumming lesson platform — which makes it ideal for learning from day one.

The Nitro Max feels like a huge step up from entry-level kits like the Turbo Mesh, and it's surprisingly compact if you're short on space.

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 offers great value right out of the box.

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.

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.

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.

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.